Supertech will invest Rs 600 crore to develop a 255 metre tall residential tower in Noida. The company will offer a total of 1,326 housing units with prices of up to Rs 2.25 crore in the tower that it claims will be the tallest in North India. “The project, North Eye, will be the tallest in entire region with 60 floors and 255 metre height.
After one and a half years of gradual consolidation, real estate in India has fathomed its own comfortable ground, and is poised at the right threshold to take a giant leap in years to come, according to the forecast of the Jones Lang LaSalle, the global real estate services firm.
The stock market in general and banks, realty stocks & shares of infrastructure finance companies in particular reacted sharply to the draft proposal of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) that suggested tighter project financing norms of banks to project financing. The Indian real estate projects already weathering headwinds to attract project finance immediately swung into cost & benefit analysis. Though most of the leading developers were cautious in giving critical reactions, privately they all maintained that the RBI should have rather looked into the funding gap of the viable under construction real estate projects with cash receivables in the pipeline. A Track2Realty analysis.
Apart from data centers, there is likely to be more focus on greenfield assets in the industrial sector in 2022 led by strong demand from E-commerce companies. The Industrial and warehousing segment saw investments at a five-year high at USD1.1 billion. Green financing through green bonds will also see greater acceptance this year in India as developers, asset owners and investors turn their focus to sustainable development. This trend has further been accelerated by the pandemic across geographies.
I often get amused when I get into the details of the industry survey that shouts at the top of its voice – “All is Well”. Some of these industry reports claiming the business to be witness to higher consumer sentiment are based on the feedback of connected parties like developers, banks, financial institutions and private equity players. All in all, it’s a family cycle where everyone is desperate to beg, borrow or steal for sale. The most important stakeholder – the home buyer – whose sentiment is being tracked is better left out in this mutual appreciation club of vested interests.
Godrej Properties has strengthened its brand leadership for the 2nd consecutive year. The 9th edition of Track2Realty BrandXReport 2020-21 finds that the K-shaped recovery in the Indian real estate has helped most of the organized developers with corporate governance, at the cost of the large universe of the companies operating like personal fiefdoms.
The Nifty Realty Index that touched a low of 162.13 on 19th May in the post Covid mayhem has now scaled up to 280.00 (First week of December). The BSE and Nifty also surged more than 50% since the March lows, thus making the Indian stock market one of the best performers across the world. India’s only REIT, Embassy Office Park that scaled down at INR 319 is back in the range of 350 with a forecast of crossing 400. The second REIT, Mindspace Business Pak that was over-subscribed 12.96 times in the month of August this year, is also on its growth curve.
It is not just the fiscal performance or the stock market resilience that have elevated Godrej Properties to the coveted brand leadership across India. The performance has been remarkable and ever improving on various scale leading to better consumer experience and consumer connect. In a gloomy market of uncertainty, Godrej Properties looks most promising to meet the delivery commitments as well. Last, but not the least, while most of the corporate entities found it altogether challenging turf in the business of real estate, Godrej appears to be a natural real estate brand beyond its market presence in other businesses.
Private Equity funds, domestic and multi-national, have become major players in the Indian real estate market, investing tens of thousands of crores. While Blackstone and Brookfield have hitherto been largest foreign investors in Indian real estate, a gamut of Japanese Private Equity giants are also making waves. Heavyweight Japanese Corporations such as Mitsui Fudson, Mitsubishi Corporation, Sumitomo Corporation and Genkai Capital too have made big-ticket investments in Indian metro cities.
According to the World Bank, India ranks at 63rd among 190 countries, and the ranking is anticipated to improve further in the coming years backed by progressive government policies. Meanwhile, the real estate sector has shown remarkable resilience despite the bearish phase of the economy. Below is a lowdown of how the real estate story unfolded in 2019: