Track2Realty: The Housing Sentiment Index (IIMB MB HIS) assessed by IIM Bangalore and Magicbricks forecasts that homebuyers across 8 of the 10 cities surveyed expect real estate prices to rise over the next six months. The aggregate Housing Sentiment Index (HSI) measured across 10 cities this quarter stood at 108. (An HSI score of 100 suggests the prices would remain static).
Track2Realty Exclusive: Prophets of doomsday in Mumbai who till only recently have written off the growth of the city and its realty market due to saturation and infrastructural bottlenecks are today very apprehensive lot. The proposed industrial corridors promise to open the floodgates of new investment opportunities and make them eat their own words. Mumbai which has been facing stiff competition with certain other emerging markets is expected to redefine the financial capital of the country once the first corridor Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor (DMIC) project is over and investors find avenues like gold mine on the ground.
Track2Realty: Investment-grade office space demand slowed down in the first quarter of 2014, with around 6.3 million sq. ft. of Grade A office space getting absorbed across the leading cities of the country. Transaction activity was dominated by the National Capital Region (NCR), Bangalore and Chennai.
Track2Realty: A burgeoning automobile ancillary industry and the IT/ITeS sector’s growing presence have been the major growth drivers behind the notable transformation of Maharashtra’s second largest city—Pune. Over the past couple of years, the city’s IT sector in particular has seen significant growth, leading to sustained demand for office space in the city.
Track2Realty Exclusive: The Tamil Nadu Government must be commended for its focus on infrastructure development; it is a key determinant of the state’s economic progress. So long as the commitment to infrastructure remains, the prognosis for real estate will be good.
Track2Realty: There has been a 43% increase in Q1 2014 new residential unit launches from the previous quarter. The total estimated unit launches were recorded at 55,500 units across major eight cities of India with Bengaluru recording the largest number of units launched, an increase of 22% from previous quarter, says a report by Cushman & Wakefield.
Track2Realty Exclusive: Statistics only tell half the story and this old adage is all the more relevant in the property market where the transactions and appreciation/depreciation may or may not have a direct co-relation. In Gujarat real estate market the prophets of doomsday had a field day in the last over a year time due to slow pace of growth. They cited the National Housing bank’s Residex that shows Ahmedabad witnessed only 6 per cent growth in property prices in last one year.
Track2Realty Exclusive: The occupier report of office space is often seen as the barometer of the vibrancy of the given property market since it indicates the level of economic activity that sustains all other segment of real estate, residential and commercial in particular. However, in downtown Coimbatore market this premise was never considered for critical evaluation since the market had multiple demand drivers and office uptake was not necessary criterion for any of these demand drivers.
Track2Realty: Transactions in India’s real estate space might have slowed down over the last two quarters, but the sector has not been overwhelmed by the state of the wider economy. Despite the subdued pre-election economic scenario, in fact, the period observed an increase in private equity activity.
Track2Realty Exclusive: The current economic environment is indeed one of the most challenging in recent history. The headwinds of inflation, interest rates, construction costs, and subdued consumer demand have constrained real-estate growth in many micro-markets across the country. Economic volatility aside, I am optimistic about long-term real-estate sector prospects. My optimism is founded in irrefutable realities – the rapid urbanization of India, burgeoning segment of upwardly mobile Indians, limited availability of urban residential housing and unabated aspiration of home ownership.