Jhumur Ghosh welcomed the panelists, following which Ravi Sinha questioned the global competitiveness of Indian real estate in the wake of thousands of abandoned projects waiting for the funds, the debt-equity ratio imbalance, lending issues, pre-launches without RERA sanctions, and the developers’ defending the indefensible.
Bhumika Group is also developing a shopping mall, high-street retail and office space and serviced apartments in the first phase. The company is giving retail space in shopping malls on lease, while office space, high-street retail and service apartments are on sale model.
Singapore investors are betting big on Indian commercial real estate and other new sunshine sectors, including logistics and warehousing. Major Singapore-based private equity firms are funnelling billions of dollars into the country’s real estate sector, particularly in South Indian cities.
The low consumer confidence has been linked as much to peoples’ lack of confidence in their own ability to pay as with the employment uncertainties. Collectively, the buyers’ risk aversion in today’s economy as well as the developers’ unfair business practices have eclipsed real estate like never before.
Two-wheeler loans, consumer durable loans, gold loans, vehicle finance and loan against property are the segments where NBFCs have a very strong presence across the country and enjoy a much larger share than the public sector banks.
The Indian residential market volumes spiraled down in terms of demand and supply almost every successive year in this decade. From a high of 480,000 units in 2010, the supply last year stood at mere 103,000 units across the top 8 cities.
Excuses galore within the sector and there is a big question mark over the execution and delivery capability of the developers. The execution failures have given a lending credence to the criticism that the developers just can not deliver on time. Delivery has emerged as a major issue even though the developers continue to blame it on external factors.
Till a decade back such was the mad rush for raising money in the capital market that even the real estate companies with limited presence in select micro markets started launching projects across the country to showcase a pan-India presence. Significant increase in housing demand, organized retailing and liquidity boom from 2003 to 2008, led to huge increase in land prices and real estate values and most real estate companies had a great run.
MORE till date has invested capital in the real estate sector through three real estate funds and PMS/ Prop investments. Today, cumulative AUM under MORE stands at more than INR 2,100 crore spread across IREF (INR 200 crore), IREF II (INR 500 crore), IREF III (INR 1030 crore) and balance under PMS / Prop Investments.
Swadeep Sharma was on a house hunt in Noida for the last two years. Last year he could find a house of choice at one of the newly delivered projects in Noida Expressway at INR 5600 per sq feet. He could, however, not manage his finances then. Now that he has managed his finances, he went to the same location anticipating shelling out more money. He was, however, taken by surprise. The apartment in the same society is today available at INR 4800 per sq feet.