Pune is virtually unrecognizable from the sleepy, laid-back city it was a few decades ago. There were no signs of any significant real estate action in the erstwhile Punyanagari before that. Today, however, Pune numbers in the Top Seven property hotspots within the country.
If 2008 was the year of shock, 2009 the year of discovery & introspection and 2010 the follow-up experiment; the year 2011 promises to be the year of comfort level for the Indian real estate sector. It seems the turmoil of the last couple of years has made everybody come out intelligent–investors, developers, bankers and end users.
India has been ranked as the most preferred real estate destination among the Asia Pacific region as foreign investors still consider the country to be extremely viable, according to a report released by ULI-PwC. “India, and particularly Mumbai and New Delhi, are ranked the foremost real estate market destinations as the residential properties have maintain the growth momentum, and foreign investors still consider this market to be extremely viable,” the report titled ‘Emerging trends in Real Estate in Asia Pacific 2011′, said.
The Chennai-based Shriram Group, is expanding its realty business Shriram Properties. As per the plans the Group will invest around Rs 1,500 crore over the next three years in developing various residential projects. The zero-debt company says 60 per cent of this investment, or around Rs 900 crore, would be funded through equity, from existing or new investors.
Considering the amount of negative press they get, it is not immediately apparent that there are also less negative ways of looking at them. For instance, slums represent an extremely high-density model of residential settlement. In this respect, they make the most efficient use of limited land possible.
Global property consultant Jones Lang LaSalle has cautioned that housing prices in Delhi-NCR and Mumbai have reached the peak level of 2008 and any further rise in the rates will adversely affect the demand. It said the prices in the rest of the country may firm up by about 10-15% next year to touch the 2008 level.
There is a lot of housing supply coming in, but the affordable variety is not happening where it is needed the most – in the central regions of cities like Mumbai, where properties are extremely overpriced now. Nevertheless, this is causing newer locations to be developed in the further suburbs, so the residential market is expanding.
Noida, once projected as the largest industrial town in Asia, is today one of the best location for residential purpose too in the Delhi-NCR region. It is also emerged as the gateway to the investors in Uttar Pradesh. New Okhla Industrial Development Authority, or better known as Noida only, was developed in the 1970s as a modern industrial city under the UP Industrial Area Development Act, 1976.
Confusing it may sound, but a project called Delhi One has been launched in Noida by the trend setter of green building concept in India The 3C Company. This mega mixed-use project incorporating residential, commercial, retail and hospitality zones is spread across 12.5 acres at Sector 16-B, Noida.
The Confederation of Real Estate Developers’ Associations of India has expressed displeasure about the proposed Model Real Estate (Regulation of Development) Act in its present form, saying it could lead to an escalation of prices of housing stock in the country by Rs 300 per sq ft.