Track2Realty Exclusive: Slow economic growth affecting housing market
The recent Indian economic growth has been hampered by several domestic and global factors, resulting in the GDP growth plunging to 3 years low at 5.3% in 2QFY13[1]. Factors such as weak global economy, high interest rates, high inflation, high fiscal deficit, and lack of reforms were the primary reason affecting the GDP growth.
Track2Realty Exclusive: Vidya Basarkod, President, Sales and Marketing, Jaypee Greens believes though the Indian economy has gone through turbulent phase of slowdown, demand for housing has kept the momentum for residential real estate. In an exclusive interview with Track2Realty she asserts though liquidity has been a concern for both the buyers as well as developers, there are more pressing issues hampering the growth of the sector, like delays in approvals, infrastructure bottlenecks and skilled manpower.
Track2Realty Exclusive: Come budget and the real estate in the last few years seems to have been repeating the rhetoric of industry status. As a result, year after year it has been a case of realty proposes and the Finance Minister disposes. However, the sector on the eve of 2013-14 makes a strategic shift to be more realistic with its causes and concerns.
Track2Realty Exclusive Yearly Analysis: Some analysts believe the economy of the scale in the business is helping the developers to hold the stock. They maintain the developer does not put in his own money in financing a project. Even though the cost of land in cities like Mumbai and Delhi accounts for 70-80 percent of the construction cost, at least 50 per cent of the projects are in joint venture with the land owner.
Track2Realty Exclusive Yearly Analysis: Residential real estate is defying the conventional wisdom of economics where a constant price hike is not benefitting the real estate companies either. Track2Realty finds with pressure on both the demand and supply side, residential real estate has gone into a vicious cycle of ever increasing cost, falling demand, liquidity crunch and last, but not the least, delay in approvals adding to the woes of the developers.
Track2Realty: Across micro-markets, investor sentiment has been impacted due to inflationary pressures and rising interest rates through the course of 2012, which have only come down marginally with a few policy revisions by the apex bank in the second half of the year.
Track2Realty Exclusive: The future of integrated townships is fraught with hurdles, yet it is the only win-win housing solution in the horizon. It is one of the primal human desires to own a home at a nice, peaceful locality with most immediate necessities in the vicinity. Till only recently the fulfillment of this desire came at a heavy price, leading people to often settle for less. These days, this has become affordable, thanks to the concept of integrated townships.
Track2Realty: The government is working on a proposal to allow Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) to participate in the country’s rental housing market.
Track2Realty: RICS and CREDAI have joined hands to promote professional skills in real estate and construction. At the 12th National Convention of CREDAI at Barcelona, a joint initiative called “RICS-CREDAI Skills Development Initiative” was announced to address the education and training needs of professionals engaged in the real estate and construction sector in the country.
The annual monsoons have always been perceived both as a rural blessing and an urban curse – they are good news for the agrarian sector and the bane of water-logging prone cities. However, this caricatured mind-set is breaking.