In Q2 2012, the retail landscape in India was characterized by subdued demand coupled with restrained supply of mall space and largely stable rentals, says a DTZ report. While continued high inflation levels have restrained consumer spending and delayed purchase decisions, the slowdown in economic growth and weak consumer sentiments have resulted in a sense of uncertainity amongst retailers thereby putting expansion plans on hold.
Fitch Ratings says in a new report that the Rating Outlook for the Indian real estate sector continues to be Negative for H212, due to persistent sluggish demand, high construction costs and liquidity pressures.
India witnessed increased transaction activity and retailer expansion in H1, 2012. Leading brands and retailers pursued expansion plans aggressively, increasing their presence across key retail hubs. In all the seven cities presented in the review, the retail real estate market appears to be promising with an increase in retailer enquiries. These are the findings of CBRE’s latest report titled “India Retail Market view.”
A new retail report released by Jones Lang LaSalle emphasises that changes across the global retail banking environment continue to be driven by political, economic and technological trends. These trends will lead to continued bank expansion in frontier markets, offsetting the search for greater efficiency in developed markets.
Terming the Government’s efforts to form consensus on FDI in multi-brand retail without consulting traders as ‘highly undemocratic’, the Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) today said foreign investments by MNCs will hijack the country’s retail trade which would lead to closure of majority of small businesses and job losses for lakhs of people engaged in the sector.
Red Fort Capital Advisors, a real estate private equity fund that manages more than $1 billion of Indian assets, plans to raise $500 million next year to invest in homes and offices in Asia’s third-largest economy.
The annual monsoons have always been perceived both as a rural blessing and an urban curse – they are good news for the agrarian sector and the bane of water-logging prone cities. However, this caricatured mind-set is breaking.
Below the line marketing company Theme Ventures has signed a group of well-known real estate companies in Mumbai to sell the residential properties directly to the corporate employees by setting up shops inside the large work premises, the news reports said.
Disney Consumer Products India, the licensing & merchandising arm of The Walt Disney Company India, has done its first licensing deal in the real estate sector with Mumbai-based real estate company Sunteck Realty to launch Disney Inspired Homes in Goregaon, the Northern suburb of Mumbai.
Anticipating a significant rate cut by the RBI, disappointed real estate community has ring alarm bells and forecast more slump due to the high interest rate regime. Pointing out that the capital and labour intensive sector plays a key role in employment generation and accelerating growth, industry body CREDAI says the government has also been losers of revenue due to neglect of the sector and risks attributed to real estate and the RBI advisories against lending to real estate have only harmed the sector and made housing costlier for consumers, apart from affecting the economy.