When a broker recently suggested Himanshu Kapadia that he should better invest in Ulwe, Dronagiri or Nerul of Navi Mumbai this engineer thought the greedy broker is selling the properties out of which he could make more brokerage. There was nothing common between these three locations and even in terms of price point of the residential properties the three given markets had a different profile.
When the Government of India was announcing relaxation with FDI norms a day ahead of Diwali, many analysts thought it to be a Diwali gift for 15 core sectors that could also prolong the festive spirit for the real estate sector.
Haryana Government would like to address it as pro-farmer move, the real estate sector would like to hail it as investment friendly and others within the built environment of real estate would like to call it a step that would bring to the market more supply and hence affordability.
The year 2015 should have been the year of realization that the days of creating ghost cities with inventory for investors is over. The greedy investor is no more interested in blocking his money with a business where the returns in any of India’s major housing market is not more than six per cent today.
A few may have succeeded but most of the developers have failed to position themselves right during the slowdown. In the process Track2Realty finds that the brand realty has taken a severe beating, losing the trust of both the end-users and the investors. The brand positioning that differentiates between the two different realty companies is today negligible with developers’ focus to sell. That, unfortunately, is not working for them and commanding premium over the brand reputation today is a far cry. Our team speaks to a cross section of developers, analysts and brand experts who may differ with each other but nearly all agree that sector has to come out of the Catch 22 situation.
In the real estate market consumer activism in India may have been high in recent times, but consumer awareness is pretty low. Most of the first time home buyers even fail to differentiate between what they want and what they need in an apartment, forget about their knowledge with regard to legalities and necessary checklist. The mismatch between developers’ offerings and buyers’ perception is a critical missing link leading to an impression gaining ground that the developer has not fulfilled his promise.
Track2Realty view on project delays The lack of regulations is…
“How long can a sector survive which is borrowing at 48 per cent from private lenders to serve the interest of previous debt raised at much lower rate,” asks a banker. His concern is not without valid reasons. Developers experimented with all funding options but still many of them are now being forced to seek other sources of funding which not only comes at a significantly higher cost but also where the source of fund is unregulated.
In the evaluation of sustainability of a housing market, the absorption of office space is the prime indicator across the world. After all, it is the economic activity and the job magnet that fuels the demand for new houses. The city of Mumbai has always been blessed on that count due to demand and supply dynamics.
When Roshan Abbas, a property broker operating out of Mira Road of Western Suburb, claimed that the region would be the catalyst of housing revival in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR), many thought this to be claims of a broker glorifying his catchment area. Some of the critics even dismissed it as another marketing stunt on the eve of the festive season of Navratra.