A large share of global buyers (NRIs & HNIs) don’t wish to invest in the Indian property market. 78% of them have their own reasons to look towards overseas property market. The recent banking woes have further dented their confidence to invest in India. They also feel that the property prices in India are way too higher, compared to the overall value proposition on offer.
Beyond inventory statistics, and the customary positive outlook for the year ahead, 2019 has yet again underlined the need to read the pulse of the market dispassionately to learn why the tide has been going against. The lessons are equally true for both the builders and the buyers. Unfortunately, the sector does not seem to learn the lessons yet again. The testimony of the developers’ defiance is their guarded optimism for the year ahead, while dismissing the 2019 as yet another challenging year that has gone by.
While the commercial office sector will dominate Indian REIT listings for the next couple of years, retail and logistics REITs are sure to follow. However, Indian residential REITs remain at best a distant possibility. The draft Model Tenancy Act, 2019 will make rental housing a more attractive investment play – but for Indian residential REITs to succeed as they have in countries like Singapore and the US, rental yields on Indian housing need to significantly surpass the current 1-3%.
The success of the Embassy Parks REIT has given global investors strong reason to increase their stake in multiple commercial assets across the country so that these could be listed under REITs in the future. Some of these global institutional investors who are eyeing the country’s real estate market via REITs include Japan’s NikkoAm StraitsTrading Asia, US’ North Carolina Fund, Taiwan’s Eastspring Investments, Malaysia’s Hwang Asia Pacific REITs and Infrastructure Fund, and Canada-based Sentry Global.
In terms of the overall brand gain for the year, Embassy has been way ahead of the competition curve post the REIT listing. Embassy has jumped from its last fiscal ranking at Number 5 to now at Number 2. As a matter of fact, Embassy is just 0.4 brand score behind Sobha Limited. Moreover, Embassy has taken a lead ahead of Sobha in terms of NRI perception. Moving forward, Embassy Group with diversified portfolio could have an edge over Sobha Limited.
In the second edition of evaluating the best practices being followed in the Indian real estate, Bangalore-based Sobha Limited has yet again maintained its leadership position. As a matter of fact, it has improved its performance, compared to first study with Track2Realty best Practices Report 2017.
In this sixth year of gauging the public perception for Track2Realty BrandXReport 2017-18, what comes out as no surprise is the fact that Bangalore-based Sobha Limited continues to be undisputed market leader as far as commanding public perception is concerned.
The Northern Peripheral Road (NPR), also known as Dwarka Expressway, is an 18-km stretch of road that is being developed under the public private partnership (PPP) model. This stretch will connect Dwarka Phase II and Palam Vihar to National Highway 8 near Kherki Dhaula and Pass Pataudi Road. This is a highly lucrative project that has been taken up by the Haryana Urban Development Authority (HUDA).
What has been an interesting finding during this fiscal year is the fact that a number of relatively smaller developers but with impeccable track record of delivery and consumer satisfaction are breaking the myth that it is the sheer volume and premium that elevates a company at the Brand Leadership Chart.
If the CBD of a given city is losing its sheen, there can be only two diametrically opposite reasons – one, the economy of the city is collapsing and the other is that the city has created many new centers of economic activity.