Track2Realty Exclusive-Yearly Analysis: The unprecedented restructuring of project portfolio, selling of land bank, exiting non-core business and the job cuts have yet not led the Indian real estate into the desired comfort zone. The realization to shed the flab has on the contrary left some of the developers to outsource the project execution and pay more.
During the boom, many developers dreamed of transforming the urban landscape with millions of square feet of homes, offices and malls and set off on an aggressive expansion financed with debt that at 6 percent interest was cheap by Indian standards.
Union Budget every year is the time when all the stakeholders of the Indian economy look up to the Finance Minister with optimism. Track2Realty noted that across the industries the wants & needs of the demand & supply side are not as juxtaposed as with the real estate. While the developers lobby hard to get the best deal out of the Union Budget, the buyers have their own set of choices and concerns. The Finance Minister is expected to walk a tightrope to balance the concerns of various stakeholders.
The Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (ASSOCHAM) has suggested the government to introduce Real Estate Investment Trust and Real Estate Mutual Fund to enable investors to own a diversified portfolio of professionally managed assets in the real estate sector. In a note submitted to the government, the Chamber said that the Indian Real estate sector currently lacks any monetization vehicle for capital intensive verticals such as commercial offices and retail malls.
Recoveries in real estate topped the list, followed by the road sector thanks to several policy interventions, turnaround in these industries as also an overall positive macroeconomic. ”Real estate is seen to recover 77-82% of the acquired debt (by asset reconstruction companies) over eight years followed by highway tolling with a recovery of 58-63 per cent,” the study noted.
The real estate developers had a sigh of relief when the Government of India heeded to their demands for declaring Coronavirus hit construction under Force Majeure. The Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman assured the sector to issue an advisory to States and Union Territories and their regulatory authorities to extend the registration and completion date Suo-Moto by six months for all registered projects expiring on or after March 25, 2020 without individual applications.
Contrary to the general perception that the eco system is getting tougher for the builders due to home buyers’ activism, vigilante media and judicial intervention, the facts suggest that the developers have been given too long ropes to cross the bridge over the buyers’ interests. As a matter of fact, there are many instances of amnesty to the developers in the last few years.
Track2Realty: India Ratings & Research (Ind-Ra) maintains a negative outlook on the infrastructure sector for H213, largely due to unfavourable macro-economic variables and project level stresses.
Track2Realty Exclusive-Yearly Analysis: Realty sector may appear to be bullish and project that downside is over with rosy forecast ahead, yet the decline in fortune is far from being over. As a matter of fact, the learning in the last four years has forced most of the leading players to restructure their project portfolio and shed the flab.
Track2Realty Exclusive-Yearly Analysis: Indian real estate companies are reeling under the burden of debt, so much so that the excess cash that they had borrowed has become a liability that they want to get rid of but are unable to relieve themselves due to various factors beyond their control. They are nonetheless trying all possible measures, from selling land bank to restructuring their portfolio. Track2Realty tries to assess the seriousness of the situation where many of the realtors are caught between the distress sale and the debt trap.