Bank of Rajasthan slashes home loan rates to 7.50 per cent

Bank of Rajasthan, one of the oldest, technology driven and customer friendly private sector bank, has announced reduction in interest rates on home loan under “Apna Ghar Scheme” with effect from 09.11.2009.

Mumbai, Maharashtra, November 13, 2009 /India PRwire/ — The rates have been cut for the home loans up to Rs. 30 lakhs and over Rs. 30 lakhs at floating interest rates.

For housing loans up to Rs.30 lakhs, the floating interest will be charged at the rate of 7.50% per cent for the first year, 8.50% for the second and third year and 8.75% for 4th year & onwards, which is applicable for all maturity periods on the fresh loans.

For housing loans of above Rs.30 lakhs, the floating interest will be charged at the rate of 8.00% for the first year, 9.00% for the second & third year and 9.75% for the fourth year onwards, for all maturity periods.

About Bank of Rajasthan

Established way back in 1943, Bank of Rajasthan is one of the fastest growing private sector banks in the country, which has made rapid strides by making consistent profits for past several years. With a wide network of 463 branches in the entire length and breadth of the country, Bank of Rajasthan has emerged as one of the largest private sector banks in the country. The bank has made tremendous and historical progress during the last few years. The Bank has over 2 million customer base and offers ATM facilities at over 53,000 ATMs of all banks across the country. All the branches of bank spread over 286 cities across India in 22 states and 2 union territories are offering online services. The bank has covered 125 cities in Rajasthan alone.

Financial Highlights of Bank of Rajasthan

The bank had maintained its growth in net profit for the previous financial year 2008-09 as well. The net profit of the bank increased to Rs. 118 crore for the year ended March 31.2009 as against Rs. 115 crore for the previous year.

Source:http://www.indiaprwire.com/pressrelease/financial-services/2009111337514.htm

Realty developers avoid tier II, III cities, prefer Delhi

With price corrections and softening of interest rates setting in, real-estate developers are keen on investing in Tier I cities, or metros such as Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore. “Almost all realty developers are focusing back on Tier I cities as they believe that as of now, expanding to medium and small cities is on shaky ground. Some investors, on the other hand, are wary about working in Tier II and Tier III markets in the short term. They believe fundamentals in these markets with regards to economic activity and consumer base will take some time to mature,” a Ficci-Ernst & Young report said.

According to the report, Delhi continues to be the preferred choice of developers and investors in the real-estate sector, with Mumbai a close second. Some key factors that have helped Delhi retain the number one rank are the fast-paced improvements in physical infrastructure such as the functional metro railway, modernisation of the international airport, road widening projects and dedicated efforts to make the ring roads signal free. Other factors are the emerging flyovers, underpasses, pedestrian walkways, high capacity buses, hotels and townships being developed on account of the forthcoming Commonwealth Games.

http://www.indianexpress.com/news/Realty-developers-avoid-tier-II–III-cities–prefer-Delhi/540862/

Mahindra Residential launches premium villa project

CHENNAI – Real estate developer Mahindra Residential Developers will construct 760 dwelling units comprising villas and apartments on an outlay of Rs.400 crore at Mahindra World City near here.

“In the first phase, we will be building four types of villas numbering 150 units, and later construct 610 residential apartments,” said Mahindra Residential executive director and vice chairman Arun Nanda.

“The total project cost is Rs.400 crore and it will be an equal mix of equity and debt,” Nanda told reporters here Thursday.

Mahindra Residential is a joint venture between Mahindra Lifespaces, the real estate arm of the $6.3-billion Mahindra group, and private equity fund Arch Capital, part of the Philippines-based Ayala Corp.

Nanda said the villas and apartments would be leased out for 99 years and not sold outright.

“Leasing may be new to the Tamil Nadu market. But in New Delhi and Mumbai, government agencies only lease out. Our lease is for 99 years and it is as good as a sale,” he said.

The project is being built over 55 acres.

The cost of the villas and twin houses range from Rs.1 crore and to Rs.1.75 crore while apartments would be priced Rs.40 lakh onwards.

http://blog.taragana.com/n/mahindra-residential-launches-premium-villa-project-226944/

Krishna Palace Residency plans two budget hotels in South India

Mumbai-based Hotel Krishna Palace Residency’s Managing Director Krishna Shetty is planning to expand his hospitality portfolio in South India. As part of the expansion plans, two budget hotels will be developed in Mangalore and Udipi in Karnataka. Land parcels have been acquired for the same. The construction of the Mangalore property will begin in 2010 and is expected to begin operations within two years hence. An investment of Rs seven crore for development of each property has been earmarked. The properties will be developed under the brand name Krishna Palace.

Suresh Shetty, Director, Krishna Palace Residency stated, “Since the hotel will be in the budget segment, we will cut short on the food and beverage facilities. The Mangalore property is located on the beach front; hence the clientele will be a good mix of both corporate and leisure. Over the years of operations in the hospitality industry we have realised that it is difficult to sell a luxury property to corporate clientele. This trend has prompted us to move to the budget segment. As part of future plans we aspire to expand the brand to Pune, Nagpur and Nashik.”

The hotel company’s flagship property, Hotel Krishna Palace, Mumbai is a 63 room property catering to the corporate clientele. The property recently started operations of a fine dine multi cuisine restaurant ‘Flute’ within the hotel. The hotel will also develop an open air Lounge Bar over a 4,000 sq ft terrace, which is expected to start operations by mid 2010. The hotel also houses the company’s signature restaurant ‘Sudama’, offering Indian, Chinese and South Indian restaurant. Shetty aims to take this concept forward and replicate it in the other properties being developed by the chain. Besides its hotels, the company also manages several restaurant chains. However, it now plans to shift focus from restaurant business to hotels and focus on its growth in the hotel segment, informed Shetty.

Currently Hotel Krishna Palace receives about six per cent bookings through the online medium. With an aim to increase its presence in the online space, it is now undergoing several initiatives for search engine optimisation and increase in partnerships with online travel agents.

Source:http://www.travelbizmonitor.com/krishna-palace-residency-plans-two-budget-hotels-in-south-india-8816

Bangalore realty sector fails to benefit from low-cost housing

Bangalore: Bangalore’s real estate market continues to groan under the burden of unsold property and sluggish demand, even as a revival in property sales in other cities has encouraged developers to launch a slew of projects.

Nearly one in every five homes scheduled for completion by the end of this year remains unsold, according to a report released last week by DTZ International Property Advisers Pvt. Ltd and Indiareit Fund Advisors Pvt. Ltd, a private equity fund. For projects scheduled for possession in 2011, this figure jumps to 56%.

DLF Ltd, Unitech Ltd and Housing Development and Infrastructure Ltd have started launching projects in Mumbai and New Delhi, particularly in the “affordable category” that has residences priced under Rs30 lakh.

The recovery may take longer in Bangalore, the country’s third largest realty market, where big technology firms such as Infosys Technologies Ltd and Wipro Ltd are headquartered.

“Bangalore has continued to witness a correcting trend as the investor community hasn’t quite revived activity yet,” said Aditi Vijaykar, executive director, residential services, at property advisory Cushman and Wakefield.

While the growth in Mumbai and New Delhi is driven by multiple sectors, growth in Bangalore is largely dependent on the technology sector, she pointed out.

Interestingly, lower prices, to the tune of 25-30%, hasn’t pushed up demand in the city, both developers and analysts said. For instance, Whitefield, a suburb in east Bangalore and close to a prominent information technology (IT) hub, saw sluggish sales even after prices corrected by nearly 30%.

“The affordable concept didn’t work as much in Bangalore as it did in Delhi or on Mumbai’s outskirts,” said Prakash Gurbaxani, managing director of QVC Realty Ltd, a property developer. “Prices in Bangalore are lower but home sales and office sector take a direct hit when IT firms stop expanding and the sentiment is negative.”

Unlike Bangalore, where prices are still falling, realtors in Mumbai, New Delhi and Gurgaon have already raised prices between 5% and 10% on the back of rising sales.

Starting July, Lodha Group increased prices by 10% and Unitech by a flat 2% after the latter sold 4 million sq. ft in three months and Lodha’s mid-income flats got good customer response.

“Restricted supply has boosted demand in Mumbai in the past months, price checks and mid-income projects by big developers have worked for Delhi,” said Kumar Gera, chairman of Confederation of Real Estate Developer’s Association of India, an industry lobby. “Bangalore will see a revival only by 2010.”

Bangalore also has a problem of over supply, which doesn’t bother metros such as Mumbai and Delhi. According to the Indiareit-DTZ report, there are around 51,470 residential units across 193 projects coming up in east and south Bangalore, where 66% of under-construction projects are located, which would take the total stock to 122,431 homes by 2011.

Besides a few low-cost projects, larger developers in Bangalore such as Sobha Developers Ltd and Puravankara Projects Ltd have stayed away from fresh launches and are focusing on selling inventory.

After a hiatus of 18 months, Sobha is only now planning to launch a residential project in the next two months, and Puravankara doesn’t have any Bangalore launch in the pipeline after launching its mid-income project in Chennai.

Growth corridors such as areas near the new international airport also haven’t really turned out as expected. Although most developers have picked up land parcels in the area, few projects have been launched.

Tangible effects of the slowdown in construction activity would be visible in 2010-11, the report said.

source:http://www.livemint.com/2009/11/11222710/Bangalore-realty-sector-fails.html?h=B

Builders in IT hub to focus on middle, upper middle segments

After almost a year of lull due to the economic downturn, the real estate sector in the country’s IT capital is slowly picking up and is all set to focus on the middle and upper middle segments, where it envisages huge potential.

Customising their offerings, builders are keen to capture these segments, which are witnessing increasing demand.

For Mantri Developers Pvt Ltd, “the recession for all practical purposes is over as far as the real estate sector in the city is concerned”.

The Bangalore-headquartered group, which has been in the business for over 10 years, admitted that there was “slackening in demand from October 2008 to 2009. Prices had hit rock bottom and customers were holding back, anticipating further slash in rates”.

But post-April, there has been a surge in sales in the industry as customers realised that “there would be no further decrease in prices”, an official of the firm said on condition of anonymity.

The firm, which is looking at the upper middle class and high-end segments, sees a rise in demand in both, more so in the upper middle category.

“However, despite the slowdown, demand never slackened in the high-end segment”, the official said.

The firm’s two ongoing projects, one in the high-end (ranging from Rs one crore to Rs 10 crore) and two in the upper middle class segments (priced at Rs 35-70 lakh) will be completed in another six to eight months.

“Thanks to the slowdown, it is the genuine buyer who is coming forward now instead of the investor. These buyers want the reassurance of reputed brands which are cash flow positive and the pace of progress is visible”, the official said.

The firm, which has also taken up projects in Chennai and Hyderabad, rates the Bangalore market as the “best”, compared to Hyderabad where is it is “reasonably good” and Chennai where it is “picking up”.

Shahwar Pasha, Assistant General Manager, Business Development, Prestige Group, echoed similar sentiments about a resurgence in the market. “It is the end-user, the actual buyer who is ready to buy now”.

The Group, which was earlier targeting only the luxury market (Rs 75 lakh- Rs six crore) is now “seriously looking at the middle and upper middle segment as enquiries are for affordable homes”.

Pasha, who feels the “demand for the high-end is a little less”, hopes the market will be vibrant by the middle of next year.

Expressing a slightly different view, Pradeep Jacob, Marketing Manager, Confident Group said “demand for apartments has bottomed out in the last nine months. The demand for apartments is flat now”.

The four year-old group, he says, has been successful because they have focused on plots, townships and low-budget (Rs 17-20 lakh) and middle category flats (Rs 30-40 lakh).

“Our low budget and middle segment flats’ sales have been good because they are within a 10 km radius of IT companies”, Jacob said.

The group, which has catered to a “diversified segment,” including the high-end in the form of villas, says it has “not witnessed any decrease in demand for villas”.

Suresh Goel, who handles marketing for Salarpuria, the Kolkata-headquartered firm which has been in Bangalore for the past 19 years, says the firm intended to take more projects for the middle segment as it sees “a growing demand” there.

The firm, which has two middle category projects in Bangalore North has witnessed “maximum sales in those”, he added.

Source:http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/builders-in-it-hub-to-focusmiddle-upper-middle-segments/78014/on

High-tech townships back in vogue; developers & investors aim high

A wave of technological innovation seems to be gripping the real estate sector. High-tech townships, which promise an advanced lifestyle for residents, are catching the fancy of many developers. Developers such as Omaxe, The 3C Company and The Chadha Group are offering such technologically advanced townships.

But in what way are these really different from an integrated township? Sanjay Dutt, CEO-Business of global real estate consultancy Jones Lang LaSalle Meghraj (JLLM), says the first real proposals for high-tech townships started rolling in around 2005. “At first, they were in direct response to the evolving housing requirements of IT professionals in India.

During the height of the IT boom, a home in a high-tech township was considered de rigueur by the upper echelons of the software industry. The concept has evolved since then and has simply come to stand for technologically-enabled lifestyle homes in a more generic sense. These are considered powerful demand generators that have the potential to attract foreign and domestic investment and boost the general profile of a locality.”

A lot of these townships are coming up in Uttar Pradesh after the state government’s policy in 2003 to promote development of high-tech townships with better quality of living, work and entertainment facilities. Considering the acute shortage of housing and infrastructure services, the state government announced an open-ended hi-tech township policy in May 2006 to promote private investment through development of varying sizes of such townships.

Developers like Omaxe are coming up with these townships in Allahabad, Bulundshahar and Lucknow. Its township in Lucknow, spread over 2,700 acres, will be executed over 5-7 years. With a central business district (CBD) within itself, the township will create effective employment opportunities in specially designed finance, trade and commerce development zones. A commercial hub, the township is also going to have software technology parks, hi-tech industrial parks and scientific and engineering instrumentation zones.

Similarly, its township in Allahabad will entail an estimated investment of Rs 1,800 cr and would be developed over around 1,535 acres. The project would be developed as a modern, eco-friendly high-tech township comprising residential, commercial, industrial, institutional and recreational segments. Says Rohtas Goel, CMD, Omaxe, “The development of such new townships will lead to effective management, efficient utilisation of natural and financial resources as well as promote decentralisation of large cities. Moreover, they will act as centres of high tech industries, commerce, services and assist in the creation of a new economic structure.”
Residents staying in such townships can hope for a variety of benefits, advanced security and maintenance systems
being the most obvious ones.
They also boast of a more comfortable lifestyle with superior infrastructure and better health, IT and banking services.

