Track2Realty: Buyers remained cautious but searched well for aspirational homes. Developers remained restrained but projects reached completion stages as all segments of the market prepared for a growth phase in Indian property market, aligned to the political optimism in India.
Track2Realty: With the coming of the new government already having improved sentiments in the realty market, as a next step the sector expects India’s economic fundamentals to be tackled on a priority basis before any major changes may be anticipated at an industry-level. Infrastructure projects need to be implemented with a sense of urgency, and more income tax incentives for home loans have to be introduced before we can expect to see any significant impact on the real estate sector.
Track2Realty: The biggest announcement for the real estate sector proposed by the newly elected Government in its Union Budget 2014–15 was the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) being directed to introduce Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) and Infrastructure Investment Trusts in India.
Track2Realty: The expanding retail footprint of global brands in India has been a major growth driver of retail real estate in the country. In an effort to map and analyze the spread of international retailers, CBRE undertook a research study of more than 300 prominent global retailers—Expanding Horizons of Global Retailers in India—to identify operating trends, expansion strategies, and extent of penetration across leading cities.
Track2Realty: The commercial real estate office segment in India is primarily a leasing market. Although Indian firms have traditionally preferred to purchase office properties for their own businesses, multi-national entities in the country typically prefer to lease office space.
Track2Realty: The reduced apartment sizes in new launches in 2014 have contributed to making prices more affordable. In the over 50,000 mid segment units (1 and 2 BHKs) of newly launched houses across top eight cities in Quarter 1 of 2014, most cities have seen a reduction in sizes of approximately 100 sf. This has led to an average drop of 6 percent in cost of the apartments within these cities, says a report by Cushman & Wakefield.
Track2Realty: Where transparency broadens, real estate capital flows and market change follows. JLL’s eighth Global Real Estate Transparency Index, covering 102 markets worldwide, shows continued progress in the transparency of commercial real estate around the world.
Track2Realty Exclusive: If SMEs presence is any indication of the scope of commercial property in the given region, Delhi-NCR’s east coast can easily claim to be a vibrant market for the commercial property. However, the tag of an affordable zone has till very recently been the reason why big ticket commercial investment did not fell into Ghaziabad, stretch of NH 24 or even Noida to a large extent.
Track2Realty: At more than US$150 per sq. ft. per annum, Delhi’s traditional central business district (CBD) of Connaught Place was ranked as the eighth most expensive office market in the world, according to CBRE Global Research and Consulting’s semi-annual Global Prime Office Occupancy Costs survey.
Track2Realty: In India’s competitive real estate market, luxury housing projects have been launched aplenty over the last couple of years. So much so that a conservative market like Chennai, for instance, is likely to witness about 1,500 units of ultra-luxury homes—budgeted between Rs. 5–20 crore—within the next 12 months.