Isn’t it ironic that in a country where housing shortage is at the core of policy debates, housing surplus in top Indian cities is juxtaposed to that. As a matter of fact, the reality of unsold housing units poses an even greater degree of imbalance than the housing shortage. But then unsold inventory is a symptom and not the cause of malaise in the housing market of the country. A Track2Realty report.
The Indian economy grew at 7.8 per cent in the first quarter of the current fiscal year, according to the data shared by National Statistical Office. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) retained its GDP growth forecast of 6.5 per cent for FY 2023-24. The real estate sector is expected to expand to $5.8 trillion by 2047, contributing 15.5 per cent to the GDP from an existing share of 7.3 per cent, a joint report by Knight Frank and National Real Estate Development Council (NAREDCO) indicates.
Post Covid, the Indian real estate is witness to a K-shape recovery where the listed & larger players are increasing their market share at the cost of smaller ones. Prima facie, what sounds like a market-linked reform, have concerns & repercussions that run much deeper. Is the current criterion of assessing a market with fiscal performance justified? Can only a handful of branded developers be the answer to India’s housing woes, questions Track2Realty.
Should businesses continue to operate out of old jaded buildings at the heart of the city? Is it more convenient for the commercial activities to move to the upscale swanky offices on the periphery locations where the cost of doing business per square feet is much lesser? Is ‘Walk to Work’ only a city center reality across the urban pockets? These are the subjects of serious discussions across the built environment of commercial real estate world over, finds Track2Realty.
Prestige Group has emerged as the new Brand Leader of Indian real estate. The brand had continuously been closer to the Leadership and among the Top 3 National Brands. Brigade Group makes a giant leap and jumps from Number 5 to now the 2nd Best Brand of the business. DLF is continuously scaling up and now rests as 3rd Best Brand at the National level. Godrej Properties is losing its sheen as a Valuable Brand and slips down to Number 5 from Number 2 this fiscal year. Puravankara is also proving to be the Dark Horse of the National Brand Leadership and emerges from Number 7 to now at Number 5.
Ramneek Sethi, an IT professional wanted to invest in the stock market. He was keen on real estate stocks keeping in mind its growth potential and India’s increasing urbanisation. However, a meeting with the financial planner changed his mind. The financial planner categorically asked him to stay away from volatile real estate stocks and instead get into the power play through proxies in cement, steel, and other ancillary businesses. Reason: Real estate stocks are not just volatile, but more often than not even defy the principles of fundamental analysis and technical analysis.
There is no denying that the real estate stocks have always been high in demand for investors. After all, in a housing deficient country like India it has to constantly grow. Isn’t it? However, what is often intriguing is that some of the real estate stocks have much higher price point, compared to the industry peers with similar fundamentals, including the EPS and PE ratio. This raises a fundamental question as to what determines the price of the real estate stocks.
Ever since the beginning of the year 2023, the real estate industry stakeholders are going gaga with the narrative of a turnaround year. It is not that such misplaced optimism has not hurt their cause in the past, but the leading voices of the sector seem to believe that a false narrative would goad the home buyers to make a beeline at the sales office. The industry narrative is hence tilted towards what could easily be vouchsafed as misplaced optimism.
The Union Budget 2023-24 has by and large ignored the long standing and some immediate concerns (even needs than wants) of the Indian real estate sector. The Finance Minister has not only ignored the supply side of the business, but also didn’t bother to address the demand side, that is the home buyers. Ironically, the leading voices of the sector are still happy with some of the intangible gains even though tangible benefits are non-existent.
The Union Budget 2023-24 has offered more intangible benefits than tangible gains for the real estate sector. It is hence no surprise that while the average home buyers got busy in their tax calculations immediately after the Finance Minister’s budget speech, the industry stakeholders have by and large given a thumbs up to the budget. A Track2Realty report.