Steady rise in the price of construction material, like cement, steel, bricks, coupled with a shortage of skilled labourers, has hit the realty sector in Gujarat, an office-bearer of state-CREDAI said.
Very few budget announcements in recent past have raised as many queries as the LTCG (Long Term Capital Gains) Tax. After all, it concerns all of us, the common citizens of India, whether they are lower class or middle class. For the rich, it has always been a case of more tax reliefs than burden. Track2Realty is regularly getting queries with the underlying worry as to whether the LTCG Amendment makes the tax computation simpler or more complicated.
This strategic growth is expected to be driven by a focus on innovation as these companies seek to enhance their technological capabilities and market presence. Moreover, emerging technologies are projected to generate approximately 4.7 million tech jobs over the next five years across diverse sectors, including manufacturing, retail, education, finance, and insurance. This surge in job creation underscores the growing importance of technology across industries and highlights the need for a skilled workforce to meet the evolving demands of the digital economy.
Understanding the mindset of Indian real estate has never been easy. The built environment of the Indian real estate could argue and demolish the best of consumer-centric reforms. Remember the way industry body CREDAI had called RERA prior to its inception, and that too in front of the then Union Minister Kamal Nath, builder harassment and public amusement bill. But at the same time they celebrate the self-inflicted injury on many occasions. Track2Realty finds the overtones of the sector all the more contradictory with the Union Budget, before and after the budget.
Immediately after the Union Budget 023-24, when Track2Realty had taken a principled position that it is going to hurt the Indian home buyers, many critics & self-proclaimed financial experts had questioned us. They were celebrating LTCG without Indexation and now very same set of people are again glorifying the dual option- with or without Indexation for deals before the Union Budget. How could one argue for both and against the motion? It is like batting for both teams in a game of cricket. Isn’t it?
Mumbai and Pune together accounted for 63% of the total absorption in H1 2024, followed by southern cities (Bengaluru, Chennai and Hyderabad) at 29%. Mumbai’s share saw an increase from 25% in H1 2023 to 41% in H1 2024, the growth can be attributed to an increase in demand for grade-A warehouses in areas such as Bhiwandi, Panvel, Uran, Taloja, and Ambernath. NCR witnessed a significant decline in its share from 31% to 6% in the same period. Furthermore, Chennai reported absorption of 1.5 Mn sq ft in H1 2024, registering an increase of 191% over H1 2023 due to the low base effect.
As the Finance Minister Ms Nirmala Sitharaman announced to lower the LTCG (Long Term Capital Gains) from 20% to 12.5%, the stock market took a hit. The analysts across the financial spectrum immediately swung into analysis that the LTCG hike would adversely affect the stock market in the short term but big pocket investors won’t be affected as much as presumed. A section of financial wizards who understand the nuances of personal finance across the asset classes had even bigger a worry – Real Estate. Prima facie what looked like the LTCG being lowered from 20% to now at 12.5%, has in fact hurt the property market the most. Reason: the indexation benefit under Section 48 that is presently available for property, gold, and other unlisted assets have been now proposed to be removed.
No one has got a clear answer to the core of the problems and every industry stakeholder has his own point of view. However, the economies of scale suggests it definitely helps the developers to undertake cost-effective measures since material procurement happens at a group level. This gives large developers an advantage over other smaller developers and projects. Also, the duration of construction has an impact on the cost. The developers must ensure the completion of projects on time, which could help us sell the properties at a faster pace and keep the cost under control.
The question is what needs to be done. Or in other words, how could real estate consume more out of ‘Make in India’ manufacturing? The question in itself is flawed, if not in sync with the larger eco system issues. Setting up and making a manufacturing unit in India comes with its own challenges. Cheap labour alone would not give India any edge or cost arbitrage over the export items. ‘Make in India’ has to move beyond the rhetoric of nationalism and reforms have to be introduced at each and every level, ranging from lower corporate tax to labour laws and making the country a happy hunting ground for the manufacturers of the world.
Ramneek Sethi, an IT professional wanted to invest in the stock market. He was keen on real estate stocks keeping in mind its growth potential and India’s increasing urbanisation. However, a meeting with the financial planner changed his mind. The financial planner categorically asked him to stay away from volatile real estate stocks and instead get into the power play through proxies in cement, steel, and other ancillary businesses. Reason: Real estate stocks are not just volatile, but more often than not even defy the principles of fundamental analysis and technical analysis.