Beyond the pessimism & optimism and, to some extent, more than expected recovery post the Covid-19 lockdown, the fact remains that 2020 has been by and large the most unforgettable year for the economy in general and the real estate market in particular. The old timers in the business even maintain that this has been even worse year than the global economic collapse after the Lehman crisis in 2008.
It is not just the fiscal performance or the stock market resilience that have elevated Godrej Properties to the coveted brand leadership across India. The performance has been remarkable and ever improving on various scale leading to better consumer experience and consumer connect. In a gloomy market of uncertainty, Godrej Properties looks most promising to meet the delivery commitments as well. Last, but not the least, while most of the corporate entities found it altogether challenging turf in the business of real estate, Godrej appears to be a natural real estate brand beyond its market presence in other businesses.
OYO Workspaces forays into Chennai with the launch of coworking brands – Innov8 and Workflo in the premium and budget categories. Incentivising start-ups, entrepreneurs and large companies to switch to managed workspaces, Innov8 offers seats starting at INR 9000 per month while Workflo offers seats starting at INR 5000 per month.
For the real estate, it seems the government message is that if you wish to revive than learn to survive on your own. Unfortunately, in a market loaded with housing inventory, added with the liquidity crunch, the over-supply could only be absorbed with the revival in demand. There has been no announcement as to how the government would ease the stuck up projects after its initial stressed funds.
According to the World Bank, India ranks at 63rd among 190 countries, and the ranking is anticipated to improve further in the coming years backed by progressive government policies. Meanwhile, the real estate sector has shown remarkable resilience despite the bearish phase of the economy. Below is a lowdown of how the real estate story unfolded in 2019:
Despite repeated attempts by Track2Realty, none of the developers with projects in the worst hit areas are ready to speak on camera. All of them are rather defiant that the construction ban is unfortunate disruptions and adversely affects the project timelines. The moot point nevertheless is can the builders in their collective consciousness shrug off the responsibility now? Do they wake up only when the NGT slaps the sector with construction ban? Can’t they switch to responsible urbanisation for future generations?These questions may not bother them but what they can’t afford to ignore is whether or not the housing sector in Delhi NCR would be paralysed if the city is not made worth breathing and worth living?” Unfortunately, there are more questions than what any of the stakeholders would like to answer with some honesty.
Co-working is gaining immense popularity in the new-age workforce providing hassle-free ways of working and networking. Innov8’s new centre is located in central Delhi, attracting the best minds to collaborate and work together. The new centre offers a dedicated desk starting at an affordable price of INR 10,999/- per month and with the recently launched flexi pass at INR 2,999/- per month and a day pass at INR 600/- per hour for a hot desk or a meeting room.
Traditionally, the festive quarter fares better than the previous quarters of the year when it comes to housing sales – the combination of religious sentiment and festive deals and freebies is a potent mix during this part of the year. For instance, Q4 2015 saw 70,000 homes sold in the seven major cities. However, as tempting as it was for developers to believe that this was an unshakeable performance standard, it was certainly shaken just a year later. After demonetization (DeMo) was announced in this critical quarter in 2016, housing sales halved to 32,100 units.
Highly-established developers are known to conduct careful research on their locations and are therefore able to pinpoint the most happening growth corridors. They know what product works best, and where it works best. While end-users are assured that they are buying into a well-researched area, this fact also ‘raises the bottom’ for investors who are looking for the right product to back.
OYO Workspaces, India’s fastest growing, multi-brand managed workspaces solutions provider is expanding its footprint in India and has forayed into the Hyderabad market with its new Innov8 centre. This new centre named as Innov8 Sreshta Marvel Hyderabad, is situated in Gachibowli, in the vicinity of Hitec City and has a capacity of over 700 seats. It is a beautifully crafted workspace with an industrial design language and is the latest addition to the company’s 22+ coworking centres.