Resilient Chennai rising to chart a new growth trajectory: JLL
JLL report finds Chennai market rising to new high. Chennai’s…
JLL report finds Chennai market rising to new high. Chennai’s…
The report “India’s Real Estate Market Outloo 2016” is part of CBRE’s Asia Pacific Markets Outlook Report series. CBRE forecasts that Asia Pacific’s steady economic growth will continue to outpace the rest of the world in 2016.
Dubai property market has been centre of attraction for the investors from across the world. Indians, of course, have been a significant contributors and Dubai rates India as the second largest investor country after the UK. Sultan Ebrahim Alakraf, Senior Director of Land Department, Government of Dubai, shares with Ravi Sinha how Dubai has been consciously trying to create its own brand differentiator with ease of doing business and easy exit to the investors. Excerpts of an exclusive interview:
Today, the world sees India as a land of opportunity for business and investment. RBI head Raghuram Rajan said in mid-September that while fellow BRICs have deep problems, India appears to be an island of relative calm in an ocean of turmoil.
The FDI relaxation by the Government of India is being hailed as a game changer across the Indian real estate sector. The developers even point out that now since the government has relaxed foreign direct investment norms in the construction sector by removing two major conditions related to minimum built up area and capital requirement, it simply means that any project under construction, regardless of size, can have access to FDI. So, it is going to help the cause of affordable housing.
A few may have succeeded but most of the developers have failed to position themselves right during the slowdown. In the process Track2Realty finds that the brand realty has taken a severe beating, losing the trust of both the end-users and the investors. The brand positioning that differentiates between the two different realty companies is today negligible with developers’ focus to sell. That, unfortunately, is not working for them and commanding premium over the brand reputation today is a far cry. Our team speaks to a cross section of developers, analysts and brand experts who may differ with each other but nearly all agree that sector has to come out of the Catch 22 situation.
“How long can a sector survive which is borrowing at 48 per cent from private lenders to serve the interest of previous debt raised at much lower rate,” asks a banker. His concern is not without valid reasons. Developers experimented with all funding options but still many of them are now being forced to seek other sources of funding which not only comes at a significantly higher cost but also where the source of fund is unregulated.
The stock market is not only showing the investors’ confidence index going up. It is also indicating the way forward for the Indian real estate. After all, investor sentiment on the bourses have often led to the recovery of the real estate market as the investment grows to the next level of confidence for a long term investment. It may be too early for concluding whether the stock recovery is here to stay and lead to revival of the fortunes of the real estate, yet Track2Realty finds the debate has gained ground. While the developers are optimistic about the money sooner than later coming into the sector, the critics have their own reasons to advice wait & watch policy, if not outright denial.
What needs to be done to ensure that Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) get to be the game changer? In India, we have seen ‘pious thought’ and ‘positive thinking’ not always being supplemented by positive action on part of the ‘powers that be’; be they regulatory authorities or the taxation authorities. Challenges which need to be addressed include different rates at which stamp duties are levied, for purchase and sale of assets across various states in India. Potential exists; making it a reality is the challenge.
Track2Realty Exclusive: The time of transition for the Indian real estate and construction sector has finally arrived. Since last few years, a number of regulations pertaining to the real estate market were put on hold. A number of them are now at the draft stage waiting for Parliament’s approvals.