Sobha Limited has launched its first commercial Project ‘Sobha City Mall’ at Puzhakkal in Thrissur, Kerala. Situated at the heart of ‘Sobha City’- the first and the largest integrated township in the State, ‘Sobha City Mall’ will offer best-in-class retail and entertainment experience for the customers.
A few may have succeeded but most of the developers have failed to position themselves right during the slowdown. In the process Track2Realty finds that the brand realty has taken a severe beating, losing the trust of both the end-users and the investors. The brand positioning that differentiates between the two different realty companies is today negligible with developers’ focus to sell. That, unfortunately, is not working for them and commanding premium over the brand reputation today is a far cry. Our team speaks to a cross section of developers, analysts and brand experts who may differ with each other but nearly all agree that sector has to come out of the Catch 22 situation.
Experts recommend certain safeguards a homebuyer should take to evade getting into dicey deals:
Reputation: The buyer should invariably consider the reputation of the builder and their development history and form a fair idea of the credibility of the developer both in terms of timely completion of work and the quality of their construction.
In the real estate market consumer activism in India may have been high in recent times, but consumer awareness is pretty low. Most of the first time home buyers even fail to differentiate between what they want and what they need in an apartment, forget about their knowledge with regard to legalities and necessary checklist. The mismatch between developers’ offerings and buyers’ perception is a critical missing link leading to an impression gaining ground that the developer has not fulfilled his promise.
One-sided builder-buyer contract, late delivery of the possession and poor quality of construction is an accepted reality in the Indian real estate. A prominent developer in Noida Extension is reportedly forcing its buyers to sign the modified apartment buyer contracts with extended possession date and reduced penalty for delay in handing over the apartments. “Otherwise, we are ready and willing to refund the entire booking amount along with 11 per cent interest, without any deductions,” says the forwarding of the letter sent to the buyers.
From being the governance wild child to maturing into a market influencer, India’s real-estate sector has transformed in the past decade, with a paradigm shift from family owned businesses to corporates along with a few companies listing on stock exchanges. The change began with the government opening doors to Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in 2005 and then welcoming the next wave of stability as corporate houses brought image restoration for the sector. Led by corporate entities, realty companies soon adopted corporate governance wherein transparency began to trickle down into the system as a norm slowly.
“How long can a sector survive which is borrowing at 48 per cent from private lenders to serve the interest of previous debt raised at much lower rate,” asks a banker. His concern is not without valid reasons. Developers experimented with all funding options but still many of them are now being forced to seek other sources of funding which not only comes at a significantly higher cost but also where the source of fund is unregulated.
Track2Realty Investment Magnet Report 2015 tries to decode the alphabets of India’s housing market. The editorial team has not invented these alphabetic connotations and everyone in the sector is well aware of the alphabetic practices as well, yet we simplify it for the average investors and homebuyers who often forget the basics that make their fortunes vary. Familiarity with the given A to Z is often the difference between a skilled homebuyer and a novice.
Some key findings that indicate the aspiration quotient and standing of the Indian real estate:
88% Indians find real estate is still best asset class to invest
72% believe pre-launch or early stage of construction is best bargain
78% maintain upcoming locations give better returns than prime localities
84% homebuyers are sulking & repent their home buying decision
46% homebuyers have too serious issues with the developer to reconcile
In a price-sensitive market like Pune, affordable housing is always in demand. The city’s working and earning middle class is constantly on the lookout for good homes available within their budget. This festive season, the Pune market is showing signs of increased activity as always, but the onus is on homes which fit people’s budgets.