Track2Realty Exclusive: When Prahlad Patel went on a property hunt in the city of Vadodara, the broker had a curious look at his face. Under the impression that Patel is one among the many NRIs looking to invest in the city property with the fall in the Indian currency he thought it is his duty to narrate how the property market is just ripe to enter for sizeable return.
Track2Realty Exclusive: Rajeev Dash, a textile exporter from Chennai was on the lookout for a plot in Coimbatore from where he could procure the textile stuff. However, his search for an easy entry to the local market with anticipation of availability of low cost property met with a surprise. The brokers in the local market showed him a number of properties, but none below the not-so-believable crore plus figure. This made him wonder whether he is negotiating in the Coimbatore market or the property agents are taking him for a ride.
Track2Realty Exclusive: The real estate market has often been defined in terms of being either the buyers’ market or the sellers’ market. In most of the major markets across the country the bull phase of the economy led to the sellers’ market with demand outstripping the supply.
Track2Realty: With the coming of the new government already having improved sentiments in the realty market, as a next step the sector expects India’s economic fundamentals to be tackled on a priority basis before any major changes may be anticipated at an industry-level. Infrastructure projects need to be implemented with a sense of urgency, and more income tax incentives for home loans have to be introduced before we can expect to see any significant impact on the real estate sector.
Track2Realty: The biggest announcement for the real estate sector proposed by the newly elected Government in its Union Budget 2014–15 was the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) being directed to introduce Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) and Infrastructure Investment Trusts in India.
Track2Realty Exclusive: Till very recently, unlike several other industries, real estate used to take a back seat in times of a sluggish market or when there was some controversy around. Any negative market sentiment or slowdown more often than not led to newspapers’ property supplements growing thinner and vacant hoardings in and around city becoming common. Prima facie it was seen to be a sales driven exercise where real estate companies’ approach has been to advertise for selling their product and not creating a brand icon. But that seems to be only half the truth in today’s context as the sector is doling out more money for advertising despite slowdown.
Track2Realty: Following the slow market conditions of the last couple of quarters, Mumbai’s office market saw a slight spurt in market sentiments in the second quarter of 2014. The city’s overall real estate market is anticipated to fare better in the third quarter over the second quarter of the year.
Track2Realty: A report in 2013 labelled Mumbai as the 16th most expensive city globally in terms of owning a residential space. The southern region of the island city is seen as the most prime, with locations such as Colaba, Cuffe Parade and Malabar hills topping the price charts. Owning a home in these and similar location of other cities can cost a buyer more than he or she would earn in two lifetimes.
Track2Realty Exclusive: If ever you have not missed a flight out of Mumbai or got delayed to an appointment of lifetime in Mumbai due to traffic bottlenecks, you would probably not understand why India’s commercial capital has been waiting so eagerly for the metro train to roll out. But wait! There is more to just ease of traffic with the metro train in Mumbai becoming a reality.
Track2Realty Exclusive: IT driven locations across the country has been witness to the migration of large educated workforce, be it Bangalore, Gurgaon or Pune. This upwardly mobile, well-earning and lifestyle driven class hence becomes a key demand driver of property in the given city. In Pune the expat Indians have thus emerged as the key demand driver of property.