Tokyo is the world’s hottest city for new retailer expansion, attracting 63 new retail brands, according to the latest report by global property advisor CBRE, How Global is the Business of Retail?. Space in core areas of Tokyo remain highly sought after despite the mixed signals in the economy and an increase in sales tax of 8% introduced in April 2014.
Many home buyers as well as investors have been speculating about the movement of residential property prices in Mumbai. These fence-sitters are watching the market’s movements keenly. Their guess is that prices could go down further in the next few months – which in turn has increased their hopes of landing a better deal for their money and delaying their purchase.
With the reviving economy having infused a renewed sense of confidence among HNI home buyers, there has been a significant surge in demand for luxury homes asset class in the metropolitan cities of India. Many more developers are now venturing into the premium segment, which has resulted in a massive spurt of luxury projects. In fact, many of these properties are being touted as so exclusive that sales are by invitations only.
The concerns about soaring rentals and unaffordable housing in Mumbai notwithstanding, the surprising fact is that residential property prices across Mumbai city and its suburbs increased only by 7% in 2014, and by a negligible 0.3% in 2013.
Track2Realty: Reams of newsprint have been dedicated to discussing the sufferings of consumers in the Indian real estate sector. Particularly, homebuyers’ woes related to late delivery of projects, deviation of housing projects from promised quality, additional payments due to change in apartment area and inadequate protection of their rights have been well-documented.
Track2Realty: International expansion remains high on the agenda for retailers in 2015, in spite of uncertain economic prospects and cost escalation. CBRE’s research report, How Active are Retailers Globally?, has several interesting implications for the Asia Pacific (APAC) region, with some 85% of luxury and business fashion retailers looking at the region, and 67% of coffee and restaurant retailers doing the same.
Track2Realty: Vatika Group has tied-up with PVR to open and operate 26 multiplex screens in three of Vatika Group’s townships – Vatika India Next (250 hectares), Vatika Infotech City and Vatika City Central in Gurgaon, Jaipur and Ambala respectively.
Track2Realty Exclusive: Sales model in commercial office spaces that was only recently seen as an indicator of distress on part of the developers has, of late, turned out to be a smart business model by the MNCs. These multinational companies seem to have confidence in the Indian growth story and with long term plan they are investing into the purchase of these properties. Track2Realty Focus 2015 finds that it is not a distress sale of developers since the capital values and rental yields have both appreciated sharply in the last three years despite of impending slowdown. The shift of these commercial spaces beyond the IT/ITeS is the most significant trend.
Track2Realty: New residential unit launches across top eight cities declined by 12% y-o-y in 2014 with total launch of 153,000 units. The top three cities of Bengaluru (27%), NCR (17%) and Mumbai (16%) comprised of 60% of the total new launches in 2014, says a report by Cushman & Wakefield.
Track2Realty Exclusive: It has indeed been a busy year and 2014 can well be described as the year of roller coaster emotions where the business confidence index was exposed to two extreme ends of swing. In an otherwise flat year, the real estate sector may not have been witness to transactions on ground but the poetic engagement has definitely been at the emotional level.