Track2Realty: Knight Frank India in association with the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry today released its second set of findings of the quarterly Real Estate Sentiment Index. The first index that covered Q4 2013 was released in February, 2014.
Speaking about these findings, Shishir Baijal, Chairman & Managing Director, Knight Frank India said, “The latest round of the FICCI-Knight Frank Real Estate Sentiment Index survey aptly captures the optimism of stakeholders who have pinned their hopes on the imminent change in political leadership at the centre. This optimism is not a case in isolation in any particular region in the country but extends to all four regions covered in the survey.”
The future sentiment score has improved across all zones displaying a strong positive outlook. Stakeholders have pinned their hopes on the imminent change in political leadership which has pushed the future sentiment score to 63 in comparison to 50 in the last survey.
Dr. A Didar Singh, Secretary General, FICCI, said, “As the country waits for the new government to take charge at the centre, future sentiments have improved across all zones in realty sector. Majority of the developers and financial institutions are quite bullish about the future of the economy as well as the funding scenario. The stakeholders are cheerful and expect the business environment to be upbeat in the coming six months.”
Financial institutions too have an optimistic view of the future as compared to the last quarter where they were somewhat pessimistic. Nearly 67% of the respondents foresee an improvement in residential project launches and sales over the next six months. However, price appreciation is likely to remain sluggish.
Adds Dr. Samantak Das, Chief Economist & Director – Research – “In case of the residential sector, project launches and sales volume are expected to grow over the next 6 months, while price appreciation is likely to remain sluggish. On the other hand, the market expects an upsurge in leasing volume within the office market with a check on new office supply. The rental growth, however will either strengthen or remain unchanged by the end of Q3 2014 indicating a strong perception that office rentals have already bottomed out.”
New office supply is expected to be restrained during that period, though stakeholders expect an upsurge in leasing volume by the end of Q3 2014.
