Track2Realty-Agencies: The Reserve Bank of India has allowed real estate developers and housing finance companies to raise funds overseas for low-cost housing projects.
The stock market in general and banks, realty stocks & shares of infrastructure finance companies in particular reacted sharply to the draft proposal of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) that suggested tighter project financing norms of banks to project financing. The Indian real estate projects already weathering headwinds to attract project finance immediately swung into cost & benefit analysis. Though most of the leading developers were cautious in giving critical reactions, privately they all maintained that the RBI should have rather looked into the funding gap of the viable under construction real estate projects with cash receivables in the pipeline. A Track2Realty analysis.
In the financial sector, housing finance is relatively a new concept as the government took interest in the last two decades to diminish the housing problem in India. However, the participation of banks and financial institutions in the housing credit sector has swelled and the sector itself has evolved over the years, fuelled also by the concurrent evolution in government regulations in the sector and real estate industry as a whole.
Private Equity funds, domestic and multi-national, have become major players in the Indian real estate market, investing tens of thousands of crores. While Blackstone and Brookfield have hitherto been largest foreign investors in Indian real estate, a gamut of Japanese Private Equity giants are also making waves. Heavyweight Japanese Corporations such as Mitsui Fudson, Mitsubishi Corporation, Sumitomo Corporation and Genkai Capital too have made big-ticket investments in Indian metro cities.
Multiple Challenges for HFCs Still in Play: The housing finance sector has been facing challenges, which have led to a contraction in spreads, a rise in funding cost and an increased spotlight on their asset-liability mismatches. Such mismatches have resulted in constrained financing from both market-based sources (CPs and NCDs) and banks for many players.
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.
Track2Realty Exclusive: The Government of India envisages one trillion dollar investment in all areas of infrastructure in the 12th five year plan (year 2012 to 2017). The Government wants fifty percent of this investment to come from the private sector participation and most of these projects are expected to utilize the Private – Public partnership (PPP) model.
Track2Realty-Agencies: The Finance Ministry has expressed the view that the Reserve Bank should allow real estate companies and broking firms to set up banks as adequate safeguards will be there to prevent exposure of promoters to related entities.
CREDAI has reacted sharply over the Finance Minister’s asking chiefs of public sector banks to put pressure on real estate developers to lower property prices and not hold invetory. CREDAI has said in a release that instead of asking realtors to download unsold stock at discounted prices, the Union Finance Minister P Chidambaram should take immediate steps to boost to housing stock supply through special incentives to the affordable segment.
SRG Housing Finance Limited, a growing housing finance company with registered office atUdaipur in Rajasthan, proposes to enter the capital markets on 22nd August 2012 with a public issue of 35,04,000 of Rs 10 each. The Issue price for this IPO to be listed on SME platform of BSE has been fixed at Rs 20 per equity share of Rs 10 each. The Issue closes on 24th August 2012.