When 80 years old Ramakant Apte in California read what filmmaker Karan Johar said about his birthplace Bandra as the new heart of the city, he got so nostalgic that India visit in general and moving around his good old queen of suburbs in particular was his wish list number one.
Demand for commercial office space across the seven major cities in India is estimated at around 160 mn sq ft by 2014, a latest study by real-estate services firm Cushman and Wakefield Research (CWR) said.
The term Vastu, meaning a dwelling place, was initially used to refer to the homes of gods and human beings. However, with time, it came to be associated with the right location as well as design of almost any and every structure.
Emaar Properties PJSC, Dubai’s largest real-estate firm, has asked consultants and investment bankers to value its Indian joint venture Emaar MGF Land Ltd’s assets.
Indian buyers usually pay for apartments before construction has been completed. Many buyers do not take out mortgage loans (the ratio of housing loans to GDP is less than 5% in India).
Indian house prices rose rapidly from 2002 to 2007. Strong economic growth and urbanization supported house prices, while in city centres a housing bubble was encouraged by inadequate infrastructure, lack of planning and antiquated land use laws.
Interest rate rises are beginning to bite in India, and housing markets in major cities weakened in 2010, says a report by the Global Property Guide.
Bangalore-based Century Real Estate has raised Rs.200 crore from Kotak Realty Fund, the property investment arm of Kotak Mahindra Bank, through a private placement of non-convertible debentures (NCD).
Ashiana Housing strengthening its Facility Management arm, has launched resale and rental services for Ashianaites.
Kotak Realty Fund, the property investment arm of India’s Kotak Mahindra Bank, plans to raise as much as USD 500 million by the second quarter of this year, in a bet on the long term case for property in Asia’s third-largest economy, a top official said.