In this sixth year of gauging the public perception for Track2Realty BrandXReport 2017-18, what comes out as no surprise is the fact that Bangalore-based Sobha Limited continues to be undisputed market leader as far as commanding public perception is concerned.
Irony is that even though the sector has succedded to some extent in attracting the young talent by poaching on professionals from established and matured sectors like IT/ITeS, banking, finance and telecom etc, the retention of these professionals have been quite challenging.
Gone are the days when the overnight appreciation of property prices was enough for the fly by night operators to lure the buyers with glossy advertisements. The ROI of the advertising spend by the developers was calculated with the number of phone calls in return. The economic downturn leading to an end of era of quick appreciation, however, changed the market dynamics completely.
Indian cities witnessed a strong office demand in Q2 2018, with about 12.6 million sq ft of gross absorption recorded, indicating a 10% QoQ growth in office leasing activity.
In terms of price point luxury properties in Dubai are more attractive than any such option in Mumbai and Bangalore. Moreover, the kind of rental returns that are there in the gulf city is no match to any Indian city. Add to it tax-free returns and attractive capital appreciation and your cost & benefit analysis is heavily loaded in favour of benefits. Last, but not the list, is the quality of life in Dubai
It is generally accepted in the Indian market that rental yields in the country are often much lower than elsewhere in the world because relatively few people seek rented homes: 66 per cent of homes in Indian cities and 90 per cent of homes in rural areas are owner occupied.
The fact is that any outside view might baffle with the price point at Sector 150 of Expressway that is in the range of INR 6000 to INR 7000. Still, this sector is fast emerging as the first choice for the homebuyers, even though more affordable options are available in other sectors along the same Expressway at a distance of even 1km.
It seems the dare devil Dhoni, as he is known, has this time met another courageous risk taking developer who does not mind joining hands with someone who has only recently been in the news for all the wrong reasons. This also raises a fundamental question as to whether the developer has been smart in strategy or it is just another case of ‘Me Too’ in showcasing its financial clout to have a celebrity endorsing its brand.
I often question how will honest journalism survive in this eco system. It is not that I don’t face the challenges and resistance of not being a party to this cartel of corruption. Forget the builders, even a large section of builders’ ‘paid & pet’ journalists have issues with me. I am, after all, a game spoiler for them who is spreading the negativity with brutal honest and ruthless journalism.
Many developers do not make themselves available to customers, making it necessary for them to deal with marketing personnel who are trained to be evasive and non-committal.