Track2Realty Exclusive: Stable government has been the buzz word in India for quite some time; it has actually been one of the focal points of General Elections of 2014. In India since 1984 no government at centre could take charge of the office without the added baggage of unlike minded friends as alliance partners.
Track2Realty: Globally, as project delays, cost overruns and liquidity constraints continue to trouble the real estate and construction sectors, Building Information Modelling (BIM) has emerged as one of the most reliable tools to eliminate challenges and reduce the capital cost and carbon footprint by over 20 per cent.
Track2Realty: The Housing Sentiment Index (IIMB MB HIS) assessed by IIM Bangalore and Magicbricks forecasts that homebuyers across 8 of the 10 cities surveyed expect real estate prices to rise over the next six months. The aggregate Housing Sentiment Index (HSI) measured across 10 cities this quarter stood at 108. (An HSI score of 100 suggests the prices would remain static).
Track2Realty Exclusive: With a vision to make India a housing surplus nation from being the housing shortage country, CREDAI has been campaigning to make the business environment congenial for growth. But the realty bill, in its current form and shape, stifles the honest developer and scares away new entrepreneurs from entering the sector.
Track2Realty: Total inflows in the real estate sector for the first quarter of 2014 were recorded at INR 2,800 crores (USD 460 million), witnessing an increase of 28% compared to the previous quarter and nearly 2.5 times the investment in Q1 2013, says Cushman & Wakefield’s report on private equity (PE) investments in real estate.
Track2Realty: Investment-grade office space demand slowed down in the first quarter of 2014, with around 6.3 million sq. ft. of Grade A office space getting absorbed across the leading cities of the country. Transaction activity was dominated by the National Capital Region (NCR), Bangalore and Chennai.
Track2Realty: Although the Interim Budget announcement supporting affordable housing was welcomed by the real estate industry, the segment has a long way ahead as yet. To begin with, there is considerable supply shortage in this arena—pegged at 18.78 million for the 12th Five Year Plan (2012–2017) by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation Ministry (HUPA), of which 96% is in the EWS and LIG categories. Housing shortage for the EWS stands at almost 11 million homes, while that for LIG stands at 7.41 million homes.
Track2Realty: Godrej Properties has added a new project in Sector 79, Gurgaon to its development portfolio. The land parcel measures 17.4 acres and the project will be developed as a premium residential housing project. The expected saleable area in the project is .15 million square meters (1.6 million sq. ft.).
Track2Realty Exclusive: To say that the property market of Mumbai has been subdued for quite some time would be stating the obvious. Reports of inventory pile up and appreciation despite slow sales have only made the sentiments bearish. The macro-economic outlook in the last over a year has also not supported the cause of real estate market in the city. Amidst this gloomy scenario, comes the festival of Akshay Tirtiya which has traditionally been known for property acquisition in the city.
Track2Realty Exclusive: Is there any co-relation between luxury properties, High Net Worth Individuals (HNIs) and Akshay Tirtiya? Prime facie, it may seem to be very innocuous question but for those who are tracking the property market of Mumbai find not only a co-relation among the three, but also find the three working in tandem can ignite the property market as well.