A study by Assocham last year on the real estate scene in India indicated that the large Malayali and Punjabi NRIs are buying the houses of their liking. The study was based on the fact that Malyalis and Punjabis have migrated in hordes over the years. Some of them are also buying commercial space, it claimed.
It’s ironic that a sector worth $140 billion that has weathered the market crash twice in the last around a decade and still emerged as the fastest growing contributor to the GDP has not been granted even industry status in India.
The Confederation of Real Estate Developers’ Associations of India has expressed displeasure about the proposed Model Real Estate (Regulation of Development) Act in its present form, saying it could lead to an escalation of prices of housing stock in the country by Rs 300 per sq ft.
The status of seniors in Indian market is experiencing a sea-change, owing to their growing cohort size, augmented financial independence and change in mindset. They are no longer considered as a withdrawn, risk averse and financially dependent class of citizens.
Mumbai is the financial capital of the country. While it is still a far cry from being comparable to Shanghai in terms of aesthetics and infrastructure, the fact remains that most large corporations and financial institutions have their presence in this city.
In the year 2007 Preeti Banerjee bought a house in Royal Legacy, Vasundhara, Ghaziabad with the obvious high expectations of moving into a hassle free living. However, the dreams were soon shattered and she was exposed to the agony of an average middle class home buyer, often left alone at the mercy of the builders.
There have been many cases where the project gets a kick start and invites bookings only on the paper. The property dealer with their minor gains/commission advices the gullible buyers to put their money in the projects. The prospective buyer must take the help of a local advocate and request him to prepare a search report.
With the reasonable expectation of a roof over the head not very long ago, the real estate boom in the last decade has scaled up the liberty of choice for the average home buyers. While the aspirations of even the middle and lower middle income with moderate budgets have gone up, there are very many residential projects launched in recent times that seem to fill the gap with the promise of faster deliveries, hi-tech amenities, luxurious lifestyle, lush green surroundings within the affordable range of 20-40 lakhs.
Kolkata is fundamentally a Tier II city, and its real estate market is not as volatile as those of the primary cities. Because of this, Kolkata’s residential property sector was not as seriously impacted by the nationwide slump in the real estate market as cities like Mumbai, Delhi, Pune or Hyderabad.
With the return of confidence in the sector, Indian real estate players are now once again looking at private equity funding. That said, the industry still depends heavily on bank debt, NBFC funding and end-user advances. This is because bank debt is a cheaper option, and also because it offers flexible tenures.