Real estate developer
The 3C Company’s upcoming project Lotus Boulevard in Sector-100 of Noida is also under the category of high tech townships. Priced at Rs 3,025 per sq ft, the project offers apartments of different sizes — from 987 sq ft to 2,560 sq ft. All the buildings in this project will be zero-discharge buildings.

Solid waste management and waste segregation systems are some of the other prominent features of the project. Says Vidur Bharadwaj, director, The 3C Company, “Usage of technology to reduce the consumption of energy is the need of the society. Even for a developer, such features keep the maintenance costs low, the benefit of which is ultimately passed on to the end user.”

Similarly, Delhi-based developer, The Chadha Group will be developing Wave Hi-Tech city, a high-tech township in Ghaziabad expected to come up over four years. The township will have features such as a pollution-free transport system, high security, scientific disposal of solid waste and wi-fi connectivity throughout the city. While these townships rank high on technological features and benefits to residents, some feel that their success will to a large extent depend on employment opportunities available in the vicinity as well as the public transportation system.

“These townships will attract buyers provided employment opportunities are available, otherwise they will become part of real estate speculation and people will not prefer to stay in them. Hence, to make these viable, the government of respective states and private developers have to ensure that employment is not a constraint,” feels Manoj Goyal, vice-president, strategic planning and group company secretary, Raheja Developers.

Agrees Dutt of JLLM who says that it’s definitely not a sellers market for these right now and they will have to differentiate themselves to succeed. “High-tech residential projects will have to differentiate themselves convincingly to cash in on the mid-to-high market. In the current times, buyers are extremely budget conscious. That said, there is still a class of aspirational buyers with sufficient funds, but they have a lot of options to choose from. Differentiation will be the key.”

Source:http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/Features/The-Sunday-ET/Property/High-tech-townships-back-in-vogue-developers-investors-aim-high/articleshow/5208228.cms?curpg=2

Banks likely to continue same home loan interest rate

THE RESERVE Bank of India has walked out from its year-long accommodative monetary policy but the leading public and private sector banks still want to continue their cheap home loan schemes.

India’s largest lender the State Bank of India is looking forward to continuing its special home loan scheme after 7 November, when the bank is supposed to call it back. However, the bank has not announced the extension of the tenure of the scheme. The bank is providing home loan at an interest rate of 8%, from Rs. 5 lakhs onwards.

On the other hand, the Punjab National Bank has declared that they are stretching their Festival Bonanza Offer-2009 for housing and car loans till 31 December this year. The bank is providing home loans up to Rs. 30 lakhs at an interest rate of 8.5% for the first three years and at 2 to 2.5% below BPLR in subsequent years of loan tenure under the floating option.

The third largest private lender of the country, Axis Bank is aggressively promoting its home loan segment. The bank is providing home loan at an interest rate of 8% for the first year, whereas from the second year onwards, the loans will be carrying a floating interest rates that is entirely dependent on the bank’s mortgage reference rate.

Axis bank is also organizing ‘Home for All’ expos in major cities, following its huge success last year and will be providing on-spot approval along with waiving loan processing fees for prospective buyers. The first of this fair will be held in Bengaluru from 6 November, 2009.

source:http://www.merinews.com/article/banks-likely-to-continue-same-home-loan-interest-rate/15787700.shtml

Villas and suites away from home

The golf course is like a meandering stream, a narrow length that curves and cavorts mischievously across Manesar’s scrub countryside, its algae-green lushness dappled with shadows as hillocks and ponds rise and dip. This is the countryside as Graham Cooke sees it, ordered and lush and not anywhere remotely Indian. But then, this is the newest of the gated communities that has been developed on the outskirts of Delhi, ahead even of Gurgaon, with 300 “villas” that fringe the course, though in truth they seem less like villas and more like row houses. Not one of them is more than double-storey and they range from studios to two- and three-bedroom homes, with a basement thrown in for good measure. Frangipani trees, four or five years old, dot the courtyards. The slanting light of the winter sun warms walls that are in neutral shades of earth colours. In the distance, the Aravalli hills break the horizon into a jagged line.

Manesar was another milestone on National Highway 8 that became an address when industries, a management school, a highway McDonald’s and, later, residential apartments began to indicate a future. Developers saw an opportunity in the vast swathe of fields. ITC was an early mover with its Classic Golf Course, which soon became a favourite with corporate houses and chiefly expatriate players. Close by, and next to McDonald’s, Karma Lakelands, conceived as a retreat for the retired who wanted to live around, naturally, yet another golf course, ended up as a villa community for the well-heeled. And surrounded by real-estate developers rapidly scheming up highrise condominium complexes, Tarudhan Valley is part of what on the map appears almost a contiguous development of second or third homes for the city’s rich and powerful.

Tarudhan Valley has been developed by Sanjay Khullar, better known as the managing director of the capital’s leading catering service, Seasons Group, the company not only responsible for banqueting services but also for a host of speciality restaurants. At the heart of the gated community is a facility that anyone can avail — a 56-room Seasons Hotel, designed by Manish Kumar Baheyti. The resort, like the row-villas, is low-structured, with white interior walls and dark wood finishes, all rooms overlooking either the golf course or a swimming pool. A fountain-punctuated lagoon winds between the rooms; the minimal interiors do not lack in comfort but the effort appears to be to get guests to spend the maximum time outside rather than in the rooms; the deliberate lack of context means the resort could be anywhere in Spain, the US or South Africa.

Tarudhan Valley is located 10 km down a rutted country road, but pretty much on the highway, at Select Heritage Village, the context is much more in evidence. Built around courtyards, with jharokhas and archways and jaalis, is architecture that evokes the tradition of north Indian havelis. The resort, recently renovated, had last year added two new blocks of rooms and suites planned around the same central theme of village-street architecture and local architectural traditions, the use of red sandstone on the fascia and more contemporary rooms (and baths) being the major change over its earlier avatar.

Also built around courtyards, the suites have private sit-outs, the street furniture consists of hammocks or charpais or day beds, or antique-style sofas, and within the sense of community, the spaces have been designed to offer privacy.

But last week, the resort added another facility to its organically growing building architecture. Right next to the conference centre (also new), its Aruna’s Svaasa spa has created a destination getaway for the resort that not only adds to its facilities but has introduced an element of high-end luxury to it. The spa building echoes the new elements in the architecture — there’s use of red sandstone on the outside, water pools with fountains evocative of the Seasons Hotel, and within, a sense of space and comfort within its meandering massage rooms, the hamam and lounging central bay, all of it dimly lit, the darkness relieved only by hundreds of twinkling tea-lights.

Manesar’s unique location makes it ideal for Dilliwallahs looking for a break. For most, it is an hour’s drive from the city in non-peak hours, which makes it eminently accessible for those wishing to get away for a night or a weekend, whether for relaxing in a spa, or playing a round of golf, or simply relaxing. It is sufficiently far to make it impractical to own a first home, but Tarudhan’s row-villas are ideal second homes, especially since its developer, the Seasons Group, is able to manage not only the maintenance but also catering services, so you don’t have to use the kitchen. A Club House has a restaurant and a separate pool, while the resort caters to those who have not opted for a villa but would still like to escape from the highrise of Gurgaon or the congestion of Delhi. BothHeritage Village as well as Seasons also have separate conference and banqueting venues.

Amidst ficus and frangipani and surrounded by bright bougainvillea bushes lit by the winter sun, Manesar is accessible luxury for Dilliwallahs. That it comes with strong, if contrary, elements of design is simply a bonus.

Source:http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/villassuites-awayhome/375575/

Birlas to foray into hotel industry

KOLKATA: For the first time in their close to 100-year history, the Birlas are entering the hospitality arena. The Birla Group – a part of
corporate folklore in the country, along with the Tatas – is going to set up its first hotel on a closed mill plot in Mumbai.

Although the Birla empire – spread across the various family groupings (BK, AVB, KK, CK, SK, Yash and MP Birla groups) – pretty much covers the entire business spectrum, from textiles, metals and cement to automobiles, tea, IT and media, the Birlas had never tried their hand in the hotel arena.

Basant Kumar Birla, the oldest member of the Birla family, told TOI that his group has decided to set up a luxury hotel near Worli, in south Mumbai, on unutilised land belonging to Century Textiles & Industries. “We will not run the hotel. Five big groups from India and abroad have approached us for managing it. We will get a fee, which will be revised every three years,” Birla said.

The group may also use the land for commercial real estate, the industry doyen said. “We want to optimise the value of the land belonging to Century Textiles. The value will appreciate if we develop it. We will not sell the land. The company will return 15-20% of the land to the state government, as per rules, and the rest will be developed,” he added.

Century Textiles senior president R K Dalmiya said the mill has been shut since 2006. “All the mills in the area are closed for environmental or other reasons. The mill occupies 40 acres, of which we own 30 acres. The balance is lease-hold land for which the group has an existing 999-year lease with the Wadia Group,” he said, adding that a Singapore-based architectural firm has been appointed as adviser for the hotel project.

Century Textiles has already set up an advanced greenfield textile mill with an investment of Rs 850 crore at Bharuch in Gujarat. The mill was inaugurated by Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi in the presence of B K Birla and his grandson Kumar Mangalam Birla (chairman of AV Birla Group) in October. “The new mill alone will take care of most of our requirements,” Dalmiya said.

Source:http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/biz/india-business/Birlas-to-foray-into-hotel-industry/articleshow/5204777.cms

Kotak plans to sell Nariman Point, Kalina properties

Kotak Mahindra Bank plans to sell some of its offices in Mumbai’s central business district of Nariman Point and in the city’s western suburb of Kalina as it relocates staff to its new corporate headquarters at the Bandra Kurla Complex (BKC).

The properties up for sale are around 12,000 sq ft on a floor in South Mumbai’s Bakhtawar Building across the sea facing Trident hotel and another 50,000-60,000 sq ft at a building in Kalina in suburban Mumbai.

“The prevailing property price in Bakhtawar is upward of around Rs 36,000 per sq ft, while it is lower in Kalina. We have already started vacating rented space across the city and relocating staff to our offices in Kalina and Goregaon ahead of the eventual move into our new corporate headquarters,” said a top Kotak official.

The bank estimates that it could save as much as Rs 50 crore per annum in rentals and lease costs once the transition to BKC is complete.

The BSE-listed private sector bank posted a consolidated net profit of Rs 299.76 crore for the quarter that ended on September 30, 2009.

The savings on account of lease rentals are expected to be substantial without even including the Rs 43-odd crore it would realise on sale of its Nariman Point property going by the valuation quoted by the bank official.

However, Pranay Vakil, chairman, Knight Frank India, said recently the Nariman Point area had seen some bit of destabilisation with the city’s municipal corporation demanding property tax at 112 per cent, of 10 months gross rent paid by lessees every financial year.

“Earlier, the system was to pay tax at 112 per cent of standard rent. But now the BMC (Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation) has said it will levy this based on the rent as specified in the contract or the rateable value, whichever is higher. If this tax is passed on to lessees the rentals would double overnight, which makes it unviable.”

“The vacancy rates in commercial real estate at Nariman Point have gone up from two to three per cent in early 2008 to seven to eight per cent at Nariman Point now. Capital values too have come down,” said Kaustuv Roy, executive director, Cushman & Wakefield India. “However, now mid-tier Indian companies who have long coveted a premium location such as Nariman Point, may look to take advantage of the lower prevailing prices,” he added.

According to Vakil, the Kotak property in Bakhtawar could command around Rs 30,000 per sq ft. Roy feels that developers may be keen to acquire the Kotak Kalina property and rebuild it as a modern office building. “In Kalina, around the periphery of the Bandra Kurla Complex area, the rates are generally around 25 per cent less than the BKC area. The Kotak Kalina property could therefore command around Rs 15,000 per square feet,” said Vakil.

At this valuation, Kotak could net another Rs 90 crore on sale of this property. The bank plans to retain an office space at Nariman Bhavan in South Mumbai, which is where Uday Kotak, vice chairman and managing director, started his career.

Source:http://www.mydigitalfc.com/stock-market/kotak-plans-sell-nariman-point-kalina-properties-385

Oberoi group to launch another Trident hotel

MUMBAI: India’s third-largest hospitality chain, the Oberoi group, will be opening its second hotel in the city under the Trident name on December 17, the company said.

The 436-key property, located within the Bandra-Kurla complex, will join the growing list of five-star hotels in north Mumbai. At present, there are around 18 hotels in north Mumbai as against seven hotels in south Mumbai.

The hospitality industry, hit hard by the global financial crisis and subsequent Mumbai terror attacks, is on the recovery road. Properties in north Mumbai have performed a tad better compared to its south Mumbai counterparts. This is because sections of the Taj and Oberoi hotels have been partially shut for renovation, following the terrorist attacks on them. The occupancy level in north Mumbai hotels was at 56% in October as against 53% in south Mumbai hotels.

According to industry sources, average room revenue was down 31% in north Mumbai as a result of higher room inventory. Two hotels, including the Imperial Palace and Novotel, were opened recently.

Source:http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/mumbai/Oberoi-group-to-launch-another-Trident-hotel/articleshow/5217056.cms

IHC to set up new hotel in Bangalore

London-listed hospitality and leisure company India Hospitality Corporation (IHC) will set up a new hotel in Bangalore next year and is close to raising funds worth Rs 1,000 crore for expansion of its hotel business.

Ravi Deol, managing director – IHC, said, “In the next 12-18 months, we will be focusing on expanding our hotel business in tier II cities. We will be opening a new hotel in Bangalore by July 2010.”

According to media reports, the company is also readying a Rs 1,000-crore property fund for expanding its hotel business in the country. The firm has already invested Rs 200 crore in the hotel business through its wholly-owned subsidiary Gordon House Estates.

“We are building a Rs 1,000-crore property fund which would be utilised in expanding the hotel business in the country. A host of foreign investors have shown interest in the fund and we expect the fund closure in the next 3-4 months,” Deol added.

IHC, which currently operates its hotel chain under the brand “Gordon House,” has three hotel properties in the country – two in Mumbai and one in Pune.

