SOBHA Limited claims to have achieved best ever quarterly sales volume of 1.13 million square feet of Super Built up Area valued at INR 8.88 billion, with an average price realization of INR 7,830 per square feet during Q3-21. Sales volume, total sales value and Sobha share of sales value during Q3-21 were up by 27% ,29% , 28% respectively as compared to Q2-21.
There is no denying that the world has changed for the real estate in this part of the market. Of course, there are acceptances with degree varying, denials and even reluctance to adapt to the new normal. However, what can’t be argued is the fact that the market forces are clearly signaling the paradigm shift from the existing denial & resistance to change.
Union Budget every year is the time when all the stakeholders of the Indian economy look up to the Finance Minister with optimism. Track2Realty noted that across the industries the wants & needs of the demand & supply side are not as juxtaposed as with the real estate. While the developers lobby hard to get the best deal out of the Union Budget, the buyers have their own set of choices and concerns. The Finance Minister is expected to walk a tightrope to balance the concerns of various stakeholders.
In the financial sector, housing finance is relatively a new concept as the government took interest in the last two decades to diminish the housing problem in India. However, the participation of banks and financial institutions in the housing credit sector has swelled and the sector itself has evolved over the years, fuelled also by the concurrent evolution in government regulations in the sector and real estate industry as a whole.
While the COVID-19 has by and large dented the confidence level of the real estate developers, Aditya Kushwaha, CEO & Director of Axis Ecorp believes there are silver lining for the players who are forward looking in their approach. In an exclusive interview with Track2Realty, Kushwaha asserts that the Work From Home trend would shift the focus from top metro cities to open spaces in and around the tourist destinations. He therefore urges the government to look at the Holiday Home segment as a priority sector.
The good news is that the Indian home buyers do understand that the lockdown post the Coronavirus was neither in the hands of the builders nor could have been anticipated. They hence don’t object to the period of six months being declared to be Force Majeure. The bad news is that the home buyers across the country feel the government’s declaration of Force Majeure is not in accordance with the law of natural justice. Track2Realty Online Poll finds that the home buyers are demanding equal leeway in the housing market.
It is pertinent to note here that there has been nothing posted on Hawelia Facebook page that could be defined as “Defamatory” by the Indian Penal Code (IPC). It seems builder does not believe in the IPC and wants to continue his fiefdom with HPC (Hawelia Penal Code). As per the law of the land, any comment/feedback/grievance could only be termed as defamation if it can’t be substantiated with the fact. Truth stands as biggest defence against the defamation. The chain mail between the builder and the home buyers of Hawelia Valenova Park could establish the fact that the buyers are not happy with the builder and the builder failed to even come forward to address the concerns.
Lockdown is not a new reality for the developers across India, and more particularly in the Delhi NCR region. The NGT construction ban, often for months together, has hampered the execution cycle of the business. However, the comprehensive lockdown due to Coronavirus could multiply the woes of the business with supply chain hurdles leading to cost escalation, labour migration and the job losses in the market leading to standstill sales and even foreclosures. However, Amit Modi, Director of ABA Corp who is also a known face of CREDAI in this part of world thinks otherwise. In an exclusive video conferencing with Ravi Sinha, he feels some of the input costs might come down to clear the material inventory in a competitive market.
It is in this backdrop that in a typical “Ravi Sinha Uncensored” tone I told a PR girl who called me for one such Press Release by one of the largest developers of Mumbai, “Listen! As a matter of principle I am not carrying any story on food distribution to construction workers. But wait! Please give my feedback to your client, “He or any other builder is not doing any charity; not worth beating its own trumpet. This is a national calamity and you are morally bound to do so. Such Press Releases only make you look really petty. You can weave this info into some other story once the dust settles and everything is normal. But glorifying humanitarian gesture at this point of time is at best Corona Tourism for Publicity which is highly deplorable.”
It is pertinent to note here that the builder has serious tussle with many of the home buyers at both his projects. Many a times the home buyers have been overtly refused the services with point blank justification that the Hawelia Facility Management is not obliged to entertain those who are unsatisfied buyers. However, in today’s pandemic it is not just unprofessional & unethical but also inhuman to not facilitate supply of day-to-day commodities when the builder’s commercial shops are not operational. Interestingly, Hawelia’s CSR initiative is called as Hawelia Humanity.