Track2Realty: The draft guidelines for trading in REITs in India have been introduced and allowed. For the very first time, there exists a tool to channel small savings into the Indian real estate sector. Not surprisingly, several owners of income-generating properties are now considering setting up REITs.
Track2Realty: The global house price boom continues, with a new geographical twist. Housing markets surged during the year to Q2 2014 in Dubai, parts of Europe and the Pacific. In contrast, several Asian governments have implemented cooling measures, successfully restraining their housing markets, and the US housing market boom is weakening.
Track2Realty: Narendra Modi’s government has made massive forward strides within a short period. The progress in such a short period is remarkable, considering that the government is still hamstrung by a disproportionate fiscal deficit and its ability to induce further growth through public investment.
Track2Realty: The Union Budget 2014-15 was presented in the parliament under economic circumstances that required tax revenues to keep pace with targets. Considering the state of government finances and the current situation – below-normal monsoons, Middle East tension leading oil price volatility, the weakness of the India rupee etc., there was not much room for populism.
Track2Realty: The alarm on a tough upcoming budget was sounded when the newly elected Prime Minister said that “time has come to take tough decisions in the interest of the nation. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is taking all due measures towards his vision of a ‘Shresht Bharat’, amidst some calibrated tough measures.
Track2Realty Exclusive: The sentiments in the property market are subdued across the country and the transactions have nosedived in most of the major markets. However, Gujarat real estate seems to be picking up to buck the trend otherwise and the sentiments are changing for the better. This is reflective in the transactions that are happening across the state.
Track2Realty: The global house price boom continued during the year to Q1 (first quarter) 2014, gathering pace. Despite strongly rising housing markets in Taiwan and the Philippines, the momentum seems to be passing momentarily from Asia, where interventionist authorities have slowed housing markets in Hong Kong, Singapore and China. Instead, action is shifting to the Pacific, the Gulf, and (less forcefully) to Europe, which are all seeing strong price rises.
Track2Realty Exclusive: Real estate markets across the country have the uniform pattern of being speculative if the given market is high on the wish list of investors. On the contrary, end-user driven markets are always modest in appreciation but nevertheless carry genuine appreciation and provide a level playing field to all the stake holders, including the buyers.
Track2Realty Exclusive: With a vision to make India a housing surplus nation from being the housing shortage country, CREDAI has been campaigning to make the business environment congenial for growth. But the realty bill, in its current form and shape, stifles the honest developer and scares away new entrepreneurs from entering the sector.
Track2Realty: Although the Interim Budget announcement supporting affordable housing was welcomed by the real estate industry, the segment has a long way ahead as yet. To begin with, there is considerable supply shortage in this arena—pegged at 18.78 million for the 12th Five Year Plan (2012–2017) by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation Ministry (HUPA), of which 96% is in the EWS and LIG categories. Housing shortage for the EWS stands at almost 11 million homes, while that for LIG stands at 7.41 million homes.