Regarding the company’s acquisition plans, IHC president and COO Sandeep Vyas said, “We are looking at opportunities for both organic and inorganic growth in the country. Hospitality sector is poised for a boom and we are hoping to cash in on that.”

In 2007, IHC acquired Mars Restaurant, the hotel and restaurant company that manages ‘Not Just Jazz’, ‘By The Bay’ and ‘Pizzeria’ chains. As part of the deal, it also got the control of the airline catering business SkyGourmet and Mars Catering Services.

Earlier this week, the firm signed an agreement to manage 10 hotels of realty firm Entertainment World Developers (EWDPL), which would come up by 2011.

Further, as part of the pact, the firm will acquire the franchisee rights for Pizza Hut in central India, from EWDPL.

Source:http://www.fnbnews.com/article/detnews.asp?articleid=26429&sectionid=1

Duet India Hotels to invest Rs 2,300 crore to set up 5,000 hotel rooms in India

According to a report in Business Standard by Swaraj Bassonkar, Delhi-based real estate investment company, Duet India Hotels will invest Rs 2,300 crore over four years to build 5,000 hotel rooms in India. The company, which will invest in mid-scale segment and five-star properties, has tied up with New York-based Starwood Hotels and Resorts Worldwide to develop its hotels, to be run under the brand name of Four Points by Sheraton. Likewise, Duet India Hotels aims to partner with other international hotel players to launch their brands in the country.

To set up the required number of rooms, it will pump in equity of Rs 1,200 crore, while the balance will be raised through debt. So far, it has made an equity investment of Rs 218 crore and almost an equal investment has been raised through debt of around Rs 246 crore. The company currently has five projects under development, which includes 115-room hotel in Jaipur, 223-room hotel in Pune, 124-room hotel in Ahmedabad, 200-room hotel in Indore and 220-room hotel in Hyderabad.

Source:http://www.travelbizmonitor.com/duet-india-hotels-to-invest-rs-2300-crore-to-set-up-5000-hotel-rooms-in-india-8789

Bidadi township rises from ashes

After killing an infrastructure project in Ramanagaram, the government is reviving another one in Bidadi, that was virtually dead.

After DLF washed its hands of the mega Rs 60,000-crore Bidadi Integrated Township Project (BITP) on the outskirts of Bangalore, the government is set to revive it. A proposal by Bangalore Metropolitan Regional Development Authority (BMRDA) is lying before the cabinet for fresh tenders.

In a setback to infrastructure development, the state government last week withdrew the 1,620-acre Institutional Area Township project, proposed at Ramanagaram. The withdrawal of the project came at a time when the government is talking big on developing infrastructure for the proposed Global Investors’ Meet, scheduled in June 2010.

In the event of the global meltdown and tough economic environment for the real estate sector, the upcoming Request For Qualification (RFQ) document is said to be investor-friendly, and simplified to attract more global investors.

As DLF withdrew from BITP, the government refunded its deposit investment of Rs 400 crore on April 24 this year. “Given the current downturn in the real estate sector, DLF did not want to park its funds in a project that has not moved,” government sources said.

The JD(S)-BJP coalition government in October 2006 approved the development of five integrated townships in Bangalore metropolitan region by BMRDA and identified BITP as the first to be developed on 10,000 acres (of these, 2,200 acres are government land), perhaps one of the biggest projects in the country, on the outskirts of Bangalore.

A documentation committee under the chairmanship of the principal secretary of the urban development department was constituted for finalization of the RFQ document and Crisil Ltd was appointed as consultants to BMRDA to prepare a bid document and bid-process management. DLF-led consortium, comprising Limitless Holdings Ltd and Limitless Hoysala Inc, was chosen to develop the project.

The consortium made a commercial offer of Rs 57.50 lakh per acre of land, in addition to land acquisition cost, rehabilitation and resettlement cost, amounting to Rs 1.25 crore, to the government kitty. The government expected Rs 3,400 crore from the whole project, which could have been usefully channelized for urban development and infrastructure projects and initiatives in the Bangalore metropolitan region. An official order to hand over the letter of intent to DLF was issued during the last days of the Kumaraswamy government, on October 10, 2007.

Source:http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/bangalore/Bidadi-township-rises-from-ashes/articleshow/5207818.cms

Tatas to extend cheap housing to global market

Encouraged by the good response to its affordable housing project from Mumbai, the Tata Group has decided to extend the concept in the international market. The group will take the project to other Indian markets as well.

Tata Sons chairman Ratan Tata said the company is planning similar housing projects in other centres like Kolkata, Bangalore and Assam. Maldives has also shown interest in the project and has invited Tata to introduce the concept in the country.

Ratan Tata said he expected the consumption of steel in the developed markets like the US and Europe to reach the pre-recession levels in the next two years. But the good news is that the market has stabilized. “There is no sudden dip or cancellation of orders now” , he said.

Tata said that a team from Jaguar and Land Rover had visited the country to look at what components they can source from India. But no decision has been taken on this. Meanwhile, Tata Motors is planning to adopt Nano for the European market. But it will take at least two years for it to fulfill all regulatory requirements and be ready for launch.

He said the new high horse power truck that Tata had launched would be marketed globally. He identified South Africa, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Middle East countries as the markets where the new high-speed , high horse power truck could be introduced. Presently, it is being exported to South Korea.

Asked whether the group would cut the salaries of the top executives Mr Tata answered that Tatas has already introduced measures to cut costs and avoid wastage. The efforts in this direction had started even before the recession was felt by all economies, he added.

Source:http://mail.google.com/mail/?shva=1#inbox/124cc80eefbdd75c

DLF to Build Rs 15 cr Flat in Delhi’s Posh Locality

Real estate major DLF is coming up with Rs 15 crore flats in the posh Greater Kailash area, courtesy Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD), alleges Congress. Leader of Opposition in the Municipal Corporation of Delhi Jai Kishen Sharma has alleged that the civic body has “illegally” allotted the land meant for park and community centre to the DLF. The Bharatiya Janata Party is in power at the Town Hall. Claiming that the civic agency is hand in glove with the ruling party, Sharma said: “In clear violation of the MCD rules, plots measuring 1.5 and 2.5 acres have been allotted for building apartment complex. The land was meant for civic facilities like parks and community centre. This was done to increase the ground coverage of the housing society and give undue benefits to DLF.”

The real estate major is building eight and nine storey apartment buildings in the E and W blocks of the Greater Kailash-II. The building plans were sanctioned in 2007. DLF has already started construction on the plots. Captain KS Singh, a MCD councilor from south Delhi, said: “When the plots were allotted the topography of the area was very different from what it is today. Now, the area is densely populated. So, there should be no construction here as civic infrastructure will crumble if these housing projects come up.”

However, MCD officials refute the charges, saying the resolution for allowing the construction was passed by the Standing Committee way back in 1989. Some residents had also moved the Supreme Court on the issue, but the court ruled in favour of the MCD. The layout plan was sanctioned around two years ago. “I have asked the Commissioner to look into the matter and submit a report within three days,” Standing Committee chairman R K Singhal said.

Source : http://www.indianrealtynews.com/real-estate-india/delhi/dlf-to-build-rs-15-cr-flat-in-delhi%e2%80%99s-posh-locality.html

Hero group in real estate with township project

The Munjal family-controled Hero group, better known for its motorcycles, is entering the real estate business, with nearly Rs. 200 crore already invested.

The cash-rich Munjals are turning the current slump in real estate into an opportunity as they had no previous exposure in the business historically marked by aggressively priced land deals.

The Ludhiana-based group plans to launch over the next two weeks an integrated township in the pilgrim town of Haridwar.

The group plans more residential which are expected to be announced over the next couple of years, company officials said.

“The integrated township at Haridwar will be developed over an area of 50 acres and will have close to 2,000 residential units,” Sunil Kant Munjal, chairman, Hero Corporate Services Ltd told Hindustan Times.

“The company has invested close to a couple of hundred crore rupees for its real estate foray,” he said.

Hero Corporate Services also has interests in IT-enabled services and corporate training.

“The plan is to first consolidate our position in Uttarakhand before venturing out to other parts of the country,” Munjal said.

The Hero group expects real estate to be an important business vertical over the next few years. “The current downturn in the real estate sector has provided the company an opportune time to enter residential real estate development as valuations are just right,”

The company, however, does not wish to have an escrow account, which in effect means that the funds garnered from the pre-launch proceeds of a project is used only for the development of that particular project.

“The timely completion of Haridwar project with optimum standards will help us establish as a serious player in the sector. We are also banking upon our group’s credibility to showcase our prowess in real estate development,” Munjal explained.

The residential units in the integrated township at Haridwar would have apartments priced between Rs 18 and 20 lakh to Rs 70 lakh. The villas constructed in the project would be priced much higher.

The township will have hospitals, schools and shopping complexes, apart from residential apartments.

The company expects to start delivering the apartments within two years. “We would be targeting NRIs (non-resident Indians) and investors from north India who want to own a house at Haridwar, apart from local people,” said Munjal.

Source:http://www.hindustantimes.com/Hero-group-in-real-estate-with-township-project/H1-Article1-472791.aspx

Investment in a second home

According to a study conducted by Kapston.com, a Bangalore based e-business consulting firm, the sales of ’second homes’ in India increased by 50

per cent from 2002 to 2007, before the slump in the market brought the figures down to negligible. “Although the concept of second homes was accepted by the Indian audience, as the figures show, everything crashed during the downturn . In the last one year, there have hardly been any takers for this segment .

The market is stagnant as of now,” says Raminder Grover, CEO, Homebay Residential, Jones Lang LaSalle Meghraj.

There are two types of buyers, in the second home market, explains Grover. The first category consists of the affluent buyers who purely look at luxury and the second category is the middle and upper class, which looks at second homes as an investment option. “The first category has started showing interest, in the last coupe of months, but the second category of buyers is still playing the waiting game,” he adds.

As the demand for second homes dropped, even developers put their projects on hold and only now, are builders completing their pending projects. This trend, says Grover, is not surprising, as projects within the city are the ones that give developers immediate returns and so, most developers concentrated on completing these first. “With DLF launching their luxury home segment in Goa, other players, I believe, will soon join the fray,” he expects.

“The industry is still at a nascent stage and those who are planning for second homes, should look at it purely as an instrument of ‘value appreciation’ . Investors should look at it, in terms of growth, over the next two to five years,” says Hemant Shah, chairman , Ackruti City. Investment in the right property will always appreciate in value and with the younger generation earning well and investing intelligently , the second home market has good scope in India, says Abhishek Lodha, director, Lodha Develoers.

Second homes are sought, primarily as a means for a getaway from the city. However, for the larger Indian market, it is also an investment for post-retirement days. Real estate is always an asset and today’s generation wants the option of having a home by a hill or a riverside and this is why places like Devnahalli in Bangalore, Coimbatore, Ooty and Kasauli, are springing with second homes. “There is a lot of demand for properties between Pune and Panvel. Even the four main metros and its peripheral areas are in demand, for second homes,” reveals Tushar Khatri, GM (sales and marketing), Arihant Universal .

Apart from these, the other hotspots for second homes are hubs in Noida, Hyderabad, Jaipur, Kerala, and Gurgaon. Mumbai is also one of the preferred locations, with Royal Palms being the only second home provider within city limits. The 240-acre Royal Palms Estate is situated in the midst of Mumbai’s only green belt and surrounded by a further 20,000 acres of the Borivali Sanjay Gandhi National Park.

Source : http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/markets/real-estate/realty-trends/Investment-in-a-second-home/articleshow/5198311.cms

Home sales went up by 97% in September

Mumbai: The sale of houses in Mumbai, which was plunging in the corresponding period last year, revived significantly in July-September. The figures are showing a drop again after realtors increased prices, data from the house registration department in the city shows.

September saw a 97% jump in house registrations — which includes new and resold homes with 6,112 properties stamped compared with 3,107 in September 2007.

The components of registration include certificate of sale, apartment deed, conveyance and agreement deed.

This led to a 68%, or Rs180.4 crore, jump in revenues for the state exchequer. Hari Prakash Pandey, vice-president, finance, Housing Development and Infrastructure Ltd (HDIL), the third-largest realtor in the country based in Mumbai, said the rebound has been quite significant.

“We have seen a V-shaped recovery since March. Though prices are still below 2007 levels, they have risen 10% from 2008. We are seeing record sales since July,” Pandey said.

HDIL recently launched its Bhandup project, where it is developing 1.3 million sq ft with approximately 1,000 apartments.It has already sold 15% of the properties, priced at Rs5,751 per sq ft, in week since launch. “We have priced it competitively and after selling more than 60% stock we would revise our prices.”

Despite the price hike, sales are very good, said Abhisheck Lodha, director, Lodha Developers. “Sales are higher by 40-45%. In our Dombivili project, we sold 900 units in the first 9 days since launch. I hope it is a long-term recovery. As for prices they can increase at a moderate pace, but if there is a sudden price rise demand will vanish,” Lodha said.

A real estate analyst with a domestic brokerage points out the sales trend is very impressive in March-July, when prices were low. “But if you see the numbers since, sales have been slipping in inverse proportion to prices,” he said.

Source : http://www.dnaindia.com/money/report_home-sales-went-up-by-97pct-in-september_1307381

Home prices up in 15 cities, shows Residex

The new index of residential price movement – Residex, released by the National Housing (NHB), shows a mixed trend among 15 major cities.

As many as nine out of 15 cities, covered by Residex across the country, have witnessed hardening of residential property prices. Prices of homes have recorded a decline in cities such as Delhi, Bangalore and Bhopal, between December last year and June, but the same went up in cities such as Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai, among others.

Prices of residential property in Mumbai have increased by 5.98 per cent between December and June, and by 26 per cent and 13 per cent in Chennai and Kolkata respectively. Prices of residential property in Ahmedabad increased by 27 per cent in the same period and during the same time, Faridabad, the neighbouring city of Delhi, reported price hardening to the extent of a whopping 36 per cent.

Other major cities that witnessed price hardening include Lucknow, Pune, Surat and Patna.

On the other hand, the National Capital registered a fall of 7 per cent in prices of residential properties, while Bangalore and Hyderabad witnessed a correction of 24 per cent and 29 per cent respectively. Other cities where prices fell are Bhopal, Jaipur and Kochi.

