After a one-year period starting 3Q 2009, which saw a strong recovery with a record 40%+ increase in prices, the Mumbai residential real estate market has been seeing a slowdown over the last two quarters across various micro markets.
Kotak Realty Fund, the property investment arm of India’s Kotak Mahindra Bank, plans to raise as much as USD 500 million by the second quarter of this year, in a bet on the long term case for property in Asia’s third-largest economy, a top official said.
Mumbai saw a steep rise in property prices during the boom period of 2008. However, the economic slowdown in 2009 led to a property market crash which made itself very tangible in Mumbai in the first quarter of 2009, stabilizing by the middle of year and rising again between the 3rd and 4th quarters.
As the Reserve Bank of India meets to review its monetary policy tomorrow, Thursday, the realty sector is getting panicky that if there is a rate hike the sector may see some more pains in the coming days.
Stocks of real estate companies suffered widespread losses on the BSE today dragging down the sectoral index by 3.14 per cent on all-round selling by funds on fears of rate hike by RBI to curb inflation.
Buying land can be a time-consuming and expensive affair. Not only can the initial phase of buying it be quite complicated, but the cost involved in maintaining a purchased plot can also be quite high.
Chinese officials are blaming the speculators for soaring property prices and have announced to build 36 million affordable homes over the next five years.
Real estate developers are trying to change perceptions. A new team of office bearers which took charge at the Confederation of Real Estate Developers’ Associations of India (CREDAI) has announced to work on a set of measures that will help builders deliver projects on time, redress customer grievances and improve governance to change image and perception of the sector.
Reforms in the real estate sector is the need of the hour for tackling issues like high stamp duty which often results in otherwise honest people having to deal in black money, according to the Economic Survey 2010-11 tabled by Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee in the Lok Sabha on Friday.
Real Estate and Finance Minister seem to be at logger heads over the wants and needs of the sector. Interestingly when one proposes and the other disposes, both of them justify their stand in the name of “Aaam Aadmi”, the common man who is the consumer and the end-user. But in this cacophony of confusion the “Aaam Aadmi” is often found wondering as to who will ask for his wish list with Union Budget.