Track2Realty Exclusive: Funding, or rather lack of it, has been one of the key concerns of the real estate developers throughout 2013, yet if some of the key policy decisions that have been taken in the year it seems 2014 is all set to get big ticket funding. The money is poised to be invested in the sector and if not as private equity, the biggies will put in money through Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT).
Track2Realty Exclusive: The Coimbatore real estate has by and large outperformed the rest of the country. This better-than-national average performance during the year 2013 has been remarkable at a time when some of the matured property markets were witness to sales plummeting with stress both at the buyers’ as well as developers’ level.
Track2Realty: Total net office space absorption recorded a 25% decline in across top eight cities over last year. According to the annual year end estimations by Cushman & Wakefield the total net absorption for 2013 was recorded at 23 million square feet (msf). Most cities have witnessed a decline in net absorption in the range of 20-40% during the year, except Pune where incremental new space take-up increased by 15% in 2013.
Track2Realty: There are still significant investment opportunities left in India’s real estate market. For investors looking at cost-effective projects to park their funds, this might be a right time as weak market sentiments are likely to lead to weak valuations, providing windows for investing in quality projects.
Track2Realty Exclusive: When a developer few years back launched a 5 acre project in Coimbatore dedicated to the senior living, it raised quite many eye brows. Everyone was wondering whether there is a market for such a project, exclusively conceptualised for the senior citizens. Critics even had it that the project is ahead of its time and some termed it as a project meant for parking the investment.
Track2Realty Exclusive: A property analyst new in the Gujarat market wondered, “If Ahmedabad is not about satellite living, how come Bopal is a property hotspot?” Well, the curiosity is not without valid reason. Bopal is a classic case of a satellite town in which defies the conventional concept of satellite townships. Bopal has been witness to a massive growth in infrastructure the last 5 to 7 years, and that makes it look like the extension of another property hotspot in Ahmedabad itself.
Track2Realty: Investments in real estate total value of announced private equity transactions in the real estate for the first three quarters of 2013 were recorded at INR 4,716 crores (USD 755million), witnessing an increase of 26% compared to the first three quarters of 2012 (INR 3,750 crores / USD 704 million).
Track2Realty Exclusive: So if there is a real estate brand in India that wants to fully realize the benefits of branding to drive its business forward, what is the way forward?
Track2Realty Exclusive: Any commercial property with a rental value of Rs. 70-80 per square feet may be an ideal place to do business with. That, however, is not a reality in Gandhipuram of Coimbatore. Reason: the destination known as the commercial belly of Coimbatore was till recently offering the rental yields in the range of Rs. 30-40 per square feet. Critics even term the recent appreciation as not sustainable in commercial property rally in this micro market.
Track2Realty Exclusive: Ramnath Naik had gone on a house hunting spree on Ahram Road of Ahmedabad last year. The price was in the range of Rs. 5000-5500 per sq feet and hence out of his budget at that point of time. Now that he has arranged his budget and again went back to check the property prices with the apprehension of again getting disappointed with the perceived hike in price since then, he was pleasantly surprised.