NHB, a 100 per cent subsidiary of the Reserve Bank of India, comes out with pricing index of residential properties across 15 major cities in the country twice a year.

http://www.mydigitalfc.com/news/home-prices-15-cities-shows-residex-714

Mall vacancy in southern cities drops in July-Sept

The average mall vacancy in the southern cities of Chennai, Hyderabad and Bangalore dropped to 5.7 per cent in the third quarter (July – September) of 2009 from seven per cent in the second quarter.

However, supply in these three cities increased by one million sft, up 33 per cent from the second quarter, according to Cushman & Wakefield, a commercial real estate services and research firm.

Alongside this development, rents stabilised in these markets in the third quarter as against the corrections they had witnessed in the last six to seven months.

Rents in major cities and markets are expected to remain stable in the coming few months. Over 60 per cent of the anticipated supply during the quarter was delivered, a marked improvement from previous few months, it said.

There was no fresh mall space in Bangalore. Though leasing activities remained low, vacancy rates dropped as there was no additional supply in the city. The average rentals stabilised indicating a revival of interest in the city’s organised retail space.

However, the Garden City anticipates supply of one million sft in six months, 80 per cent of which is expected to come up by this year end. Bangalore’s suburban zone will see more than 60 per cent of the total new supply and the rest will come up in peripheral micro markets.

Hyderabad, till September, witnessed an additional mall supply of 650,000 sft at Madhapur and vacancy dropped to 14 per cent from 17 per cent till June. Rentals are likely to remain stable till March next year.

The mall space in Chennai increased 28 per cent with Ampa Skywalk mall becoming operational.

Food and Beverage outlets continued to be the main driver for retail space and are expected to remain so in the future. Retailers preferred to expand within city limits and refrained from venturing into the peripheries, it said.

Source : http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/mall-vacancy-in-southern-cities-drops-in-july-sept/375173/

Sharp Drop in Kolkata Office Rentals

If you had any doubts about new business ventures giving Kolkata the miss, here’s damning proof that should send the alarm bells ringing loud and clear. Vacancy levels have shot up with nearly a quarter of the available office space finding no takers between July and September. Though office space across the city has been hit by the poor business sentiment, peripheral locations like Rajarhat and Salt Lake are the worst affected with the IT and ITeS industry giving the city a cold shoulder in recent months. Significant infusion of new supply has also accentuated the problem in this belt, leading to a sharp drop in rentals.

Global real estate solutions firm Cushman & Wakefield, which researched on office space, expects the current situation to persist, triggering a further rise in vacancy levels. “There will be a prolonged situation of over-supply unless significant space uptake occurs in the market. Due to the current trend of low demand, there may be deferrals in certain projects to later periods,” a researcher said. Rentals of office space for both corporates and IT/ITeS firms in Rajarhat have nosedived by a whopping 31% in the July-September 2009 against the corresponding period last year. In Salt Lake, IT/ITeS space rentals has crashed by 29%. Corporate space in Sector V is slightly better off with rentals taking a 22% dip.

But what comes as a shocker is the steep fall in office space rentals in the heart of the city. At BBD Bag the city’s commercial hub and central business district rentals have tumbled by 26% despite no addition in supply. At Park Street and Camac Street, rentals have slipped by 18%. It is down 20% along Park Circus connector and 19% along the Rashbehari connector. While the current political flux in the state and loss of big-ticket investments has made Kolkata a less-favoured destination than it was a year ago, the turnaround in the economy following last year’s downturn is yet to impact the IT/ITeS sectors that have displayed the largest appetite for office space in the past.

The phenomenon though, isn’t restricted to Kolkata. And it is the central business district (CBD) in each city that has been the worst hit. In the National Capital Region, comprising Delhi, Gurgaon and Noida, the vacancy rate was pegged at 11-12% while rental values saw a downward correction of 37% in CBD to 21% in Noida. In Mumbai, the rentals dip ranged from 11% in Thane Belapur Road to 42% in Lower Parel and Bandra. In Worli, the dip was 38-40%. In Chennai, the CBD at Anna Salai saw rentals for corporate offices drop by 29%. At Alwarpet in T Nagar off CBD, the rental drop was 23-27%.

Source : http://www.indianrealtynews.com/real-estate-india/kolkata/sharp-drop-in-kolkata-office-rentals.html

SBI’s 8% Home Loan Scheme will End on November 8th

The country’s largest lender, State Bank of India, will not extend its eight per cent home loan scheme, the cheapest in the country, beyond November 8. SBI had introduced its Happy Home loan scheme, that allowed the borrower to freeze the eight per cent interest rate for a year, in February this year. In August, the bank had introduced another home loan scheme under a ‘My Home’ campaign, in which it offered loans up to Rs 5 lakh and tenure for up to 10 years, at an eight per cent per annum fixed rate during the first five years, among other offers.

However, the My Home campaign will come to an end on November 8. “The bank has taken a decision that the eight per cent home loan scheme will not be extended beyond November 8. It is yet to take a decision on the new interest rates. It is likely to be more than eight per cent,” said sources at SBI. Under the My Home Campaign, the bank was offering home loans in three segments, namely, SBI Hi-Five Home Loan, SBI Easy Home Loan and SBI Advantage Home Loan. Under the SBI Hi-Five Home Loan, it has been offering loans up to Rs 5 lakh and tenure for up to 10 years at an eight per cent per annum fixed rate during the first five years. From the 61st month onwards, the rate will be a floating one, at an interest rate 2.75 per cent below the State Bank Advance Rate (SBAR) and 1.25 per cent below SBAR.

In SBI Easy Home Loan, for maximum loan of Rs 50 lakh and tenure of up to 25 years, the interest rate is fixed at eight per cent per annum during the first year and at 8.5 per cent during the second and the third year. After three years, the rate will be 2.75 per cent below SBAR (for floating rate) and 1.25 per cent below SBAR for fixed ones, with a reset frequency of five years. For loans above Rs 50 lakh and tenure of up to 25 years ( SBI Advantage Home Loan) , the rate is fixed at 8 per cent per annum during the first year and 9 per cent per annum during the second and third year. From the fourth year on, the rate will be 1.75 per cent below SBAR (for floating rate) and 0.75 per cent below SBAR for fixed ones, with reset frequency of five years.

http://www.indianrealtynews.com/home-loans/sbi%e2%80%99s-8-home-loan-scheme-will-end-on-november-8th.html

SBI not to change home loan rates immediately

MUMBAI: State Bank of India today said it did not have any immediate plans to revise its home loan rates, including that of the eight per cent  special scheme originally slated to end this week.

“We have decided to keep the rates at the same level in the immediate future (including the 8 per cent scheme). The current rate structure will continue,” SBI Chief General Manager, P Nandakumar, said.

The bank was responding to media reports that SBI may withdraw the special home loan scheme, which offers eight per cent fixed interest rate for loans upto Rs five-lakh for five years.

It also offers loans upto Rs 50-lakh at 8 per cent for the first year and at 8.5 per cent in the second and third years. The scheme was supposed to end on November 7.

State Bank is understood to have plans to come with some special offers on home loans in the near future.

The bank had seen a 23.40 per cent growth in its home loan portfolio in the quarter ended September 30.

On the back of a healthy growth in net interest income and core fee income, State Bank clocked a 10.19 per cent jump in its standalone net profit at Rs 2,490-crore in Q2 FY 10.

SBI witnessed a healthy credit growth of 16.39 per cent in the quarter and is optimistic about achieving a growth rate of 22 per cent for the full financial year.

The lender’s advances grew to 5,80,237-crore, up 16.39 per cent, as compared to Rs 4,98,513-crore in Q2 last fiscal.

Its car loans grew by 44.45 per cent in the quarter, large and mid-corporate loans and education loans grew by 14 per cent and 42.23 per cent respectively.

Source : http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/news-by-industry/banking/finance-/banking/SBI-not-to-change-home-loan-rates-immediately/articleshow/5197006.cms

Tata Housing progresses into Phase II of Raisina Residency, launches Victoria in Gurgaon

Delhi: Tata Housing Development Company, recently awarded the title of ‘Promising Future Company – Real Estate, 2009′ by GIREM, today announced the launch of ‘Victoria’, phase II of its premium and exclusive residential complex, Raisina Residency built on the theme of art and culture at Sector 59, Gurgaon. A total of 71 units comprising 3BHK apartments would be available under the new tower.

Raisina Residency offers amenities for an unmatched lifestyle. Three BHK air-conditioned apartments, 100% power backup, a beautifully designed entrance lobby with premium marble flooring, an air-conditioned ground floor lobby, a well-designed and furnished waiting lounge with reception area, two high-speed passenger lifts in each tower, earthquake-resistant structure as per relevant IS codes, split air-conditioner in all rooms, imported marble flooring in living/dining room and in family lounge, real wooden flooring in master bedroom, natural teak veneered flush door for the main entrance and modular kitchens make the property a luxurious haven.

Speaking on the launch of Victoria, Brotin Banerjee, CEO and MD, Tata Housing, said, “With the overwhelming response received from our consumers for phase I of Raisina Residency launched in August 2008, we are happy to announce the launch of Victoria, phase II of Raisina Residency, which again is designed by one of the best international architects. With improved market conditions, we are confident of Victoria generating a favourable response from consumers. Tata Housing’s philosophy of maintaining transparency coupled with credibility and reliability of delivering projects on / before schedule has resulted in complete support from both public and private financial institutions.”

Raisina Residency has pre-certified Green Homes under the guidance of Indian Green Building Council (IGBC). The key features of a ‘Green Building’ have been taken into account while designing the layout of the complex. As a mandatory part of Green Building development and to ensure a healthy environment for customers, Raisina Residency is designed to provide excellent natural ventilation. Also, Raisina Residency comes with 86% open area surrounding the towers.

Tata Housing’s award-winning property has also been awarded the prestigious 5-star and 4-star awards in the Best Development Marketing (Residential category) and Best Architectural Design (Residential category) at the CNBC Asia Pacific Property Awards, 2009.

Source:http://www.equitybulls.com/admin/news2006/news_det.asp?id=63307

CHD Developers launches Lifestyle GRAND at CHD City in Karnal

New Delhi, November 2, 2009 – Sequel to the successful Launch of CHD Lifestyle -Stylish, Comfortable & Affordable independent floors which were sold out within just 6 weeks of its launch, CHD Developers Ltd, a leading real estate developer launched Lifestyle Grand, Comprising of 120 of Modern, Spacious & Majestic independent floors. The luxuriant and spacious independent floors in CHD Lifestyle Grand are available in two different floor area options of 1630 sq.ft. and 1580 sq.ft. and are competitively priced at just Rs.17,00,000*. Lifestyle Grand is an integral part of CHDDevelopers’ Rs. 500 crore mega project, CHD City at Karnal, Haryana.

According to Mr. RK Mittal, Chairman and Managing Director, CHD Developers, “Anyone who places a premium on personal privacy and convenience will find Lifestyle Grand an elegant place to live in. The independent floors are spacious and airy, offering a marvelous living experience to the family of our customers. With incredible attention to detail, the residential floors create an atmosphere of unparallel privilege. All three floors will have optimum light and enhanced visual axis in the living, dinning and bedroom.”

Lifestyle Grand provides open and flexible residences, overlooking beautifully landscaped gardens. The exclusive group housing has been eminently conceived to provide all the facilities of a poshresidential locale at extremely competitive prices. While the Ground Floor has access to both front and rear lawns, the First Floor residents can luxuriate in spacious verandah and balconies that open to lush greenery. The inhabitants of the Second Floor will acquire the roof terrace rights, apart from the balconies.
“A true grandeur of stately residence awaits our customers at CHD Lifestyle Grand, which has a distinct flavor and ambience that our customers will be proud to call their own. Lifestyle Grand offers a modern and vibrant living atmosphere, where families can enjoy an exclusive and active environment with their own distinct social life and sense of community,” added Mr. Mittal.

CHD Lifestyle, another project offering independent floors with smaller size area was completely sold out within just 6 weeks of its launch, a noteworthy record of sorts considering the current slowdown in the real estate industry in India. Hundreds of investors recently chose to invest their hard earned money in CHD Lifestyle because of its inherent strengths and impeccable track record. CHD Lifestyle comprised 138residential units spanning an area of approximately 1,50,000 sq.ft. and its unprecedented success gives a clear indication that the real estate sector in India is bound for a quick revival.

“The enthusiastic response & success of our CHD Lifestyle project motivated us to offer Lifestyle Grand –an exclusive housing with modern facilities for poshresidential locale at competitive price” Mr. Mittal further added.

It is worth noting that this kind of success is not new to CHD Developers. Just a few months ago, one of the company’s commercial projects at CHD City, Karnal Business Centre (KBC), was sold out in 5 months of the launch and this happened during the slowest phase of the Indianreal estate industry . KBC offered prime shop-cum-office (SCO) commercial plots that a progressive business could construct upon as per its unique requirements for any commercial purpose.

The demand for both residential and commercial properties at CHD City underline the fact that it is one of the finest private townships coming up in Karnal, Haryana, located right on NH-1 and midway from Delhi to Chandigarh. The NH–1 is being rapidly widened into a 8-lane Expressway, thus substantially reducing the travel time from Delhi to Chandigarh and to Karnal.

The estimated project cost of CHD City is Rs. 500 Crores and it comprises plots, affordable homes, row houses, independent villas, shopping malls, commercial properties along with school, dispensary etc. It is significant to note that CHD Developers has acquired fully paid up licenses for the 123 acres land and has complete possession of the land. The company has also recently begun to hand over the possession to some of the plot buyers. The construction for Silver County Villas and the Lifestyle Floors at CHD City has already started.

Almost 25,000 families are expected to inhabit the CHD City, making it the most sought after destination in Karnal as its residents will be able enjoy the best of amenities in finest dining, shopping, arts and entertainment, which include a mall, food court, hotel, clubhouse, commercial centre, offices, school, hospital, multiplex, dedicated play area for kids, jogging tracks, high speed internet broadband and wi-fi connectivity, 24-hour power backup and round-the-clock security.

CHD City will also feature world-class facilities at its clubhouse, which will include Swimming Pool, Lawn Tennis Courts, Badminton Courts Pool and Billiards, Health Club, Steam, Sauna and Coffee Shop. Even a 5-star hotel is supposed to come up in its vicinity, which will further add to the marketability of the location. This area is right opposite to the Oasis landmark on the NH and is close to Karna Lake and the golf course, which means that there will always be an abundance of greenery, making it a prime location. This fast developing area is, thus, emerging as the most happening suburb of Karnal.

