Track2Realty Exclusive: Elections, real estate and black money have a symbiotic relation. Track2Realty tries to understand this unique and complex relation of the sector and the politicians where cash is king, yet they deny and dismiss it. The colour of currency may be projected as white in public posturing, the cycle of cash transaction with black money starts from entry level itself. Lack of transparency is what keeps the cycle moving.
Track2Realty Exclusive: The real estate market has often been defined in terms of being either the buyers’ market or the sellers’ market. In most of the major markets across the country the bull phase of the economy led to the sellers’ market with demand outstripping the supply.
Track2Realty: Approximately 8 million sq. ft. of office space was leased across eight major cities during the quarter. Bengaluru, Chennai and Pune topped the chart in the total office market absorption.
Track2Realty Exclusive: Till very recently, unlike several other industries, real estate used to take a back seat in times of a sluggish market or when there was some controversy around. Any negative market sentiment or slowdown more often than not led to newspapers’ property supplements growing thinner and vacant hoardings in and around city becoming common. Prima facie it was seen to be a sales driven exercise where real estate companies’ approach has been to advertise for selling their product and not creating a brand icon. But that seems to be only half the truth in today’s context as the sector is doling out more money for advertising despite slowdown.
Track2Realty: Following the slow market conditions of the last couple of quarters, Mumbai’s office market saw a slight spurt in market sentiments in the second quarter of 2014. The city’s overall real estate market is anticipated to fare better in the third quarter over the second quarter of the year.
Track2Realty Exclusive: It has often been argued that Indian realty needs to adopt best practices and improve brand image as the sector defends its rough ride on the learning curves. If adopting Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), retaining employees, inculcating brand loyalty and earning buyers’ trust are some of the best practices that can address the perception issues of Indian real estate, then the sector has to walk a long road ahead.
Track2Realty Exclusive: If ever you have not missed a flight out of Mumbai or got delayed to an appointment of lifetime in Mumbai due to traffic bottlenecks, you would probably not understand why India’s commercial capital has been waiting so eagerly for the metro train to roll out. But wait! There is more to just ease of traffic with the metro train in Mumbai becoming a reality.
Track2Realty Exclusive: There is no denying that the Union Budget 2014-15 has incentivised the eco system of the Indian real estate both for the developers as well as the buyers. Many of the announcements by the Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley may not have any direct bearing on the fortunes of the real estate developers in this fiscal year, yet the symbolic sops are enough to silence the otherwise overtly critical sector for some time now.
Track2Realty Exclusive: IT driven locations across the country has been witness to the migration of large educated workforce, be it Bangalore, Gurgaon or Pune. This upwardly mobile, well-earning and lifestyle driven class hence becomes a key demand driver of property in the given city. In Pune the expat Indians have thus emerged as the key demand driver of property.
Track2Realty: Real estate is a business that requires regular funding, be it at the acquisition or execution stage. To raise funds, developers in India opt for modes like joint venture, pre-sale and construction finance. Construction finance can work out cheaper but is difficult to obtain because of the strict guidelines laid down by the Reserve Bank of India.