Investors continued to be bullish on the Indian market, snapping up assets in office and industrial space. Office assets accounted for 35% of the total investments in H1 2021, followed by industrial and warehousing assets with a share of 27%. Investors are viewing the current scenario as an opportunity to snap up properties at attractive valuations.
Berkshire Hathway HomeServices, the real estate brokerage arm of global investor Warren Buffet has entered into the Indian market through its tie-up with Orenda India. Sanya Aeren, its Chief Advisor-Marketing & Communication, says the global best practices of Berkshire and the huge untapped opportunities in the Indian market would position this alliance into the top league. In an Exclusive Interview with Ravi Sinha, she spells out her plans to organize the property brokerage, penetrate deep into the market and also give a new experience to the investors. Excerpts of the interview:
A record low household savings, double digit unemployment, and rising inflation, has added to the harsh reality of Indian home buyers’ high Debt to Income (DTI) ratio. The Covid induced financial hardships have indeed wreaked havoc with many of the Indian home buyers. Despite of the advantages of lower interest rates, their DTI ratio has suddenly shot up beyond what could be termed as manageable level.
Until the lion learns how to write, every story will glorify the hunter, says an African Proverb. Research report by various industry stakeholders try best to paint a rosy picture; force feed the collective consciousness that the real estate market is on its way to historic high in the year 2021. But the mood of the nation is juxtaposed to the orchestrated euphoria and Track2Realty Investment survey finds that the real estate has slipped as the 3rd choice for a vast majority of the Indians, with C-SAT Score (Consumer Satisfaction Score) all time low.
Across the built environment of the Indian real estate the two question that are on everyone’s lips is about the recovery timelines and segment to recover first. Track2Realty finds this uncertainty about the possible recovery, or rather the lack of it, has also kept the fence sitting home buyers on the edge.
While the pandemic Covid-19 had hovered like a black swan for the economy in general and the real estate market in particular, the developers across the country also woke up to the unexpected but pleasant reality that the client conversion rate had improved post the pandemic. A Track2Realty analysis.
Projects worth INR 4,64,300 crore for a total of 575,900 units are already significantly behind schedule. These 5,75,900 units have been stuck since 2013 or before. However, what is even more disturbing than these staggering number is the fact that in many of the states RERA has been diluted to the extent that it allows the erring developers with the existing projects to get away with the fault lines.
Access to land is a critical factor for economic growth and poverty reduction. For government, industry, and citizens to be able to use this asset effectively and to minimise disputes, it is important to have access to reliable land and property records. Digitizing these land records is critical for ensuring India’s economic growth, as accessible, high quality records not only helps increase the visibility and availability of land for large-scale investment opportunities, but at an individual level, also makes it possible for the public to transact land and use it for seeking credit in a dispute-free environment.
It is single women and not the married ones who are the real demand drivers of the housing market in India. Contrary to the general perception that marriage is a catalyst for women to look up to house ownership, it is the single women across the cities of India that are more attracted to the property. The choices of single women are as much goaded by the safety of their own roof over head as with the investment horizon.
The changes in the land laws in Jammu & Kashmir has mostly been debated from the political standpoint. However, it has a direct linkage with the way the property market would shape up in a tourist destination that has thus far been seen as a hostile destination. The moot point today is whether the changed land laws would lead to any tangible difference in the property market over there. Will the developers actually flock to land scouting in this part of the world?