This is a major push to the housing sector as aspiring home buyers now have a wider range of options to choose from. Additionally, developers would be enthused enough to commit towards offering more residential options in the affordable category.
Cash-strapped builders have been hoping for all and any Government interventions which can help boost their sales volumes. This GST cut will provide such a boost, at least in the short-term as more fence-sitters who had been postponing their purchase decisions now have an additional incentive to take the plunge.
PEL had previously announced a strategic co-investment fund with Ivanhoé Cambridge, to provide long term equity capital to blue chip residential developers across the five major metro cities in India (Mumbai, Bengaluru, NCR, Pune and Chennai). Ivanhoé Cambridge had allocated an initial US$ 250 Mn towards this fund.
There is no restriction on the number of properties that NRIs can own in India. However, NRIs obviously need to make informed decisions on such acquisitions. The most important consideration is that of whether the property purchase is for their own or their family’s actual use, or as an investment for rental income and potential capital appreciation.
Gross leasing activity is recorded at 50 million square feet in 2018, highest in last eight years driven by buoyant leasing in Bengaluru and NCR. Compared to the previous year, gross leasing increased by 17% as occupiers continued to expand and consolidate. The top 3 sectors contributing to gross leasing were IT-ITeS with 43%, flexible workplaces with 14% and BFSI with 12% share.
The listing of India’s first REIT by Blackstone-backed Embassy Group has been in the offing for quite some time, but it now finally appears that it will be listed within the first half of 2019. As REITs await their official deployment in India, investors hoping to cash on this new avenue for generous ROI growth seek to understand what exactly is in store for them – and for the real estate market.
The Shapoorji Pallonji Group has announced its entry into National Capital Region (NCR) with the launch of its first residential project under the aspirational housing brand ‘Joyville’ in Gurugram (Sector 102). This is the fourth project under Joyville brand following Kolkata, Virar and Pune, respectively.
While 2018 lived up to a fair number of expectations, there were a few misses too, particularly in the case of clarity on GST norms. Key highlights of 2018 were the creation of positive sentiments in the market by way of a robust office space absorption by emerging segments, as well as increase in the number of new launches and sales in the affordable housing sector.
With high expectations from 2018, it was anticipated that the teething problems around policy initiative introduced in 2017 (RERA and GST) would ease out by the end of the year, bringing a new order of transparency and efficiency.
This growth is witnessed across five major cities – Mumbai, Gurugram, Noida, Bengaluru and Pune, where 4000 homebuyers were surveyed by 360 Realtors to understand buying trends. One of the key driving factors for the increase in investor interest is the impact of policies such as RERA. Assured rentals and EMI payouts after possession, offered by developers have also significantly boosted investor confidence.