Track2Realty: Over fifty percent of real estate buyers decisions are influenced by Internet research. The phenomenon, of researching online for real estate information is not limited to metros but also extended to buyers in tier II cities, as per the study of Google India. The study was conducted to understand the influence of Internet on real estate purchase decisions in India.
Track2Realty: Cumulative commercial real estate loans have tripled to reach INR 1.428 billion in the last six years up to November 2013, whereas individual housing loans doubled to reach INR 5.185 billion during the same period.
Track2Realty: Expectations of an economic turnaround were belied with GDP growth slowing down to about 4.7% for FY 2013–14, marking it as the second straight year with below-5% growth.
Track2Realty: For the quarter ended March 2014, nearly US$800 million was invested into India’s real estate sector. This translates to almost Rs.4,800 crore having been injected into the sector through the private equity route over the past few months. This couldn’t have happened at a more opportune timefor a sector faced with a liquidity crunch, high land acquisition costs, and stringent due diligence from the banking sector—which continues to perceive real estate as a high-risk domain in India.
Track2Realty: Several years after New Delhi, the country’s political capital, witnessed a transformation with the implementation of the Delhi Metro, the financial capital of Mumbai is set to experience a similar phenomenon with the imminent commissioning of the Versova Andheri-Ghatkopar (VAG) corridor of the Mumbai Metro. With equity participation from Reliance Infra and Veolia (a French transportation major), this PPP initiative has all the hallmarks of a game-changer for the city’s transportation and realty landscape.
Track2Realty Exclusive: The proposed industrial corridors across the country are being seen as the catalysts to ignite the growth of the economy in general and real estate market in particular. In Coimbatore also, all eyes are set on the Coimbatore-Tirupur-Erode Industrial Corridor that promises to redefine the economy of the region with fresh influx of investment and increased economic activity in and around the industrial corridor.
Track2Realty Exclusive: Investment in real estate has been a widely debated topic, dissected in great detail. For the past few years, India has been shining, has been one of the preferred destinations for real estate investments and has attracted capital infusion from foreign institutional investors/foreign funds as well as domestic players, both institutional and retail investors.
Track2Realty Exclusive: Real estate markets across the country have the uniform pattern of being speculative if the given market is high on the wish list of investors. On the contrary, end-user driven markets are always modest in appreciation but nevertheless carry genuine appreciation and provide a level playing field to all the stake holders, including the buyers.
Track2Realty Exclusive: The Real Estate Regulation Bill will define and clarify various concepts in the sector; this will bring in transparency and curb unfair practices. Following the trend seen in other sectors like telecom, banking, insurance etc, the Bill provides for creation of a separate Regulator and Appellate Authority. While it is expected to provide specialized regulation and enforcement, this should not become another regulatory in the ‘approval’ matrix.
Track2Realty: An increase in the number of enquiries for residential properties has been seen across the major cities. However, transaction volumes have not improved much. Restricted sales transactions were observed in major cities like Mumbai, Delhi, Gurgaon and NOIDA during 1Q 2014, as per a report by Colliers International.