While crossing through the MG Road of Bengaluru, I accidentally came across a project by Bhadra Landmark called Bhadra Legacy. MG Road, as we all know, is the Pin Code Number 1 of the city. It is the heart of the city and the first choice of the business travellers, celebrities of the city, NRIs & HNIs and the skylines of the place is dotted with the top-end hotels. The strategic importance of the place can’t be debated.
The real estate has been calculating the revenue on Percentage Completion Method and not Project Completion Method. With the Percentage Completion Method, the developers treated payment received from the home buyers for purchase of flats under construction as turnover of the company and net income generated from such projects was treated as profit.
About 40% of all the new launches in 2018 were under the affordable segment. Cities such as Bengaluru, Chennai, Hyderabad, Kolkata and NCR witnessed maximum launches in the affordable segment that is below INR5 million. Mumbai on the other hand witnessed more launches in the mid segment housing, in the range of INR 5-10 million.
There is no restriction on the number of properties that NRIs can own in India. However, NRIs obviously need to make informed decisions on such acquisitions. The most important consideration is that of whether the property purchase is for their own or their family’s actual use, or as an investment for rental income and potential capital appreciation.
With criticism ranging from alleged corruption in the defence deals to slow moving economy, the government that came to the power with these two major planks of fighting corruption and accelerating the economic growth is under pressure. The government is, therefore, left with no option but to present a budget that gives a feel good factor.
Gross leasing activity is recorded at 50 million square feet in 2018, highest in last eight years driven by buoyant leasing in Bengaluru and NCR. Compared to the previous year, gross leasing increased by 17% as occupiers continued to expand and consolidate. The top 3 sectors contributing to gross leasing were IT-ITeS with 43%, flexible workplaces with 14% and BFSI with 12% share.
It would be pertinent to note that raging infernos spared no one – be it rich or poor, residents of newly-built high-rises or the squalid slums, all fell victim to the scourge of flames which enveloped their structures, turning their cherished homes into death traps.
Young qualified professionals either do not opt for the sector, and even when they do so, they find it hard to continue in a business where the eco system is all about probability and uncertainty; forget about the lack of work culture. And hence, in most of the corporate offices of the developers it is easy to find old and grey-haired people than the vibrancy of the young work force.
While 2018 lived up to a fair number of expectations, there were a few misses too, particularly in the case of clarity on GST norms. Key highlights of 2018 were the creation of positive sentiments in the market by way of a robust office space absorption by emerging segments, as well as increase in the number of new launches and sales in the affordable housing sector.
With high expectations from 2018, it was anticipated that the teething problems around policy initiative introduced in 2017 (RERA and GST) would ease out by the end of the year, bringing a new order of transparency and efficiency.