Track2Realty Exclusive: The three key factors that go into sustainable construction are — design, materials and technologies. In order to get the benefit of those savings, a developer has to replace conventional methods with green alternatives on all the three fronts.
Track2Realty: ASK Property Investment Advisors (ASKPIA), the real-estate private equity arm of ASK Group has announced its fifth investment from its second real estate fund. The project which will comprise of residential apartments is expected to have a sales value of around Rs.1000 crores.
Track2Realty Exclusive: The debate over promoter driven versus professional driven also brings to the table the fundamental question as to whether the entry of corporates into the business has changed the outlook of real estate in India. Have they brought about transparency and corporate governance?
Track2Realty Exclusive: The debate of promoter versus professional driven realty companies gained momentum in the year 2012 because high attrition at the top level of realty sector has been in the news throughout the year. The Managing Directors of Indiabulls Real Estate and Peninsula Land quit in the month of October. So did the real estate heads of two property funds, Indiareit and Everstone Capital. Most of them either moved to other realty companies, starting their own ventures or shifting streams to join consultancies.
Track2Realty Exclusive: Realtors rue that in spite of all the scrutiny, even today realty does not have the right formula. The issue is not to go public or whether the people who have already gone public are right or wrong. The issue now is if while going public, there is a solution where the actual value is derived on the basis of how other industries value themselves? Only then it makes financial sense to go public as the sector has seen successful IPOs also.
Track2Realty-Agencies: While the promoters of realty firms in India are wary of selling stake and instead choosing institutional placement programme (IPP) over share auction to bring down holding to comply with regulatory norms, Bangalore-based Puravankara Projects has also plans to raise around Rs 450 through IPP route.
Track2Realty-Agencies: Real estate firms, including market leader DLF, are taking a contrarian view on preferred route for selling promoter shares, as they are opting for Institutional Placement Programme (IPP) as against the much sought-after Offer For Sale (OFS) mechanism.
Track2Realty Exclusive: Analysis of East Zone
The transaction activity registered in Kolkata in 2012 was down by 42% during Q1-Q3 2012 compared to the year ago period. The subdued demand is the result of the uncertainty prevailing in both the global as well as domestic markets. Most of the corporates have trimmed their expansion plans and instead looking at consolidation to optimize their real estate usage and bring down the costs.
Track2Realty Exclusive: NCR and Mumbai account for 60-70 per cent of the total deals, along with some top tier I cities. Some tier II cities are also witness to sizeable land deals. Most of the land purchases will be done by regional smaller players instead of big developers, Cushman & Wakefield (C&W) Executive Managing Director (South Asia) Sanjay Dutt says.
Track2Realty Exclusive-Yearly Analysis: DLF is raising funds by selling non-core assets, Godrej Properties raised funds through a QIP and HDIL is generating funds by selling transfer of development rights (TDR) and floor space index (FSI) — all to lighten the debt burden. Earlier, companies were building land banks and were rewarded for it in the stock market. Now, they are conserving cash to payback creditors.