Faced with the non-compliance by the real estate companies, Brand Capital, earlier known as Times Private Treaties, the ad-for-equity business of publishing group Bennett, Coleman and Co. Ltd (BCCL), has hired real estate consultant Knight Frank India Pvt. Ltd to manage its real estate portfolio.
This week has been a good one for investors in real estate shares, who had seen their investments lose 30%-55% in value over the past six months in the wake of a number of corruption allegations involving the sector.
Indian real estate majors, DLF and Unitech, are set to miss their FY11 sales target, despite prices reaching the highs of 2007. Mid cap names like HDIL, Ackruti City and Sobha Developers are however on track to meet their targets.
Indians are emerging as among the most active buyers of property in Britain, according to a report in local British media.
Mumbai-based RCSPL, which owns group buying portal for real estate GrOffr.com, has acquired Mobstreet.in, a company which was officially shut down in December 2010 due to lack of funds.
It’s been a weak start to the year for the Mumbai real estate market with the number of property sales registered in India’s financial capital continuing to fall for the second consecutive month.
The impending closure of the financial year has the listed real estate developers scurrying to make final repayments or get debt refinanced.
Stocks of real estate companies suffered widespread losses on the BSE today dragging down the sectoral index by 3.14 per cent on all-round selling by funds on fears of rate hike by RBI to curb inflation.
As real estate prices shoot up and interest rates, the outlook for the sector does not look too bright. In its year-end report, Knight Frank has stated that new home sales in India have fallen by 25 per cent due to soaring prices. With the Reserve Bank of India tightening lending norms to developers and raising interest rates, the property market is likely to plumb new lows in 2011 as buyers disappear.
With the economy giving indications of recovery and real estate companies putting up a brave face, the question as to whether this is the right time to buy property has yet again been raking up. If the industry figure is to be believed, it seems many of the prospective home buyers who had put their plans on shelf due to the threat of job loss & inability to pay the EMIS borne out of recession are back in the property hunt.