Track2Realty: With economy witnessing a downturn, interest rates and inflation reaching all-time highs, 2013 has been one of the most eventful years for Real Estate in India. While introduction of Real Estate Regulatory Bill and Land Acquisitions Bills in the Parliament was positive for the real estate industry, end users sitting on the fence expecting a fall in prices lead to a contraction of demand in the past few quarters.
Track2Realty Exclusive: Real estate gains are not always short-term but often long-term from investment point of view. The same can be said about 2013 where despite of an outside view dismissing the year 2013 for low sales velocity, piling inventory, liquidity crunch and policy ambiguity, added to the country moving to the General Elections in 2014, the sector has managed to pave the way for long term reforms.
Track2Realty: 2013 was one of much economic turbulence. High retail inflation, high interest rates and a continuous fall in the rupee value, have been slowing the overall growth and have continuously hindered the investment sentiment in the market during the entire 2013.
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 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: Friends handling the social media of realty companies take an offence when social media is being criticised to be overused due to strategic dilemma. “Don’t blame the medium for human follies,” is the argument in general. Actually one of the friends from the online community wrote a blog post on the issue with the same title and started a discussion thread on the LinkedIn.
Track2Realty: Emerging markets are offering interesting investment opportunities in terms of shopping center development, according to the latest Asia Pacific Retail Trends and Retail Hotspots reports released by CBRE. The Asia Pacific market in particular continued to see a steady flow of new retailer openings in 2013, amid steady economic growth and generally positive consumer sentiment.
Track2Realty Exclusive: Had people who conceptualised the idea of Facebook & Twitter been from the Indian real estate, they would have by now thrown open a BIG IDEA where the cost of running a country like India could have been brought to almost negligible having social media its way. The law makers would not have the trouble of travelling all their way to Parliament from respective constituencies in the remote areas.
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 Exclusive: Brand managers of the companies who have been into strategising at the bottom of the pyramid wish it is high time credible bodies initiate measures on this front in the public domain. On the other hand, private equity funds in their due diligence reports (privately) do accord importance to this aspect.