Track2Realty: Real estate sentiment remained fragile through a major part of 2012, as the global economy continued to face strong and persistent headwinds. Economic activity in Europe is seen to be contracting, while growth in the US has been modest.
Track2Realty Exclusive: We all dream of living in a house of our own and often enough put in our lifelong savings investing in a home that has the best of both comfort and location. However, it can be a nightmare if your house is in a locality that requires a lot of effort in getting access to even the things of daily use or makes commuting to your workplace an ordeal. Even the posh areas of a metropolitan city are not free from this problem where you might have to walk quite a distance to get to the supermarket, travel from one corner of the city to other to reach malls and multiplexes, start early for workplace or drive for long to access a hospital in emergency.
Track2Realty: Office space absorption dipped by 23 per cent during 2012 in major cities to 29 million sq ft as corporates remained cautious of expanding businesses amid global uncertainties and slowdown in the Indian economy, property consultant Cushman and Wakefield has said.
Track2Realty Exclusive-Yearly Analysis: Indian real estate companies are reeling under the burden of debt, so much so that the excess cash that they had borrowed has become a liability that they want to get rid of but are unable to relieve themselves due to various factors beyond their control. They are nonetheless trying all possible measures, from selling land bank to restructuring their portfolio. Track2Realty tries to assess the seriousness of the situation where many of the realtors are caught between the distress sale and the debt trap.
Track2Realty: The government is working on a proposal to allow Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) to participate in the country’s rental housing market.
Track2Realty-Agencies: After some neglect in the past several years, the realty industry in India finally saw some reforms that had a direct and indirect impact on its fortunes and which led to the some development of the sector in 2012. The prospect of a revival looks brighter once the central bank keeps it promise of cutting interest rates to spur overall growth.
Track2Realty-Agencies: A retired judge will head an inquiry to determine whether government officials were bribed to help retail giant Wal-Mart gain access to Indian markets.
Track2Realty: The finance ministry is reportedly working on the modalities to revive the real estate sector. According to ministry sources, the move is aimed to ensure that stalled projects get bank sector financing. The move, which is expected to help revive growth, is likely to be decided over the coming weeks.
Track2Realty-Agencies: To provide cheaper houses for lower income groups, the Ministry of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation (HUPA) is working for the inclusion of affordable housing in the infrastructure list.
Track2Realty: The year 2012, which started on an unenthusiastic note due to the global as well domestic economic turmoil, is now showing initial signs of recovery. Amongst the larger world economies, the US economy recorded a GDP growth of 1.7% between April and June, slightly higher than earlier estimates of 1.5%.