CHD Developers Ltd. has ushered in a new era of building projects for the residential as well as commercial sectors in northern India and has to its credit several residential complexes such as Gayatrilok at Haridwar, Sri Krishnalok at Vrindaban (Mathura) and CHD City, a residential township in Karnal. CHD has successfully delivered projects covering more than 700,000 sq. feet area and proposes to develop more than 10 million sq. ft. area in the next few years.

About CHD Developers

CHD Developers, an ISO 9001:2000 certified company, was originally founded by the farsighted entrepreneur Mr. R.K Mittal, CMD as “Capital Developers Pvt. Ltd.” in the year 1990. Today having proven itself time and again under the progressive leadership of Mr. Gaurav Mittal, Director, CHDDevelopers is one of the fastest growing ‘Real Estate Major’ in Northern India. CHD’s expertise lie in diverse field including Real Estate Development, Construction, Education and Hospitality where its reckoned for building state of art, elegantly designed, strategically located and high qualityResidential Townships, Residential Apartments, Commercial Complexes and Restaurants. CHD believes in providing true value for money and forging strong relationships with its customers as it has a track record of delivering all their projects on time.

Source:http://press-releases.techwhack.com/42515-chd-lifestyle

Builders revive stalled commercial projects on early signs of recovery

Bangalore: Realty firms, encouraged by early signs of a revival in the market, are dusting off shelved or deferred projects and testing their financial viability to gauge which of these can be resurrected.

Solid foundation: A commercial complex under construction at DLF Cybercity, Gurgaon. Developers who had shifted focus from commercial projects to residential sales during the slowdown are restarting them. Rajkumar / Mint

DLF Ltd and Unitech Ltd, India’s top two developers by market value, which had suspended most of their commercial projects earlier this year, said they are in the process of redeveloping them because of a return in demand.

Unitech, which is more upbeat about the potential of commercial development, said on Monday that it has started developing many projects which had been suspended before. DLF, however, plans to remain cautious and wants to launch only in selective markets such as New Delhi and Hyderabad that it thinks have revived faster than others, a senior DLF official said on condition of anonymity.

Large developers such as Housing Development and Infrastructure Ltd (HDIL), Orbit Corp. Ltd, Ozonegroup and Prestige Estates Projects Pvt. Ltd are also launching or firming up plans to build offices and shopping malls.

“This is a good time because most of us have repaired balance sheets and can afford to start construction and can hold on if needed,” said Hari Pandey, vice-president of finance and investor relations at HDIL. “We are also observing a rise in interest from healthcare, financial services and IT (information technology) companies.”

HDIL, the country’s third largest developer by market value, in September and October launched 3.5 million sq. ft of commercial and retail development projects in two Mumbai suburbs that were initially scheduled for a 2010 launch. HDIL’s capital outlay for these projects is Rs600-700 crore over the next four years.

Improved cash flows from sales and a rise in the so-called transfer of development rights (TDR) rates, too, propelled the company’s decision to start building these projects. Slum TDR is a tradable paper issued by state governments in exchange for free development of slums by builders. They, in turn, use the paper to develop other sites.

Analysts, however, remain sceptical and say the commercial and retail segments, unlike residential housing, may be far from a turnaround. Real estate consultancy Cushman and Wakefield said in a 27 October report that the estimated absorption of office space in the first three quarters of 2009 was 4 million sq. ft and is expected to be 5 million sq. ft for the entire year—a 50% drop from the 10.36 million sq. ft sold in 2008.

Developers had shifted their focus from commercial, retail and hospitality projects to residential sales during the slowdown. DLF and Unitech led the way, saying they would concentrate on mid-income homes, and suspended other projects. While a Unitech official said on condition of anonymity that the company has changed its stand and gotten back to commercial development, DLF is also developing about 2.5-3 million sq. ft of commercial space.

Overall, DLF is trying to clean up whatever commercial space was launched by beginning construction as well as delivering what was promised, said a DLF official, who also did not want to be identified.

“The revival of the commercial sector will be a slow process, and the initial trends emerging after the lull include the gradual return of demand from non-IT companies as well as from investors,” said Anshuman Magazine, managing director at property advisory CB Richard Ellis.

Bangalore-based Ozonegroup is back at the drawing board, deliberating the format of its Urbana project—a 162-acre sprawl in Bangalore. The company, which had earlier considered building an IT special economic zone (SEZ) here, may instead build a large IT park with retail spaces.

Similarly, Orbit, after turning its premium commercial projects into residential formats, plans to launch two commercial projects in the coming months in the Bandra-Kurla Complex and Andheri, both Mumbai suburbs.

“The launches are in anticipation of demand picking up as companies begin to expand again,” said Pujit Aggarwal, managing director of Orbit.

India’s retail property market has recorded the highest correction in the world, according to a 22 September report by Cushman and Wakefield. The biggest fall in rentals globally was in Colaba Causeway, a high street in Mumbai, where rentals fell by 63.5%.

In the past couple of months, many mall developers have restarted projects they had given up on.

A Bangalore-based developer, requesting anonymity, said he is redesigning a 2 million sq. ft mall off Bellary Road in north Bangalore, which he had shelved late last year. “We had even dissolved our entire retail team but now we are again at it, though we have to rethink our mix of retailers, etc.,” he said.

From the complete silence that reigned in the retail sector in the past two quarters, sign-ups have started though retailers are more demanding this time, said two retail analysts.

“The current set of mall developers are long-term players and are more cautious because retailers want to see that construction has begun, unlike earlier,” said Susil Dungarwal, founder of Beyond Squarefeet Advisory Pvt. Ltd, a mall advisory.

Retail investors, too, are hopeful of seeing more movement in an otherwise dull sector. Ivanhoe Cambridge Investment Advisory (India) Pvt. Ltd, a Canadian retail-focused fund, is close to signing a joint venture with a leading developer, almost a year-and-a-half after it announced its India plans.

“We see India as a long-term strategy, and the recent economic downturn has not impacted our interest in investing in quality shopping centre projects with competent local partners,” said Phil McArthur, senior vice-president, India, Ivanhoe Cambridge.

Source:http://www.livemint.com/2009/11/02214640/Builders-revive-stalled-commer.html

Home loan rates to harden as banks feel crunch news

The days of cheap home loans are drawing to a close as the Reserve Bank of India prepares to harden its key policy rates. Large public sector banks, such as the State Bank of India and Punjab National Bank, are reportedly planning to withdraw the special schemes that offer rates as low as 8 per cent for the initial years.

With the RBI sending out signals of a tighter monetary policy, banks may have to raise their home loan rates by January. Moreover, listed Indian banks may have to shell out more than Rs11,000 crore in the next one year to improve their cover towards non-performing assets to 70 per cent, as mandated by RBI’s recent monetary policy.

“Seeing the hawkish tone in RBI’s quarterly monetary policy review, the bank board thinks it may not be possible to continue with these schemes after the end of the current calendar year,” The Economic Times quoted an unnamed senior official with PNB, the country’s second-largest public sector lender, as saying.

While the special offers will be withdrawn from the end of the current calendar year, most banks are extending the festival offers, such as a zero processing fee, till then.

Currently, various banks are offering teaser rates for the first few years on home loans. Development Credit Bank is offering 7.95 per cent rate for the first year on their home loans. SBI, Dena Bank and Canara Bank are currently offering 8 per cent rate for the first few years.

After the offer period, such loans will be converted into floating rate loans.

Private sector banks, which were forced to offer lower rates after the announcement of special schemes by their state-owned rivals, are likely to hike rates once the public sector banks withdraw such schemes. Considering the fact that floating rate loans comprise a large part of the housing loan segment, any increase in rates will affect a large number of existing loans as well.

http://www.domain-b.com/finance/banks/20091102_home_loan_rates.html

Recession good for property buyers

The market may witness an over supply like condition in the affordable segment of residential real estate making prices range bound in times to come. Though the global financial crisis affected developers badly, it brought cheer to the middle class end users as builders were forced to bring down their units prices to the affordable range of Rs 5 lakh to Rs 30 lakh.

In fact, the crisis led to emergence of a new segment of affordable housing in residential real estate in the country. This helped revive realty market and instilled a new confidence among developers and end users, according to Samir Jasuja, founder CEO of PropEquity Research.

In order to bring down prices to drive sales, developers cut the rate by lowering specifications and also by reducing the size of units. The combined effect of cutting the rate and reducing the size led to a steep fall in prices of two and three-bedroom apartments, by as much as 30% to 40% from their peak level of early 2008.

The fall in prices spurred demand. Many developers even sold their entire projects in only a couple of days. This is mainly because developers could successfully convey the impression to buyers that availability of apartments at prices at which they offered would not last long. This made the buyers queue up to buy these apartments.

But as demand rose sharply in this category, more and more developers launched apartments in the affordable segments and supply increased manifold. According to Jasuja, this category is now beginning to get overcrowded with a rapid increase in supply, which is outstripping absorption and leading to an inventory pile up. According to the accompanying chart, absorption rate or sold-out rate in the last one year in apartments in the price range of Rs 5 to Rs 15 lakh is much better than that in the Rs 15 to Rs 30 lakh range. This is also because of the number of apartments launched in the Rs 5 to Rs 15 lakh price range is much smaller than that in the Rs 15 to Rs 30 lakh range in the National Capital Region (NCR).

Gurgaon saw the launch of maximum number of apartments in the affordable range. But the sold-out rate here is the second worst at 37%, next only after Greater Noida, where it is only 25%. As sales in affordable range of apartments picked up, many developers jumped onto the affordable housing bandwagon to bail themselves out of the global economic crisis.

Many of them treated affordable housing category as the new mantra in marketing and launched several projects in this category resulting in an oversupply in the market, Jasuja says. Interestingly, as demand picked up and number of transactions increased, many developers revised prices upwards, by around 10%. However, consultants feel price hike is more cosmetic in nature as developers are giving discounts over quoted prices. Some developers increased the quote prices, but the discount was also suitably hiked.

Data collected by PropEquity from 13 cities suggests that rate of sales (absorption) of affordable units have slowed down in the September 2009 quarter. In the early phase, the euphoria was mainly due to a huge pent up demand in the category. Falling absorption velocity coupled with an over supply in this category has now resulted in an inventory pile up. As cost of carrying inventory in real estate sector is very high, developers will resort to price correction at the cost of profits. But developers argue the prices are at rock bottom. In most of the areas of NCR, developers are selling apartments at 30% to 50% discount to the average price of apartments in the area. In most of the cases, they are working on a very thin profit margin.

Therefore, a further cut in prices will be a big disincentive to launch the project itself . However, bankers and consultants feel that most developers are under a huge debt. As they are not able to raise funds through equity-sell, they have no choice but to launch projects for the purpose.

Source:http://mail.google.com/mail/?shva=1#inbox/124a85c163d611fe

DLF plans to make affordable homes

New Delhi: India’s largest developer by market value, DLF Ltd, will now build apartments worth Rs30-50 lakh, a senior official said.

The realtor plans to launch 3-4 million sq. ft of what it called value housing in the current fiscal to March, Saurabh Chawla, senior vice-president, finance, told analysts on a conference call on Friday.

The projects will be located in Chandigarh, Gurgaon on the outskirts of New Delhi and on the fringes of Bangalore, Chennai and Hyderabad.

“Pricing will depend on the location and city, but we are largely looking at this price band (Rs30-50 lakh),” the company executive said on condition of anonymity. “You can’t compete in the market if your products cater only to a certain segment,” the official said, referring to DLF’s product portfolio that largely comprises houses in the Rs50 lakh plus range.

“Value housing will offer a smaller sized unit at prices lower than the premium segment of housing,” said its vice-chairman Rajiv Singh. “It is a lower extension of premium housing… We expect reasonably good money from this segment even when compared with premium housing.”

DLF’s rival Unitech Ltd recently launched a new brand, Uni Homes, which will offer homes in the Rs10-15 lakh range. Other developers such as Puravankara Projects Ltd also have separate brands for so-called low-cost housing.

DLF expects to make a margin of 25-30% from value housing, compared with 30-40% from its other projects.

“Some of the larger developers, who are sitting on land bought at an historical cost, have a competitive edge in the market, which offers them the flexibility to develop products according to the market needs,” said Anshuman Magazine, managing director of real estate consultancy firm CB Richard Ellis.

DLF expects to launch 12 million sq. ft of residential space, including lower priced housing in the second half of this fiscal. In the first half, the firm had launched around 5 million sq. ft of homes.

According to a presentation available on its website, DLF’s net debt has increased from Rs11,686 crore in the three months to June to Rs12,135 crore. In the September quarter, DLF repaid Rs394 crore and borrowed Rs183 crore. The firm added Rs165 crore of debt due to consolidation of land.

DLF Assets Ltd, which buys and holds completed commercial assets of the developer, still owes around Rs2,500 crore to DLF, Chawla said. In the second quarter, DLF Assets would have contributed around 10% to DLF’s revenue, he added. Till December last year, DLF Assets was contributing around 40% of the firm’s revenue.

Source:http://www.livemint.com/2009/10/30223329/DLF-plans-to-make-affordable-h.html?h=B

Matrix Partners India invests Rs 47.34 cr in Siesta Hospitality

Mumbai-based venture capital firm Matrix Partners India has invested around Rs 47.34 crore in Bengaluru-based Siesta Hospitality Services Ltd. Rishi Navani, Co–founder and Managing Director, Matrix Partners India said, “Siesta Hospitality has an innovative business model to address the hospitality needs of corporations.”

Ashok Chattaraj, Co-founder of Siesta Hospitality declined to disclose the stake acquired but said it was a minority one. E&Y advised Siesta Hospitality on the deal.

According to a report in livemint.com, Siesta Hospitality, set up in 2005, provides customised serviced apartments for travelling executives, based on specific requirements. The firm, which owns at least 500 rooms across 14 cities and counts Barclays Bank Plc, Citibank N A, and Nokia Siemens Networks Pvt Ltd, among others, also customises the apartment according to client specifications.

Source:http://www.hospitalitybizindia.com/detailNews.aspx?aid=6586&sid=1

Taj, Radisson to open hotels in Amritsar

To cash in on the growing demand of hotel rooms in Amritsar, not only local players but also major national and international hospitality chains are setting up new properties in the city. Among the prominent ones are Radisson, Holiday Inn and Taj Properties, according to sources. Experts in the hospitality sector say there is lot of demand of quality rooms in the city, especially from the NRI community and foreigners, besides high-end domestic tourists.

