On the eve of every Union Budget the real estate stakeholders get into a huddle to set the narrative that could influence the fiscal policy. They are conscious of the fact that the business of real estate gets more affected by the fiscal policy than the recurring monetary policy that shapes the outcome of floating interest rates every now and then. A Track2Realty analysis.
Home buyers point out that it is not only lengthy litigation that defeats their cause but also the fact that the builder continues to challenge the orders of the District Commission in higher courts. Over and above that the builder can also file multiple false cases against the harassed home buyers. The home buyers hence demand that the way NCDRC admits the challenged judgment of the State Commissions on a case-to-case basis, the State Commissions should also adopt the same practice.
Across the world the commercial real estate, most notably the retail and office spaces, have been hit the most due to Covid-induced new normal. It is hence being debated as to whether commercial real estate would be able to reinvent itself to remain relevant in the post-Covid world where the Work From Home and online shopping threatens to eat up the market share of till-recently lucrative business models of retail and office space. Track2Realty explores the need for innovation.
2021 was expected to be the year of recovery for the Indian real estate that weathered the black swan of Covid in the preceding year. Throughout the year the developers put up a brave face and the industry data of the top listed developers was enough to keep the prophets of doomsday in silence. However, the closer look at the sector and the large universe of the developers raises more questions than what it could answer during the turbulent year. Track2Realty looks in to look ahead.
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.
Will the festive season of 2021 change the course of real estate is something that most of the analysts are curious to see. The festive season has just started and it is too early to guesstimate the exact sales volume & value growth at this point of time. But with a closer look at the Indian housing market one can probably vouchsafe that there are more catalysts of optimism than pessimism. How far this optimism is sentiment driven and to what extent the economic fundamentals support the business take-up is something that needs to be evaluated.
The real estate industry stakeholders are debating over the design changes and other functional changes in the housing projects after Coronavirus. An impression is gaining ground that the developers have the realization that the world has changed due to pandemic and they need to alter to fit into the buyers’ needs. An online poll by Track2Realty nevertheless finds that the industry is off the mark when it comes to read the pulse of the buyers. The buyers are not looking for knee jerk design changes but housing to have long term functional changes.
The Allahabad High Court has rapped the District Magistrate of Gautam Buddh Nagar for non-compliance of RERA Recovery Certificates (RC). The Court has also directed the DM Suhas LY to appear before the court on October 4 to explain the inaction in the RCs issued by the Real Estate Regulatory Authority (RERA) in several cases.
A closer look at the way the sector operates indicates that the ground realities are different than what is being anticipated post this historic judgment. The Supreme Court order has hence raised more questions than settled the answers that could goad the sector to best practices in the business. The court order touches upon some of the grey areas like “long & expensive legal battle” that the buyers have to go through. It nevertheless doesn’t offer any solution for the same. The fact remains that the long & expensive legal battle is the primary cause of home buyers’ suffering in silence at the hands of the builders.
There are multiple factors why the home sales in monsoons are subdued. One obvious reason is that the Indians traditionally don’t make any high value purchases after Akshay Tirtiya and before Ganesh Chaturthi. Since a home is the most emotional & aspirational product; is life’s biggest purchase; and is in most of the case for the lifetime; the Indians prefer to wait till the beginning of the festive season. Inauspicious period of Shraddh and Pitripaksh also falls during the monsoon season, where the traditional belief is that any new purchase will invite the curse of the ancestors.