After nearly two-and-half years since RERA deployment across the country, the Centre’s aim to enforce it in each state to regulate the Indian real estate sector has picked up momentum. There has been a 40% growth in project registrations under RERA in a year across the country – from around 32,306 projects in end of September 2018 to nearly 45,307 projects as on 5th October 2019.
While the commercial office sector will dominate Indian REIT listings for the next couple of years, retail and logistics REITs are sure to follow. However, Indian residential REITs remain at best a distant possibility. The draft Model Tenancy Act, 2019 will make rental housing a more attractive investment play – but for Indian residential REITs to succeed as they have in countries like Singapore and the US, rental yields on Indian housing need to significantly surpass the current 1-3%.
After witnessing a revival of sorts in 2018 housing sales have witnessed a growth of 14% in the first nine months (January-September) of 2019 as compared to the corresponding period in 2018, according to India Real Estate Market Update Q3 2019, released by JLL . The office segment witnessed strong leasing, registering a jump of 40% during the same period as compared to the corresponding period in the previous year, the report added.
In the late 2010, buyers were largely in the age groups of 35-45 years and 45-55 years, but the share of homebuyers in the 25-35 years age group was minimal. However, improved tax benefits motivated more working youths in this age bracket to opt for home loans. Millennials predominantly favoured paying EMIs for buying a home over the ‘dead’ expense of rentals.
The festive season has traditionally been an active period for real estate sales as many buyers consider Navratri and Diwali an auspicious time to buy property. Like in previous years, developers this year have sweetened property deals – some up-front discounts, or more commonly 0% GST (which is in any case not charged on ready-to-move properties), waived stamp duty and registration charges, free reserved car parking, modular kitchens, etc.
CapitaLand’s developments underway in India include 17.9 million sq ft of business park space in Bangalore, Chennai, Gurgaon, Hyderabad and Pune when completed. Another 7.2 million sq ft through forward purchases have been signed up and are under construction. This includes IT parks in Mumbai and Hyderabad, a seventh warehouse at Arshiya Free Trade Warehousing Zone, Panvel, near Navi Mumbai, and BlueRidge 3, an IT/ITES Special Economic Zone development in Hinjewadi Phase 1 in Pune. CapitaLand is also building up a logistics asset portfolio in India with 4.3 million sq ft planned for development.
In the April-June 2019 quarter, India’s GDP grew only by 5% – the slowest pace in over six years. Consumers are spending less on everything from FMCG to automobiles – and, of course, real estate. Naturally, the sector eyes RBI’s monetary policy for cuts in the key lending rates to support the various measures taken by the government to boost consumption sentiment.
Maxima is a boutique development consisting of a single tower up to 36 storeys. The project is RERA registered and the construction is going on in full swing. Maxima is strategically located at JVLR, Andheri East and offers excellent connectivity to prominent business districts across western & eastern suburbs, airports, the upcoming metro line and social infrastructure around.
Bengaluru maintains the top position in office space leasing, with a share of 30% in gross leasing during Jan-September 2019. Bengaluru recorded gross absorption of 12.1 million sq feet during Jan-September 2019, a 7% increase from same period last year, as occupiers continue to ramp up. IT-BPM and technology companies together accounted for 36%. Engineering and manufacturing sector’s leasing accounted for 18% share. Occupiers are preleasing space, and even taking up space in refurbished grade B buildings, due to tight vacancies in the market amidst healthy demand. The city’s vacancy stood at 8.8% at the end of Q3 2019.
There has been a slump in the market. Huge unsold inventory has forced firms to not increase their rates. As a result, prices have remained range bound. With fewer launches, market is ready for homebuyers willing to take the buying decision. The unsold inventory during first nine months (July-September) of 2019 was 444,673 units, registering a small drop as compared to the corresponding period in 2018. While there has been a revival of sorts in sales since 2018, developers are still not out of the woods.