Recently, IHHR Hospitality Private Limited announced the opening of its five-star luxury hotel, Ista, in Amritsar. Ista Amritsar is the third in chain after Ista Bangalore and Ista Hyderabad.

Speaking to Business Standard, X-Cell Hotel Consultancy President Narbir Singh said, “Being one of India’s most popular religious tourist destinations, Amritsar has vast untapped potential in the area of hospitality. On an average there is demand of 200-250 good quality rooms, especially in the five-star category, from foreigners and NRIs. So, in order to serve that segment, major chains are planning to set up their properties. With infrastructure coming up, we expect NRIs would like to stay there for 2-3 days in order to enjoy their visit to the holy city for the Golden Temple, retreat at Wagah border, Durgiana temple etc. He added in absence of good quality rooms, people used to come in the morning and preferred going back the same day. “I am confident that these ventures by Radisson, Holiday Inn, Taj Properties will boost religious tourism as well as business prospects in the city and attract a lot of foreign and Indian travelers,” he said.

Experts also feel that since Amritsar is well connected with international flights, there is vast potential for the hospitality sector.

CII Punjab State Council Chairman Gunbir Singh said, “In 2007, we projected about 2,500 rooms would be added in Amritsar alone in next three year, but my perception is we are going to exceed the target.To support this sector, the government must encourage the industry, and also promote the tourism sector in the state.”

Source:http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/taj-radisson-to-open-hotels-in-amritsar/374980/

Hyderabad realty sees buyer interest

Aggressive pricing and festival season discounts are beginning to draw home buyers in the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) area, including surrounding municipalities and satellite townships.

With the market correcting by nearly 30-40 per cent depending upon the location, be it core city area or peripheries, buyers have begun to not only evince interest but are also entering into deals, according to some real-estate companies in the city.

The President of Greater Hyderabad Builders Federation, Mr C. Prabhakar Rao, said some of the large builders who have taken up integrated township and mega projects are those who are facing the heat of servicing loans. This has forced them to bring down prices by about 30-40 per cent to bring back buyer interest.
Price correction

Prices had shot up to unrealistic levels due to the boom in the real-estate market. That was the time when no one doubted the market potential and continued to invest, a good number of them for speculation.

However, after the correction, buyers, who were waiting for lowering of prices, realised that the market had stabilised and was not likely to go down further. They were now coming back into the market with renewed interest, he said.

Significantly, due to good supply, buyers have the choice to select a property of choice, that too in a project that is at an advanced stage of construction instead of investing in just a coming up venture or one that is in a proposal stage.

The Chief Executive Officer of Cybercity Builders and Developers, Mr Uttam Korupolu, told Business Line that the market now reflects a positive mood with buyers looking at projects that are attractively priced.

Citing the company’s project near Hitech City, wherein apartments are priced at Rs 2,500 per sq.ft in gated community environs, Mr Uttam said that in barely months of launching the project, all the 400 apartments have been booked.

This is because projects of similar nature were earlier priced anywhere between Rs 3,500 and 4,000 per sq.ft. Buyers now see value in such properties and are able to relate to them.

They also know that the market has found its bottom, he explained.

“Interaction with some of the buyers shows that nearly 25 per cent of those who had booked their properties are actually speculating in the hope that the market will again find its way up,” Mr Uttam explained.
Small developers sitting pretty

Referring to the pattern in the core city area, Mr Prabhakar Rao said that the cost per sq.ft now at about Rs 3,000 to Rs 4,000 per sq.ft depending upon the location of the property and the stage of development.

In fact, these were ruling 30-40 per cent higher about 18 months ago.

Significantly, small developers who have five floors of built-up structures and relatively fewer number of apartments compared with high-rise projects in the city, are not budging on prices as they have less exposure to loans. It is the large builders who have exposure to bank loans and facing the heat of servicing them who are forced to lower their prices.

It is not surprising to see some of the larger developers such as DLF, Mantri Housing, Meenakshi, to name a few, being among those who have priced their projects attractively to woo home buyers. Many other larger developers too are looking at fine-tuning their new ventures, he said.

Some of the multiple apartment project developers, such as Manjeera Construction, recently came up with a festive offer of a two-bedroom apartment with all amenities for Rs 25 lakh, a huge discount. This had led to a rush for bookings.

More developers are looking at the affordable segment as this is the space offering much scope for growth. However, the supply in high-cost projects is much more than what the market can immediately consume, they felt.

It is higher cost apartments that are now facing the heat due to job losses in the IT sector. There is some stagnation in this area, said Mr Prabhakar Rao.

Many home buyers are now coming out of their shell to invest in projects where they can relate to pricing. They also know that the market has stabilised and banks have begun to lend selectively. For instance, Rainbow Vista project has had nearly 11 banks supporting the venture mainly due to the price structure, Mr Korupolu said.
Labour costs up

Asked about the input costs, Mr Korupolu said that the price of steel and cement had come down significantly from the dizzy highs seen in 2007-2008. However, the cost of labour has gone up. This is one area for concern.

After considerable uncertainty in the market, the sector is beginning to look up. A recent survey, Festive Reality by makaan.com, shows that buyers are opting for ready-to-move-in homes with direct discounts. The mood too reflects a positive frame of mind, the report finds.

The Chairman and Managing Director of IVRCL, Mr. E. Sudhir Reddy, believes that the real estate market is still not attractive for those who have acquired land in the last two-three years when the prices were ruling high.

He argues that it is not an attractive proposition to enter into affordable housing segment as yet. This is because the market has already become aggressive. Unless the Government offers land at lower rates, it would be difficult to offer attractively priced properties.

Source:http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/iw/2009/11/01/stories/2009110150461700.htm

Patel Smondoville Project Bangalore: Property in Bangalore

Patel Smondoville Project
Patel Realty Comming With Their New Residential Project Smondoville, Bangalore is a 120 acre integrated township comprising of three residential precincts, a business precincts, a tech icon precinct, hospitality and leisure precinct and an educational precincts. It has a beautiful natural lake within the township and is very conveniently located in electronic cityphase-I. We are commencing the project by launching our residential precincts SMONDOVILLE very shortly. Smondos are smart homes designed for distinct comfortable living at a smart price. They are designed for optimum efficiency for comfortable living. I will come back very soon on the pricing and other details. We are in the process of signing up with the Channel partners and would be delighted to have you on board. I am sending a brochure for your evaluation. Do get back with your confirmation for a great partnership ahead!

Patel Smondoville Type Size & Price
Type——-Size(Sq.Ft)—-Price INR(sq.ft)
Studio——–360————-1885
1 BHK———635————-1885
2 BHK———865————-1885

About Patel Realty
Patel Engineering Ltd. a listed company in BSE & NSE has successful track record of completing over 350 Projects over six decades and has a global presence in USA, Greece, Indonesia, China, Chile, Eritrea (Africa), Qatar, Nepal, Mauritius, Sri Lanka & Bhutan. The company currently employs over 2500 people and has a market capitalization of 2900 crores and an annual turnover of 2500 crores.Apart from successfully completing and executing 78 dams, 40 hydro power projects, over 30 Micro tunneling projects & 175 Kms of tunneling works. Patel has in the past been involved in development up of landmark buildings all over the world, including the Centaur Hotel a 5 star hotel located in – Juhu, Mumbai, Quantum Park a high end residential building in Bandra Mumbai, The General Post office building in Doha Qatar and the Convention centre cum Secretariat of Bhutan to name a few. Currently Patel is developing One Million Sq.ft. of prime commercial space in Mumbai, Two Million Sq.Ft. of residential community in NOIDA, and has recently completed a landmark commercial building of 1 lac Sq.Ft. in Mumbai.

About Affinity Solutions (P) Ltd
Affinity Consultant is a Real Estate Consultant in India operating since last 10 years. Affinity Solutions have a team of dedicated professionals with more than 10 yrs of experience in real estate services handling the entire project in India. Affinity Solutions (P) Ltd. is a paramount name among Indian real estate consultants and service providers with all leading brands likes DLF, Unitech, Jaypee, Ansal, BPTP, Parsvnath, Mahagun, Omaxe, Emaar MGF, Eldeco, Indiabulls, Amrapali, Mantri, Lodha, Indu, Kolte Patil, Ramprastha, TDI, Uppals etc.

Source:http://www.bignews.biz/?id=820950#at

CASA BELLA GOLD – By Lodha gets unprecedented response

The largest & latest project by Lodha does a record 400 bookings in just 2 days of launch!

Mumbai, 29th October, 2009 – Following the success of Casa Bella – which saw over 2300 families become a part of the City of Dreams since its launch in March 2009, Lodha Group now introduces Casa Bella Gold. The project, Lodha Group’s largest initiative witnessed an unprecedented response from consumers with over 400 bookings and over 1100 families visiting the venue within just 2 days.

‘CASA Bella Gold – City of dreams’, set to offer a world class lifestyle in Dombivali and with several major infrastructure initiatives taken around the project, will make Dombivali the destination to be in. Located in Dombivali, on the Kalyan Shil Road, CASA Bella Gold is only 25 minutes drive from Thane and 15 minutes from Navi Mumbai, 6kms from Dombivali station and around 20 minutes drive from the proposed location of the new international airport. Additionally, the township is also close to many leading IT parks such as Dhirubhai Ambani Knowledge City, Millenium Business Park and Airoli IT Park. The township will be spread over 117 acres of land with Casa Bella Gold being the 2nd phase of development. These are 1, 2 and 3 BHK air conditioned apartments. The apartments are priced at Rs. 12.99 lac onwards for a 1 BHK, Rs. 18.53 lac onwards for a 2 BHK and 28.55 lac onwards for a 3 BHK.

Commenting on the overwhelming success of CASA BELLA Gold, R Karthik Senior Vice- President, Marketing , Lodha Group said, “The response to Casa Bella Gold is a testimony of the trust earned by the group and it will inspire us towards consistently exceeding customer expectations.” Mr. Karthik further said, “The focus of CASA Bella Gold is to offer an international and hassle free lifestyle to the residents of Dombivali and all this at an unbelievable price.”

CASA Bella Gold, an superior experience in Luxury Township living, is designed in clusters of majestic towers having 8 and 18 stories. The spacious air-conditioned apartments are immaculately planned with marble flooring in the living room, wooden flooring in the bedrooms and Spanish sanitaryware in the bathrooms. All this with spectacular views of the grand central square of the complex, the sprawling golf course and the river beyond.

The grand clubhouse spread across 30,000 sq. ft. will be one of the largest in Mumbai with two pools, a gym, multipurpose courts and a cricket pitch keep you healthy. In addition, a yoga pavilion, a café and a world-class ICSE school provides a comprehensive living experience to all. In addition to all the luxuries, the township offers abundant 24×7 power and water supply. Usarghar railway station is close by and a medical facility managed by the Hinduja Hospital takes care of any medical emergency. The vision of Lodha group is to create an urban development in Dombivali which will provide its residents all the comforts of a modern township. From playschool to international universities, medical centres to multi specialty hospitals, gardens to golf courses, small business offices to SEZ’s this development will have it all. And with the successful launch of CASA Bella Gold engrains the fact that it is one of the most preferred residential destinations in Mumbai and its suburbs providing a perfect blend of quality, luxury and value.

About Lodha Group

Established in 1980, Lodha Group is Mumbai’s premier real estate developer providing comprehensive residential and office space solutions across real estate categories and diverse consumer segments – from luxury garden residences in South Mumbai to large integrated townships in the suburbs, from thoughtfully designed office environments to private villa retreats. Headquartered in Mumbai, the group is currently developing in excess of 29 million sq. ft. of prime real estate spread over 38 projects.

The group continuously strives to exceed the expectations of customers through innovative, world-class solutions leading to several innovative ‘firsts’ to its credit – be it Lodha Bellissimo – Mumbai’s first “By invitation only” project which is the only Indian residential project amongst the top 1000 landscapes in the world, Lodha Luxuria –Mumbai’s first “Fully Automated Township” or Lodha Aqua – Mumbai’s first water inspired township. The group uses ‘brand’ as a differentiator and has developed itself as a pioneer of branded realty, delivering consistent brand experience across customer touch-points. The group has extended this philosophy to office spaces as well, where it was one of the first in India to introduce the concept of branded office spaces through its unique offerings: Lodha Excelus – Signature offices catering to front office requirements of large corporates, iThink by Lodha – the ultimate IT destination for large back office needs and the recently launched, Lodha Supremus – Signature boutique offices, targeted specifically at mid-sized businesses.

The group has been responsive to changing market situations and has dynamically realigned its project portfolio anticipating demand-supply mismatches in the market. To explore the untapped potential in ‘affordable segment’, the group created an entirely new residential category – Mid-Income Luxury. A new sub-brand ‘CASA by Lodha’ was created for this category, with essential quality and luxury endorsement, providing ‘right sized’ and ‘right priced’ products in Mumbai’s sub-urban locations. The integrated planning of Casa Bella, Mumbai’s largest single phase township development has been selected by the United Nations as one of the ‘Good Practices’ for 2009, which is deemed to have made outstanding contribution to improving the quality of life in their cities and communities. The launch of the Casa brand has met with huge success and more than 3000 apartments have been sold in the last 6 months. The group has strong systems and process orientation, including research and benchmarking and uses advanced technologies to ensure optimized solutions.

Lodha collaborates with leading professionals and suppliers; partnering with Aedas, OveArup and Sasaki for architectural innovations; Poggenpohl, Duravit and Kohler for internal fittings; Bang & Olufsen for home entertainment; SAP for technology platforms and Johnson Controls for facilities management, to deliver excellence in every aspect of development. With a focus on building a world class organization, the group has attracted top talent from premier B-school campuses, hired professionals from benchmark industries and built a proficient management team.

The group’s strong brand & execution capabilities have attracted the best financial investors from across the globe. According to the JP Morgan Property Report 2008, Lodha Group was ranked second in the list of ‘most sought after for PE investment in the realty sector’. Also selected as one of India’s top 10 builders by Construction World, the group has consistently delivered luxury lifestyles through innovative solutions, not just by building structures but by building better lives.

