Track2Realty Roundtable—Looking In and Looking Ahead-IV
Ravi Sinha: All said and done, land acquisition bill is going to be a reality. What are the issues that make you so critical of it? Is it just the fresh cost of acquisition?
Ravi Sinha: All said and done, land acquisition bill is going to be a reality. What are the issues that make you so critical of it? Is it just the fresh cost of acquisition?
Ravi Sinha: The point here is how feasible are the wishful thoughts of the sector in 2013?
Sunil Dahiya: The commercial essence of our product has been taken out. Now the consumer is saying let me wait for something, and he is waiting in eternity for something better to come. What he is waiting for, we also don’t know. So, the consumer has been loaded with confusion, and we are loaded with a product which is dead.
Track2Realty Exclusive: Moderation in new supply brought the vacancy down
During 2012, the new supply dropped by a whopping 40% y-o-y to 18 million sq ft, as across many cities, the slow adjustment of supply with the changing demand patterns took effect. Bangalore was the only exception to this, where the new supply rose by a whopping 35% y-o-y, as a number of developments which had been fast tracked in response to the sharp recovery in demand in the city since 2010, got completed during the period.
Track2Realty Exclusive: Reforms as the very philosophy of a sector demands that all stake holders agree to function in a transparent manner. With the growth of real estate over the last decade, while it is heartening to note that both the developers and the government have realised the importance of transparency in the sector, there are still challenges galore.
Ravi Sinha: I think Mr Tripathi has a very valid point that the CCI has emerged. You have also seen the wrong side of consumer activism in a Noida Extension kind of a situation. When we think of reforms, government is looking for a regulator and a whole lot of sector’s wish list has not gone down well with the government. Do you think that the sector will move ahead with some sort of reforms in the year ahead?
Track2Realty: Despite an 83% drop in supply of organised retail space across key cities in the country, 2012 continued to witness an increase in transaction activity and retailer expansion. According to the findings of CBRE’s latest report “Indian Retail Market View H2, 2012”, approximately 2.5 million sq.ft. of fresh retail space entered the market in 2012, mainly concentrated in Bangalore, Kolkata and Pune, as against over 15 million sq.ft. in 2011.
I welcome all the panelists in the final roundtable for Track2Realty Focus 2013. As we come to the end of 2012, it is time to look in & look ahead as far as the prospects of the realty sector are concerned. In this discussion, we would try to wrap up the year 2012, and see where the sector has been heading to in 2013. So, when you look at the year Mr Sharma, don’t you think “oh! what a waste.” So much was expected this year but nothing has moved forward, be it in terms of administrative reforms, fiscal reforms or land reforms; nothing has gone right for the sector.
Track2Realty: Omaxe has reported nearly 50 per cent increase in consolidated net profit at Rs 28.85 crore in the third quarter of this fiscal.
Track2Realty Exclusive: Come budget and the real estate in the last few years seems to have been repeating the rhetoric of industry status. As a result, year after year it has been a case of realty proposes and the Finance Minister disposes. However, the sector on the eve of 2013-14 makes a strategic shift to be more realistic with its causes and concerns.
Track2Realty-Agencies: Real estate industry and property consultants today hailed the RBI’s decision to cut key policy rates, saying that it is a positive step that would boost housing demand and encourage foreign investment in the sector.