The Indians think instead of media hyperbole of big measures many of the small but practical measures can go a long way to ensure a house for each family, if not each individual. Some of the suggested measures may not make the government popular, and hence the Indians are not convinced with the promise of housing for all.
This is hardly surprising – a woman’s relationship with her home is unique; and while any other ‘relationship status’ may change in today’s rapidly-evolving socio-economic scenario, owning a home in her name gives her the ultimate security in a changing world.
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.
National Real Estate Development Council (NAREDCO has requested Government to address the key concerns of the real estate industry and home buyers, offer tax incentives across housing segments and boost buyer’s confidence through a slew of measures in the upcoming interim Union Budget 2019-20.
The share of mid-market houses costing INR 20-50 lakh in the overall residential sales in the country has been progressively rising, touching an all-time high of 42 percent of total transactions in the second half of the current financial year 2018-19, according to data released today by India’s largest marketplace for new homes Square Yards.
Housing Shortage in the urban areas is particularly high in Economically Weaker Sections (EWS) at 10 million units, followed by 7.4 million units in Lower Income Group (LIG).Until now, Central assistance to the tune of INR 13,583 Crore has been released and Interest subsidy of INR 1,859 Crore has been credited. Under the PMAY(U) scheme ( as per 8thJuly 2018 release by Ministry of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation, Government of India), 51 lakh units have been approved, 28 lakh units have been grounded and only 8 lakh units have been completed.
REITs or Real Estate Investment Trusts might be the most debated and expected development in the Indian real estate, but a majority of Indians are yet not convinced how will it operate. Even more in number are questioning the opinion of experts as far as its lucrative ROI (Return on Investment) is concerned. The Indians believe given the market uncertainties REITs won’t be the game changer for the Indian real estate, unless the returns are really tempting.
The ancient Chinese curse ‘may you live in interesting times’ certainly has a lot of pertinence to Indian real estate today. These are doubtlessly ‘interesting’ times for the sector, which has transformed significantly over the last decade. The pace of transformation has been accelerated further by the Central Government’s reformative steps aimed at ushering in ‘Acche Din’ to the realty sector.
The Indians seem to be quite aware of the challenges of mass housing, as is visible with nearly half of the respondent, 48 per cent questioning when land acquisition is going to be tougher how housing for all will be a reality.