Beyond being a real estate developer, the group has been a socially responsible corporate focusing on education as the best medium to enrich society. The group has recently expanded into Hyderabad with the launch of Lodha Bellezza, a super-luxury residential project.

Source:http://www.prlog.org/10393433-casa-bella-gold-by-lodha-gets-unprecedented-response.html

DDA to allot flats in November after clean chit in scam

The Delhi Development Authority (DDA) Thursday said allotment of nearly 5,000 flats under its 2008 housing scheme would start in November as the final report into a multi-million rupee housing scam has given it a clean chit.

The Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of Delhi Police, in its report, cleared that the software used for the draw of lots was not rigged and it also ruled out any connivance of its serving employees.

Over 500,000 people applied for 5,238 flats under the DDA’s housing scheme 2008. But the scheme got mired in controversies amid allegations of fake applications. The scam came to light earlier this year after a man who was allotted a flat in the draw of lots told the police that he had not even applied for it.

The EOW started investigations, which revealed a group of people conspired to buy several flats in the names of those from reserved categories – the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes – who were eligible for the flats but could not afford them. The conspirators meant to sell off these flats at huge profit.

The DDA has now received the EOW’s report, which comprises investigations by EOW, software report from the Government Examiner on Questionable Documents (GEQD0), Hyderabad, and a report from Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC), Thiruvananthapuram.

‘The report does not indicate any connivance or favouritism by any DDA serving officers or those connected with the draw. The allotment process will now start in November,’ said DDA spokesperson Neemo Dhar.

‘C-DAC, after analysing all the hard disks of computers used in DDA draw, DDA server, software, has not found any evidence of rigging of software,’ said an official DDA statement.

‘The report also states that from an analysis of the source code, the experts could not find any evidence to indicate that the software shows any type of bias towards any specific applicant or applicants,’ the report given to EOW said.

Said Delhi Police spokesperson Rajan Bhagat: ‘The technical report of C-DAC on the software used in the DDA draw was received and the technical experts have opined that they could not find any external tempering in the software. However, apart from the software matter, other aspects of the investigation will continue till the case is finalised.’

‘As per the report of the EOW, there are nine accused persons who had fraudulently got a large number of DDA forms filled in by inducing poor and illiterate persons belonging to the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes with a view to corner maximum flats in bargain and caused wrongful gain for themselves. Out of the total 5,238 successful DDA applicants, only 1.37 percent, that is 72 successful candidates, fall in the purview of such investigations and are connected with these persons,’ the DDA statement added.

‘The persons who fall within the purview of the investigation as mentioned above, will not be issued any allotment letter till the investigating agency clears these cases,’ it added.

The EOW has arrested nine people, including Deepak Kumar, who allegedly blew the lid off the scam after he fell out with some fellow real estate agents, retired DDA employee M.L. Gautam, and real estate agents Raju Ram, Laxmi Narayan Meena and Vijay Pal.

source:http://sify.com/news/DDA-to-allot-flats-in-November-after-clean-chit-in-scam-news-jk3w4daafhi.html

Duet India Hotels Invests $12M In Hyderabad VentureDuet India Hotels Ltd (DIH), the private equity firm of UK-based Duet Group, has invested $12 million in a five- star upscale hotel project in Hyderabad. The project, which comprises 210 rooms, is being developed at Gachibowli suburb, close to the IT district, of the city at a total investment of $26 million. The company will soon invest another $25 million in a hotel project in Bangalore

Duet India Hotels, which is the investor and developer of the project, will infuse the remaining amount through debt. The company has already bought the land from L&T Phoenix Infoparks for the Hyderabad project.

It is yet to finalise a hotel partner for the project, Dilip Puri, CEO of Duet India Hotels, told VCCircle.

Across five projects, the company has invested $47 million so far from its $166.5-million fund. Earlier, it has invested in projects in Jaipur, Pune, Ahmedabad and Indore. The Jaipur project is already operational and is run by Sheraton Hotels & Resorts under the brand name, Four Points. The Pune project will be operational by September 2010 followed by Indore and Ahmedabad projects in January and March 2011, respectively.

The company has also completed due diligence for two more investments, one each in Lucknow and Nashik. “We have completed the due diligence for two other projects, and will bring in equity in the next one month. These are smaller projects having equity of $3 million each for developing 3-star hotels of 100 rooms in each,” added Puri. “We are about to conclude a project at Whitefield in Bangalore, and will invest equity of around $25 million,” he said.

By the end of this calendar year, the fund will complete investments of $78 million equity across eight projects. Duet India Hotels, which has raised the fund from foreign institutional investors, plans to raise more equity for the fund and go for an initial public offering in the next two years. “We plan to raise more equity for the same fund and would be looking to do an IPO in a year-and-a-half or two years,” Puri said.

Apart from DIH, Duet Group runs another fund in India called South Asian Real Estate, which has been investing in residential projects.

Source:http://www.vccircle.com/500/news/duet-india-hotels-invests-12m-in-hyderabad-venture

Choice Hotels India Expands Hotel Presence in Delhi NCR

Gurgaon, Haryana, October 29, 2009 /India PRwire/ — Choice Hotels India has recently launched two additional properties in Delhi NCR as part of its rapidly expanding portfolio. They are Quality Inn Bliss in Gurgaon and Quality Hotel Sewa Grand in Faridabad.

Quality Inn Bliss is conveniently located in the heart of Gurgaon amidst multinational companies and premier establishments. The hotel offers 39 well appointed guestrooms with modern facilities in an ambience of unmatched comfort. “Fusion” the Multicuisine Restaurant with a show kitchen is perfect for a working lunch or an exuberant dinner. “Celsius” the Lounge Bar offers imaginative quaint cocktails and housing some of the best wines & malt whiskeys of the world. “Viceroy” state-of-the-art Board room is ideal for small meetings and ?‘Ritz I & II’ are the fully equipped banquet & conference halls.

Quality Hotel Sewa Grand Faridabad is ideally situated at Mathura Road on the highway leading from Delhi to Agra. 82 spacious rooms and suites are elegantly and tastefully decorated to suit all modern needs.. ‘Cafe Pacific’ the all day dining Multicuisine Restaurant offers an extensive selection of mouth watering delicacies to tingle your taste buds. ‘Atlantis Bar’ is a great relaxing place to unwind and choose from a fine selection of spirits and cocktails. Fully equipped banquet & conference halls ‘Royal Ball Room’ and ‘Senate’ can accommodate upto 350 guests.

Apart from these two hotels, CHI has Comfort Inn The President and Clarion Collection in New Delhi. Designed to meet the needs of today’s traveller, all these hotels ensures exceptional value, courteous service and comfortable accommodation. They are in the most convenient location for both business and pleasure.

Mr. Vilas Pawar, CEO, Choice Hotels India, said, “Choice Hotels India now has four properties in Delhi NCR. We are also coming up with 160 rooms Clarion in Greater Noida to be operational by next year. In addition to this, CHI has also signed one more property under Sleep Inn brand in Delhi. Our multiple presence in Delhi NCR speaks out the success and phenomenal growth.”

Notes to Editor

Choice Hotels India

Choice Hotels India is part of Choice Hotels International, one of the largest and most widespread lodging franchisors of the world with over 5000 hotels across the globe. Today Choice Hotels India is one of the fastest and finest growing hotel chains with 29 properties over 21 destinations in India and another 14 properties under different stages of development. These hotels are in various destinations including New Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Gurgaon, Hyderabad, Jaipur, Kodaikanal, Lucknow, Faridabad, Amritsar, Shimla, Manali, Corbett, Pune, Nashik, Haldwani, Chiplun, Tuticorin and Vijayawada. Its presence in all the gateway cities proves that the chain is widely accepted by business as well as leisure travelers who recognize and trust the brand.

Choice Hotels International

Choice Hotels International is one of the largest and most successful lodging franchisors in the world. Built on the foundation of the venerable Quality Inn? brand a pioneer in consistent mid-priced lodging, Choice Hotels today is the worldwide franchisor of Cambria Suites TM, Comfort Inn, Comfort Suites, Quality, Sleep Inn, Clarion, MainStay Suites, Suburban Extended Stay Hotel, Econo Lodge, and Rodeway Inn brand hotels.

source:http://www.indiaprwire.com/pressrelease/leisure-travel/2009102936519.htm#at

Hotel with a helipad beats New Town blues

An artist’s impression of the Shristi-Westin hotel

Rajarhat the hospitality hub scored a rare victory on Tuesday with the announcement of a Rs 800 crore five-star property, crowned with a helipad.

Shristi Hotel, an arm of Shristi Infrastructure Development Corporation Ltd, has joined hands with global hospitality major Westin Hotels & Resorts, for the 323-key address which hopes to welcome guests by end-2011.

The twin towers of the G+35 hotel, a “bionic structure”, will boast a rooftop helipad, “a first by an Indian hotel”, and a high-tech fire-fighting system with Israeli collaboration, geared to evacuate 150 people in eight minutes.

This is the second hotel project with an overseas partner announced in Rajarhat in recent weeks, with Ambuja Realty confirming the Swissôtel Group as its hospitality partner for the five-star mall hotel atop City Centre 2.

The Shristi-Westin alliance on the eight-acre sland parcel would be the first standalone deluxe five-star hotel in a Rajarhat rocked by lack of infrastructure and land-grab allegations.

Calcutta, languishing at a five-star room count of just over a thousand — about a ninth of Delhi’s — was promised an injection of at least 2,000 new star keys over a five-year timeframe. Going by today’s status, not even 20 per cent of that room rack will be ready by 2010.

DLF, which had pledged to bring three star hotels to Calcutta with a combined investment of Rs 1,000 crore, is yet to break ground.

Bengal Unitech Universal, committed to adding three properties in Rajarhat offering 500-plus keys among them, has only completed the foundation for the Marriott Courtyard in its IT park, with little signs of moving a step further.

Emaar-MGF, which made real estate history in Calcutta by quoting a record Rs 213 crore for a 6.24-acre plot on the Bypass, is also going slow on its double-header there — a JW Marriott and a Holiday Inn — with 250 keys each.

So why is the Shristi-Westin hotel taking the plunge? “The feasibility analysis by Deloitte has thrown up very encouraging potential for hotel rooms here,” said Sujit Kanoria, the managing director of Shristi Infrastructure Development.

Designed by the Spanish firm of Cervera & Pioz, which created the New York Stock Exchange and the Acropolis Museum in Greece, the star address is banking on “building with the bear and running with the bull”, says an industry veteran.

“Thanks to the small inventory size in Calcutta, there’s always room for more, despite the low energy. When the Shristi-Westin hotel will become operational, the overall economy would have turned the corner and the rest of the hotel projects would not be ready,” he added.

The hotel will have a wrap-around shopping and entertainment arcade with “an eclectic mix of live entertainment, fun and fine-dining outlets, speciality retail and state-of-the-art cinemas”.

Source:http://www.telegraphindia.com/1091028/jsp/calcutta/story_11664634.jsp

Majority of Dharavi dwellers may be ineligible for rehousing

Even as the Dharavi redevelopment project seems likely to be pushed with renewed vigour by the new state government, fresh revelations threaten to put a big question mark over the rehabilitation of over 3 lakh slum residents, with some officials warning of a potential law-and-order problem.

A preliminary assessment carried out by the competent authority—BMC assistant commissioner (G-North ward) Narayan Pai – to verify the status of slum dwellers has found only 37% of them eligible for rehousing in one of the five sectors of Dharavi. Pai has officially noted that out of 8,478 hutments (families) in Sector 4, only 3,127 are eligible.

The slum dwellers found ineligible in the survey are the ones who have been unable to produce proof of residence or documents that show they have been living in Dharavi prior to the government’s latest cut-off date of January 1, 2000. Several thousand hutments have been sold since this cut-off date and the new occupants do not possess photo passes, which are given only to slum residents considered to be eligible for rehabilitation by the government.

The sticky situation forced the project’s officer on special duty, Gautam Chaterjee, to write to the state government last week, warning that the Rs 15,000-crore scheme could not be implemented until all issues related to rehabilitation were sorted out. Chaterjee has termed this a “serious matter”.

Dharavi has been carved into five sectors, each of which will be awarded to a private developer. The 2 sq km enclave has about 60,000 families or over 3 lakh people to be rehoused by developers as part of the project.

Pai’s survey showed that in one of the slum clusters in Sector 4, only 17% families were eligible under the scheme. Said a senior Mantralaya official, “Will those who are ineligible be dumped in the Arabian Sea? The government is looking at a law-and-order problem if thousands of families find themselves being forced out.”

Several builders in the race have reportedly been constantly questioning the government on who will be responsible for shifting out ineligible slum families who might refuse to move when the redevelopment work commences. The government’s reply is that it will undertake the task itself after following the ‘due process of law’. The more sceptical among the builders fear that this ‘due process’ could take months or even years, and say that they cannot afford to wait that long, especially if they are expected to pump in several hundred crores into the project and pay a hefty infrastructure charge to the government.

Interestingly, the Pune-based NGO, Mashal, soon after it completed an exhaustive 18-month-long survey of the 590-acre sprawl, found that more than 5,000 shanties in Dharavi had been sold over the past four to five months to individual investors who expect the project to kick off shortly. Each slum tenement, which is barely 120-200 sq ft in size, was being sold for Rs 10 lakh to Rs 15 lakh. Commercial units, around 150 sq ft, are selling for anywhere between Rs 15 lakh and Rs 30 lakh.

The Dharavi project has been mired in controversy for some time now. Early this year, the state government-appointed committee of experts described the project as a “sophisticated land grab” meant to benefit builders more than slum dwellers. The committee, headed by former chief secretary D M Sukthankar, was formed late last year by chief minister Ashok Chavan to monitor, supervise and advise the government on the humungous project involving the rehabilitation of slum residents of Dharavi.

“There is no study which shows the kind of physical infrastructure such as transport capacity, water supply, drainage, as well as the social infrastructure of schools, medical facilities etc available today and whether with the increase in the population after redevelopment, the increased infrastructure is really possible. Successive municipal commissioners and hydraulic engineers have indicated that such an enhancement in infrastructure will overburden the rest of the city and have an overall detrimental effect,” the committee has warned.

As reported by TOI in the past, there is a concerted effort by some developers to form a cartel to grab the project. According to sources both in the government and within the real estate industry, a few of the 14 shortlisted developers for the Dharavi project are backed by powerful state politicians. Only five developers will be selected to redevelop the five zones in Dharavi.

