Although sustainable real estate is still in a nascent stage in the country, India is actually one of the leading counties when it comes to green buildings development. In fact, India ranks only second after the U.S. in terms of the number of green technology projects and built-up area.
Mumbai real estate, often criticized for getting saturated, has been rather blessed with a number of hidden jewels. The city is sitting over some of the under-valued and lesser-known micro markets that are set to transform into property hotspots pretty soon. The cynics who thought that the peninsular city is left with no scope of horizontal growth have probably not visited any of these places.
I am also conscious of the fact that a large number of developers are hoping against the hope that once the tide is over and investors return to the market their ordeal would be over. I may sound to be disappointing gentlemen but the era of investor driven real estate business is over.
It is the lack of proper disclosure that often results in litigations. Across the world, disclosure laws vary from state to state, even down to the city and local governance level. Though disclosure norms are very poor in India, the developers who conceal relevant information about the housing project can still be taken to courts for failure to disclose.
Beating the slowdown blues, Bangalore-based developers DLF and Brigade continued their growth momentum with increase in revenue an profit. DLF, on the contrary, continued to lose the market share and revenue as slow sales hit the developer leading to quarter-on-quarter slide.
Colliers International was brought on board as the solution provider to raise INR105 crores in structured debt from an NBFC- Xander Finance Pvt Ltd, mainly to give an exit to the current investor- Motilal Oswal Real Estate in project Skylark Dasos on Hennur road.
Delivery delays, mismatch in area, changes in structure or designs in a project and developers going back on other promises have been quite common. These issues have given rise to consumer activism, in courts and outside. The Competition Commission of India (CCI) slapping a fine of INR 630 crore on DLF gave some hope to the buyers.
How relevant is the introduction of REITs when it comes to providing a new opportunity to get funds for the Indian real estate industry? Consider first, that India’s real estate has struggled to reduce debt, given that interest rates are among the highest in Asia. And, also consider that REITs will provide investors an opportunity to buy into India’s real estate market – these two aspects are just the basics.
As per Colliers Research, RERA and GST compliance will remain a challenge for several developers for at least the next six months. We expect a decline in the number of launches in H2 2017. However, the sales are likely to pick up during the festive season due to higher optimism among buyers after RERA.
The data available with Track2Realty suggests that more than half of the property transactions in the last three years have been with the under-construction property. However, purchase of under-construction properties is not as simple as it appears from the standpoint of construction timelines. The process needs extra caution from legal standpoint to make sure the second buyer is not caught between the developers’ vague commitments and the first buyers’ exit without the mandatory processes.