Even as we continue to discuss the acute shortage of industrial land in Mumbai, the fact remains that there are rather significant land parcels held by the MIDC along Mumbai’s Thane-Belapur Highway.
The Finance Minister seems to be getting more appreciation than brickbats for renewing focus on the housing needs of Aam Aadmi. Even the real estate sector is divided and while the long awaited demands have not been fulfilled, a section of the realtors with affordable housing projects have appreciated the efforts.
Seven years ago, the managing committee of the National Sports Club of India (NSCI) suddenly started breaking down the existing Vallabhbhai Patel Stadium to start building–what they led everyone to believe–would be Mumbai’s first international Olympic size indoor stadium. The project was conceived in 2003 to be worth around Rs 40 crore and scheduled to be completed in 18 months. Seven years and Rs 200 crore later, it still isn’t functional, but the superstructure is ready.
The country’s largest realty firm, DLF, is today launching one of the costliest residential projects offering 38 luxury housing units at a price range of Rs 15-25 crore. The company will launch a super luxury residential project DLF King’s Court, which is spread over 2.3 acres of land at Greater Kailash-II in South Delhi, with a project cost of about Rs 700 crore, PTI reported, citing sources.
I am relatively dissatisfied with the budget focus on the sector as no efforts made to the growth of the sector. My wish list to the Finance Minister is to relax the provisioning norms of banks for Real Estate loans, sector status to real estate, clarity on service tax & VAT, with some relaxation and to increase the interest exemption on Housing loan. But then the Finance Minister has not consulted the industry representatives in the last few years.
When the Union Finance Minister, Nirmala Sitharaman, urged the States to cut Stamp Duty rates in her 2024-25 budget presentation, this was by & large seen as a mere headline making statement. Why would States cut the Stamp Duty on property when it is one of the major sources of revenue, was the general feeling in the collective consciousness. But now sources tell Track2Realty that there had been a message of deep meaning to the States going to polls.
No one has got a clear answer to the core of the problems and every industry stakeholder has his own point of view. However, the economies of scale suggests it definitely helps the developers to undertake cost-effective measures since material procurement happens at a group level. This gives large developers an advantage over other smaller developers and projects. Also, the duration of construction has an impact on the cost. The developers must ensure the completion of projects on time, which could help us sell the properties at a faster pace and keep the cost under control.
Indian real estate is still a viable and fairly safe long-term investment option. Investors with a short-term view on ‘instant returns’ need to look elsewhere, but most other asset classes are quite volatile in nature and will continue to remain so. Indian residential real estate is a long-time favourite of resident Indians and NRIs, and recent trends suggest a positive outlook for this asset class going forward. Property prices have bottomed out and cannot possibly reduce further, especially since construction costs are gradually heading north.
The year 2017 turned out to be a landmark year for the economy at large and the real estate sector in particular. Several historic reforms and policies were rolled out. Beginning with the Union Budget, the affordable housing received a huge impetus in the form of infrastructure status.
News Point: With 315 MSF office and 39 MSF mall…