In July, the state government twice postponed the opening of the bids, giving the flimsy reason that it had not finalised the final notification for the project. However, sources said there were other reasons for the delay. Real estate industry sources claimed that there is huge money at stake. The project was expected to be cleared before the elections but there was a last-minute glitch. Now the new government will take a call soon, the sources said.

source:http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/mumbai/Majority-of-Dharavi-dwellers-may-be-ineligible-for-rehousing/articleshow/5170869.cms

Home prices may hold despite tighter norms

Home prices may not rise sharply despite an increase in provisioning norms on loans to the real estate sector by the central bank, reversing a stimulus measure and seeking to nip the formation of another asset bubble in the bud.

Shares of property companies slumped, with the Bombay Stock Exchange Realty Index, which has risen 78% this year, dropping 6.24% on Tuesday compared with a 2.31% decline in the benchmark equity index, the Sensex.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) increased the provisioning for real estate loans to 1% from the earlier 0.4% at its quarterly monetary policy announcement on Tuesday. In November, RBI had reduced the provisioning requirement to 0.4% from 1% to boost the real estate sector, which saw residential sales fall as much as 50% during the downturn amid the global financial crisis.

In April-May, this year, the sector started to see an improvement in sales as developers launched homes in the affordable Rs15-30 lakh range and interest rates on home loans came down.

In the last quarter, however, due to the improved sales, developers in Mumbai and Delhi suburb Gurgaon increased home prices by 5-15%, signalling that the price drop seen during the slowdown was over.

“There is no asset bubble in the making but the market has turned around so significantly that the RBI is saying that last year we reduced provisioning norms in the interest of developers, so now that they are pricing products high, why should we give them leverage,” said Shobhit Agarwal, joint managing director, capital markets, Jones Lang LaSalle Meghraj.

Developers say that while the tighter provisioning norms will impact margins, they will hold prices.

DLF Ltd, India’s largest developer by market value, said the changed provisioning norms will not lead to an increase in the prices of homes, though an increase in the risk weightage for real estate will send out a negative signal to the sector.

“This is perhaps not required so early in the economic revival process,” said Rajiv Talwar, group executive director, DLF.

Agarwal agrees that the impact on the sector will not be significant. “This policy will impact developers, which we have seen in the way realty stocks have gone down, and not so much home prices,” he said. “There might be some developers who may want to increase home prices but the increase in provisioning is not so significant that home prices will shoot up.”

Not everyone is so sure. According to Mumbai-based Housing Development and Infrastructure Ltd (HDIL), the third largest developer by market value, home prices may increase depending on the liquidity levels of companies.

“The new provisioning norm will make lending more expensive for developers, squeezing their profitability, and so those in need of cash flow may pass it on to buyers, leading to a rise in prices,” said Hari Pandey, vice-president, finance and investor relations, HDIL.

HDIL has in the past one year borrowed Rs400 crore from banks, at an average lending cost of 12%. The company has repaid about Rs200 crore to banks in the same period. DLF shares fell 6.4% to Rs401.70 each at the close on Tuesday, Unitech Ltd fell 7.71% to Rs85.60, HDIL fell 8.8% to Rs339.45 and Parsvnath Developers Ltd fell 7.61% to Rs114.20.

RBI’s signals favouring a tighter monetary policy could have a knock-on effect.

“Interest rates may also go up, and then the cost of lending will move up and developers will be affected,” said Pandey. That may not happen until the end of the fiscal, according to banks.

“I do not see any change in the interest rates till March. There is no liquidity problem in the system and credit offtake is less than expected,” Corporation Bank executive director Asit Pal told PTI.

M.V. Nair, chairman and managing director, Union Bank of India, told Reuters that he doesn’t expect rates to change in the near future. “There is a concern of low demand from industries,” Nair was cited as saying. “We expect demand to pick up from the second half of the (fiscal) year. The cost of funding for banks is coming down and lending rates have also come down over time.”

M.D. Mallya, chairman and managing director, Bank of Baroda, agreed with his colleague. “I don’t see any change in rates at this point of time. I think stable rates will prevail for the time.” Home prices are largely dependent on the demand-supply situation in the sector and the RBI measure will not affect them, said Pujit Aggarwal, managing director of Orbit Corp. Ltd, a Mumbai-based real estate firm.

“Considering that bank loans to the real estate sector are already expensive, at a premium of 150-300 basis points, it is likely that banks themselves will absorb this cost,” he said. Orbit’s consolidated debt (from bank borrowings) is about Rs450-470 crore.

Developers such as the Bangalore-based Ozone Group also said that new projects that have not tied up funds for construction finance and have not received a commitment from banks are the ones that will be directly affected.

“Just when the sector was heading for a complete turnaround, this comes as a setback to the overall sentiment,” said K.S. Sudarshan, chief executive of Ozone Group. “It has to be seen how banks react to this change and shoulder it themselves or changes interest rates.”

Source:http://www.livemint.com/2009/10/28001128/Home-prices-may-hold-despite-t.html?h=B

Park View Spa Next

Gurgaon, a modern suburb of Delhi, is witnessing a flurry of activities in real estate sector. Well-known realty majors are developing a large number of projects to meet the growing demands in the commercial and residential sectors. Bestech Group, a twenty-year-old company with construction background and a prominent name in north India, is owned, managed and led by Dharmendra Bhandari and Sunil Satija. The group has a portfolio that boasts of real estate development, hospitality and construction.

Bestech Group is developing commercial and IT projects over an area of approximately 2.5 million sq ft, 50% of which will be delivered within the next 6-9 months. A few of its landmark commercial projects are Bestech Cyber Park, Park View Business Tower, Bestech Chambers, and Orient Bestech Business Tower.

In residential arena, it has already developed and handed over 1,000 dwelling units at Park View City and Park View City-2. Another 700 flats in Park View Residency are ready for possession. Approximately, 1,200 flats are under construction in Park View Spa, Park View Delight and Park View Spa Next.

The overwhelming response to the Park View Spa resulted in the sale of the entire project in 45 days flat. It inspired Bestech to launch a new residential project — Park View Spa Next, an affordable luxury apartment located in Sector 67 Gurgaon.

Park View Spa Next

Billed as ‘Dreams to Desire, Everything Fulfilled’, Park View Spa Next “gives another chance to those who have earlier missed the opportunity to own a marvel home at affordable price”, its developers claim. Park View Spa Next is spread over 11 acres, comprising 440 units of 3 B/R, 4B/R and 4 B/R plus family lounge. These apartments are priced between Rs 65 lakhs to Rs 95 lakhs. Bestech has designed this project keeping in mind modern-day requirements of end users.

Each apartment is airconditioned with imported marble flooring in living and dining area, complemented with modular kitchens, wooden flooring and wall-hung WC’s in all bathrooms. “Park View Spa Next is all this and much more and definitely meant for those with distinctly refined taste,” says the developers’ catalogue.

Strategically located in Gurgaon’s Sector 67, Park View Spa Next has direct access from Golf Course extension road. It is on a 6-minute drive from NH-8 and is only 3 minutes from the proposed Metro station. Other highlights of Park View Spa Next include central lush green landscapes, a fully-equipped gym, swimming pool, basketball and tennis courts, power backup, children’s play area, 3-tier security and ample parking space to accommodate a fleet of cars for every apartment owner. Daily necessities can be acquired from the shopping store inside the complex. “Park View Spa Next is a model of living at its best,” the developers say.

An official of the company says they have started new projects based on “exciting new concepts of modern lifestyle” – and in keeping with it, “Bestech Group is further launching a project in the heart of Mohali. The project ‘Bestech Square’ consists of a residential group housing, a mall and a commercial office building. It is spreads over 13 acres of land and is strategically located next to the residential Phase XI of Mohali. The group housing consists of 2 B/R and 3 B/R apartments, starting from Rs 25 lakh onwards.”

The hospitality divisions of Bestech Group have two 4-star hotels that are fully operational – ‘Park Plaza’ Noida with 88 rooms with two specialty restaurants, and ‘Radisson Suites’ at Gurgaon. Further, two 5-star hotels – ‘Radisson Indore’ and ‘Radisson Nagpur’ – each comprising more than 200 rooms are soon heading for completion.

The group is in the process of developing new and exciting projects targeting a different set of customers. An official of Bestech says, “The company is forging new methodologies and technological backups for building a new and better tomorrow. The landmark projects initiated by the group, independently, are symbols of perfection and precision and the result of concerted efforts of its professionals, engineers, design specialists and suppliers. Bestech is steaming ahead with innovation and commitment, striving relentlessly to better its previous performance. Bestech Group is building more than trust.”

Source:http://mail.google.com/mail/?shva=1#inbox/12493c2f56b21b46

Banks Combat With Each Other To Attract Buyers For Luxury Home Loans Segment

With banks elbowing each other out to have premium customers in their fold, borrowing more than Rs 50 lakh to buy a high-end home has become a breeze. Standard Chartered Bank has joined a couple of others in offering enticing interest rates on home loans above Rs 50 lakh. State Bank of India (SBI), with its 8 per cent fixed rate for the first year offer, has been able to draw a good number of premium customers for home loans as it seeks to get the rich to bank. On the other hand, Development Credit Bank (DCB) has the lowest offer among all lenders. In the first year, the bank charges 7.95 per cent for loans up to Rs 5 crore and the existing floating rate from the second year onwards.

Source : Financial Chronicle

London-Based Firm To Exhibit Housing Project In India To British Investors

With the global economy recovering, a London-based firm plans to organise a property show to showcase residential projects in India to British investors. The event, to be organised by real estate agent Hamptons International, will be held Oct 30 to Nov 1 at the firm’s head office in London. “India has always been a major market for Hamptons International, given the UK’s long and close ties with this country,” said company international sales manager, Mr. Dean Foley. The firm has organized the event in partnership with leading developers including Emaar MGF, Spire Edge, Ansal, ANR Infrastructure, Santa Fe Realty and Godrej.

Source : indianrealtynews.com

DLF Likely To Scrap Bangalore Row House Project

DLF Ltd is reconsidering its decision to set up 270 row houses spread over 38 acres, a part of the firm’s large development project coming up in Jigani Industrial Area. Each row house was supposed to cost somewhere between Rs 70-80 lakh. Now, the company has changed its plan to exploit potential in mid-segment housing that is sensing strong demand. The main focus will now be on mid-income homes and commercial complexes, with deferment of high-margin launches in luxury homes and retail space, the company said in a statement released in the beginning of this year. However, unlike Bangalore, in Mumbai, the premium housing segment is witnessing enough traction. Mumbai-based realtor, Indiabulls Real Estate sold all the slots that were open in the first phase of its residential project Indiabulls Sky at Elphinstone Road. The company has launched three residential projects next to its commercial vertical, One Indiabulls Center.

Source : DNA Money

Vasavi Housing Launches Green Residential Apartment Project In Chennai

Vasavi Housing Infrastructure has announced the launch of a Rs. 20 crore residential project ‘Anicham.’ For this project, a complete green house concept would be adopted which consists of 54 apartments (two and three bedrooms) at Kelambakkam on the outskirts of Chennai. The project is expected to complete by June 2011.

Source : The Hindu Business Line

DDA May Start The Allotment Process By November-end

If everything goes fine, the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) may begin the process of allotting flats to its allottees of the 2008 housing scheme by November-end. The draw of lots to 5,238 flats was held in December 2008. This year, in January, the Union Urban Development Ministry froze the allotments after allegations of irregularities in the reserved category cropped up. A group of builders had forged documents to get flats under the reserved category. According to sources, Union Urban Development Ministry (UDM), the Centre for Development of Telematics (C-DOT), where the software report of the draw has been sent for investigation, is expected to submit its report by October end. “Once C-DOT submits its report and we get a green signal from the UD Ministry, we will start the allotment process,” said a DDA official who did not want to be quoted.

Source : Hindustan Times

Low Cost Homes – A Boon For Real Estate Developers

The earnings of DLF and Unitech in this quarter were better than the June quarter as sale of low-priced homes brought in hopes of revival, But this may fizzle out if developers keep raising prices. During the current fiscal, Unitech and DLF have sold over 7 million sq ft and 4 million sq ft of space, respectively, from their new launches.

Source : indianrealtynews.com

Mumbai’s super-rich back to house-hunting

Mumbai, Oct. 24 Luxury homes are back in the reckoning and it appears that the days when sales are complete before the shovel is put to earth is not too far off.

A niche Mumbai expo, with just seven developers show-casing their high-end offerings in the price Rs 4.5-22-crore price range, attracted substantial high net worth individuals’ interest, with the sponsor, Deutsche Bank AG, stacking up a large number of applications for funding.

Total Environment Building Systems, Bangalore, is looking to sell 180 duplex apartments in Whitefield, near Bangalore, priced around Rs 4.5 crore each. Mr Alexander John Kurian, Assistant Vice-President, Marketing, says the company has already sold 73 villas, also in the same price line, in the same area. Unlike six months ago, today, enquiries today are translating into sales, he says.

Total Environment provides customised furnished homes. Another of its other properties in south Bangalore priced upwards of Rs 1.8 crore has been sold out.

Mumbai-based Ahuja Constructions has on offer Rs 20-crore-plus properties in central Mumbai. Ms Malvika Chandra, Head, Marketing, says the company has luxury apartments across Mumbai — from Bandra to Navi Mumbai — and has always been able to sell without much publicity.

From terrace gardens to private swimming pools with underwater lighting and central air conditioning, builders such as Hiranandanis, Sobha Developers, Kumar Developers and RNA Corp, had them all.

Brushing aside the numbers he logged in the opening hours of the ‘Millionaire Homes’ exhibition, Mr Sriram Kalyanaraman, Director and Head, Business Banking and Asset Products, Deutsche Bank, says it was primarily the profile of the customer and the access the event could provide that determined the bank’s participation in the programme. He said the overall sentiment was improving and the bank was getting good response for funding across all segments of the residential space. Though the bank wants to cap advances at Rs 5 crore an apartment, it could go higher in exceptional cases, he said.

Mr Sunish Tom of Dun and Bradstreet, the event organiser, says D&B has identified in Mumbai one lakh HNIs who intend buying property, either as an investment or a second home across the country. About 3,000 such HNIs were short-listed and invited to the expo, he said.

Source:http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2009/10/25/stories/2009102550880100.htm