The price point may give impression of a property market on the outskirts that is just meant to be for those who can’t afford more than roof over the head. However, a closer look of the locality would suggest that Panvel is one of those destinations that could be showcased as a model destination where the affordability has not compromised with the aspirational living of the budget constraint buyers.
India witnessed a growth of 85% in property investments in the first nine months of 2017, compared to the same period last year, says Colliers International’s recently released report titled ‘Of High Growth, Low Real Rates and Black Swans’.
The Indian real estate market is not a single homogenous entity. There are seven major metro markets, each behaving differently, with different supply and demand dynamics. There are many different verticals within real estate – residential, commercial, retail, hospitality – and within those there are segments focused on different customer bases. With so many permutations, there is no ‘one size fits all’ answer. The urban southern markets in commercial office sector, has seen consecutive years of positive sentiment, take up and consequently rental growth.
During the CREDAI national convention few years back, a miffed real estate seemed to settle scores with the then Union Urban Development Minister Kamal Nath. Displaying stiff opposition to the proposed real estate regulator, the builders’ body went critique to say it is not actually a regulator bill, but builders’ harassment and public amusement bill.
There is a growing debate within the realm of second home market as to what is the psychograph of the buyer. Whether they actually go for affordability or location or amenities, or all these factors collectively drive the second home buyers. These are the emerging market realities and till recently the property investment pattern across the country in general and Mumbai in particular suggested that there existed a symbiotic relation between the second home and an affordable home.
Second home market is a new phenomenon in urban India but has emerged as a sunrise market in cities like Mumbai. With the ever changing trends the demand for holiday homes has varied according to the consumer’s needs and tastes amongst various cities. Hence, there cannot be a one size fits all answer to the dilemma of location or affordability. For many a second home in India is housing which offers opulent living spaces and ultra-modern luxurious amenities; whereas for others it is a safe investment.
In Pune, on the contrary, IT/ITeS may be one of the high demand zones for education, yet it is not that only IT/ITeS driven educational institutions are flourishing. As a matter of fact, and industry players agree to it, education sector has grown in the city in all the segments, be it IT/ITeS or any other professional/vocational education.
How relevant is the introduction of REITs when it comes to providing a new opportunity to get funds for the Indian real estate industry? Consider first, that India’s real estate has struggled to reduce debt, given that interest rates are among the highest in Asia. And, also consider that REITs will provide investors an opportunity to buy into India’s real estate market – these two aspects are just the basics.
JC Sharma has been witness to the emergence of Bangalore as the ‘Destination Indian Realty’. He feels it is not just the business potential of the city that makes it an investment magnet. Rather, there are real estate related catalytic factors, like the developers’ focus on end-users, innovation with the product and adoption of advanced technology that makes Bangalore numero uno of Indian real estate.
Manoj has over 25 years of management experience, both at national and international levels, with large clients and multinationals. He has previously headed Facilities and Procurement divisions for various multinationals including GE Capital International, Dell & Lucent Technologies. In his last role he was Vice President, Corporate Services at Deutsche Bank AG.