As I enter inside the under-construction project with less than 6000 apartments spread over 60 acres to be built in four phases, the first visual impression is that the project is a premium or luxury housing. The sports theme-based landscaping, elevated walkways and greenery beneath does not give the impression that the ticket size in this project starts with INR 55 lakh only.
Environmentalists have raised serious concerns over the devastating consequences of climate change. Calling it irresponsible, they question how could a parking lot service area for metro trains being allowed to destroy a critical green lung.
What would hurt both the buyers as well as the builders is the fact that the property buying and selling would continue to be at standstill. The job market is not picking in any given industry and it would hurt the overall business.
A year back at the end of 2016, the doom mongers were out in force. In our office sector there were those who were predicting a slump in demand, uncertainty around the new Government in the US, the scare stories around automation and AI, the performance of the top 5 Indian ITeS companies, exaggerations around layoffs and even the dramas of corporate Boards of great Indian technology companies.
The more liberalized FDI regime now further attracting global capital flow to Indian real estate sector. The Goods and Services Tax (GST) system will also have a major impact especially in sell to build model in Real Estate. And the Benami Property Act will surely curb the parking of black money in real estate.
The year 2017 turned out to be a landmark year for the economy at large and the real estate sector in particular. Several historic reforms and policies were rolled out. Beginning with the Union Budget, the affordable housing received a huge impetus in the form of infrastructure status.
The first quarter of the year 2017 started with demonetization, a bold move undertaken by the government which was directed towards enhancing the liability of all the transactions and to make everyone and everything in the realty market accountable.
It is the lack of proper disclosure that often results in litigations. Across the world, disclosure laws vary from state to state, even down to the city and local governance level. Though disclosure norms are very poor in India, the developers who conceal relevant information about the housing project can still be taken to courts for failure to disclose.
Dissatisfaction among the homebuyers was noticed at every level, and every set of buyers had their own set of grievances. Of course, the level & extent of dissatisfaction is different in different phases of house purchase and ownership.
The slowdown was predicted much ahead to the introduction of GST and RERA and we were prepared for it. Whenever there is a new law or regulation, changes are bound to impact any market and we must cautiously tread the transition phase. At the same time, the impact usually does not last long as people adapt to changes quickly. We continue to see good traction in our business despite these market challenges. Our business is based on certain core values, which we amplify to face tough challenges.