Indian real estate majors, DLF and Unitech, are set to miss their FY11 sales target, despite prices reaching the highs of 2007. Mid cap names like HDIL, Ackruti City and Sobha Developers are however on track to meet their targets.
Sanjay Chandra, managing director of Unitech Ltd has been summoned by investigators to answer questions over a suspected telecoms fraud that robbed the government of billions of dollars.
The Enforcement Directorate has asked the intelligence officers in different Indian Missions to check the money trail in the 2G spectrum scam. Special Director, ED has sent out communiqués to Cyprus, Mauritius, British Virgin Islands, Jersey, Isle of Man, Singapore, Dubai, and Tripoli (Libya, Norway).
The CBI investigation into the 2G spectrum scam is learnt to have zeroed on how lobbyist Nira Radia and former telecom minister A Raja circumvented all the norms to benefit the real estate company Unitech. The loss caused to the public exchequer and corresponding gain to the realty company is not confined to mere arbitrary granting of second-generation mobile telephony licenses.
Explaining the decent but not impressive quarterly performance, compared to the industry peers, the CEO of a listed real estate developer justified it with heavy concentration in the residential portfolio. According to him, the diversified portfolio of industry peers with income producing commercial spaces gives those companies an edge. More than an answer over his company’s performance, Track2Realty feels the statement raised an all important question: Does diversified portfolio give an edge to realty companies.
Post Covid, the Indian real estate is witness to a K-shape recovery where the listed & larger players are increasing their market share at the cost of smaller ones. Prima facie, what sounds like a market-linked reform, have concerns & repercussions that run much deeper. Is the current criterion of assessing a market with fiscal performance justified? Can only a handful of branded developers be the answer to India’s housing woes, questions Track2Realty.
Within the built environment of the Indian real estate there is still denial about too many parallels between the Indian and the Chinese real estate. Many even believe that the Indian economy is not that real estate dependent as the Chinese economy. Even when admitting the crisis in Indian real estate, it is diplomatically wrapped in the developer’s justification of not learning any lessons on part of the Indian developers.
It is the story of a debt ridden real estate company that is financially overleveraged; gone beyond execution capabilities; has multi-city penetration; is into multiple businesses; and the promoters are just delaying the inevitable. The developer that you instantly recall is China’s Evergrande. It’s the talk of the town across the built environment of global real estate today. But wait! Has India not been witness to its own Evergrande moment (though on a smaller scale) in the past? Track2Realty speaks to cross section of industry analysts.
Beyond inventory statistics, and the customary positive outlook for the year ahead, 2019 has yet again underlined the need to read the pulse of the market dispassionately to learn why the tide has been going against. The lessons are equally true for both the builders and the buyers. Unfortunately, the sector does not seem to learn the lessons yet again. The testimony of the developers’ defiance is their guarded optimism for the year ahead, while dismissing the 2019 as yet another challenging year that has gone by.
Track2Realty has in its possession various exchanged mails between the buyers and the builders which not only defies any civilized business correspondence but is also in contravention with the law of the land. In one such mail with a delayed project for more than three years, the builder has the audacity to put on record that they would refund only with some deductions, forget about delayed penalty. Incidentally, the builder has accepted unaccounted cash with the said buyer and hence the buyer knows the real fallout of the exit.