Capital market regulator the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has apprehensions over the feasibility of real estate investment trusts (REITs) in India. The regulator had issued draft guidelines for REITs a couple of years ago, but may drop its plan to introduce it now.
With the economy giving indications of recovery and real estate companies putting up a brave face, the question as to whether this is the right time to buy property has yet again been raking up. If the industry figure is to be believed, it seems many of the prospective home buyers who had put their plans on shelf due to the threat of job loss & inability to pay the EMIS borne out of recession are back in the property hunt.
With the reasonable expectation of a roof over the head not very long ago, the real estate boom in the last decade has scaled up the liberty of choice for the average home buyers. While the aspirations of even the middle and lower middle income with moderate budgets have gone up, there are very many residential projects launched in recent times that seem to fill the gap with the promise of faster deliveries, hi-tech amenities, luxurious lifestyle, lush green surroundings within the affordable range of 20-40 lakhs.
Building byelaws and regulations differ from states to state and even city to city. However, it invariably turns out that property buyers are required to pay for construction that falls in FSI-free areas – areas of congregation, passage and general convenience.
Spanning 5.35 acres, the project offers 676 residential units in spacious 2 and 3-bedroom configurations spanning four towers. The size of 2 BHK units ranges from 993 sq. ft. to 1,107 sq. ft., and 3 BHK units between 1,309 sq. ft. and 1,424 sq. ft. Homes in Provident Bayscape are vaastucompliant and feature several design aspects unique to Chennai residents’ needs, including designated‘Kolam’ area, dedicated ‘puja’ space, and a separate handwash area.
The question here is why are these builders not executing registries even after obtaining the OC (Occupancy Certificate) & CC (Completion Certificate) from the authorities concerned. The fact is that these smart developers delay & often deny registries to the home buyers to get maintenance of society when it is not registered. They continue to charge hefty amount in the name of society maintenance. Add ot it, revenue that they get from inflated power bills. After the registry of the apartment, majority of apartments buyers are free to form AOA (Apartment Owners’ Association).
RERA is yet again under the scanner after the Supreme Court of India questioned whether it is a rehabilitation center of ex bureaucrats. The functioning and performance of RERA, or rather lack of it, has been challenged at each and every level in now nearly 8 years of its existence. A Track2Realty report. Wait! I am not giving any opinion. My opinion is already there in the public domain. Now the Apex Court in the country, the Supreme Court of India is saying so. I have always maintained that the very purpose of RERA was defeated when the ex-Bureaucrats were made the Chairman and members.
India, New Zealand, and Singapore saw annual leasing growth of over 30% in Q3 2024. Demand across the top 11 countries in the APAC region rose by 10.7% YoY, reaching 2.2 million sqm (23.7 million sq ft) in Q3 2024. India continued to lead APAC office market activity, driving over 70% of the total demand during Q3 2024. The Asia Pacific office market is predicted to grow in 2025, with new Colliers’ data showing demand across top markets surging 10.7% year-on-year (y-o-y) in the third quarter of 2024.
In the post-pandemic era, demand recovery in the office market has been swift, following a steep ‘V-shaped’ recovery trajectory. After subdued demand in 2020 & 2021, leasing activity had fully bounced back by 2022. In fact, since 2022, each year has been witnessing new all-time-high Grade A office space uptake at India level. With strong, consistent demand, average rentals have also surpassed the pre-pandemic levels (2019) across all the six major office markets for the first time in 2024. The rental recovery in the Indian office market, albeit relatively slower than the demand recovery trajectory has finally been fully complete, thus forming an elongated ‘U-shaped’ pattern.
The western cities of Ahmedabad and Mumbai, along with the southern tech hub of Bengaluru, all experienced healthy price appreciation in the 15-21% range whereas Chennai in south and Kolkata in east saw robust growth of 22% compared to the previous year, indicating strong economic activity and housing demand in these metros. This trend points to sustained demand in these economically vital centers. Pune, often seen as a more affordable alternative to Mumbai, also saw an 18% increase, suggesting it’s maintaining its appeal for homebuyers while still seeing significant price growth.