MagicBricks.com’s Property Bazaar for Affordable Homes at Rajnagar Extension – Witnesses Over 10,000 Home Seekers Walk-In and Nets Over Rs. 100 Crores

MagicBricks.com, India’s No. 1 property site, from the Times Group, successfully conducted the “Rajnagar Extension Affordable Property Bazaar” recently at the Expo Centre, Sector 62, Noida. The event witnessed over 10,000 home seekers walk-in over the two-day event and conduct business of over Rs. 100 Crores over last weekend.

New Delhi, India, August 30, 2009 –(PR.com)– Expressing deep satisfaction with the success of the event, Mr. Ramathreya Krishnamurthi, Business Head, MagicBricks.com, said, “Among online real estate portals, property bazaars are a unique offering from Magicbricks.com, wherein we provide our customers an opportunity to showcase their properties to their prospects. I’m not only happy that we were able to exceed our clients’ expectations, but also delighted with the large number of footfalls at the show that demonstrates interest among consumers for affordable properties. In the coming two months MagicBricks.com is organizing similar shows in Chennai & Bangalore and we expect equal, if not better response to these shows.”

Participating developers were very impressed by the turnout, as, Mr. Mayank Modi of Ashiana Group testified, “The response from the crowd was tremendous. While we anticipated a large number of footfalls, the actual number exceeded all our expectations. People did not only come to visit & survey the available property options but actually booked properties on the spot. It was a very rich experience for us and was by far the best property bazaar we have participated in till date. We would like to participate in all possible events organized by MagicBricks.com in future.”

Another participant, Mr. Manoj Goyal of KDP Group, said, “In the current scenario, where people are hesitant in committing large sums of money – The MagicBricks.com’s Property Bazaar for Rajnagar Extension was a great idea to give home-seekers options of buying their house at a price that suits their pocket. The concept of Low Budget Housing is the latest hit in these tough times and MagicBricks.com had organized the fair so well with this concept, that there was no scope for any flaw. Visitors were overwhelmed by the property options and pricings, and all the participants were happy to see many deals being closed at the fair itself. The complete event was a very good experience for us and we feel proud to be associated with MagicBricks.com today.”

Home-seekers were equally thrilled with the slew of reasonably priced properties showcased at the event. Mr. Sameer Sharma said, “The fair was like a dream come true for me because I have been thinking of buying a low budget house but was not getting good options to compare. The fair organized by MagicBricks.com was very helpful for me in making my decision.”

Another satisfied visitor, Mrs. Savita Kumar said, “My husband & I came to visit the fair because we wanted to buy a house ranging between 25 – 35 lakhs. I saw the ad in the paper and also heard it on the radio after which we made up our mind to visit the fair and check out the options. There are so many options in our range, we are glad we came here.”

Reputed names participating at the MagicBricks.com Affordable Property Bazaar included Ajnara Farms & Services Ltd., Ascent Buildtech Pvt. Ltd, Ashiana Homes Pvt. Ltd., Landcraft Developers Pvt. Ltd., KDP Infrastructure Pvt. Ltd., MCC Developers, Quantum Buildwell Pvt. Ltd., S. G. Estates Ltd., Shree Energy Developers Pvt. Ltd., SVP Builders (India) Ltd., and Techman Buildwell Pvt. Ltd. amongst others and Banks such as HDFC, AXIS, IDBI, ICICI and LIC Home Loans. They were able to register booking for over 40 projects on-the-spot and generate thousands of leads for future registrations in their projects.

Source : http://www.pr.com/press-release/175128

SAS Arcadia Independent floors, Independent floors in Gurgaon.

Affordable Independent floors in Gurgaon by SAS Arcadia. Independent floors in gurgaon starting from Rs 24 Lacs at sector- 83 & 84. Arcadia Independent floors in gurgaon +Arcadia Independent floors in grugaon

SAS Arcadia launches affordable Independent Floors with 2BHK & 3BHK at Sector 83, 84, Gurgaon.

Location:
With Metro connectivity ,Expressway and close proximity to the International and Domestic Airport, the location is a favoured destination due to its ease of commutation .With plethora of shopping centers ,clubs and themes parks in close proximity,life in the city is a bundle of joys.

Twin Advantages – Unmatched in NCR

LOCATED AT CONVERGENCE OF 2 METROLINES
1st – Proposed Gurgaon line from South Delhi
2nd – Proposed metro line from Dwarka

LOCATED AT THE JUNCTION OF 2 EXPRESSWAYS
1st – Existing eight lane expressway-NH-8
2nd – Proposed Dwarka 8 lane expressway with 150 meters wide northern periphery road.

Sizes and Prices

ARCADIA – PINE ( 240 Sq yds )

3 BR + KIDS BR – GF Ground Floor- 1128 sqft (Built up area) 1575 sqft (super area)  35.00 Lacs
3 BR + KIDS BR – FF First Floor -1128 sqft (Built up area) 1575  sqft (super area) 31.50 Lacs
2 BR + KIDS BR – SF Second Floor- 871  sqft (Built up area) 1214 sqft (super area) 24.50 Lacs

ARCADIA – EBONY ( 300 Sq yds )

4 BR -  GF Ground Floor- 1366 sqft (Built up area) 1907 sqft (super area) 45.00 Lacs
4 BR -  FF First Floor – 1323 sqft (Built up area) 1847 sqft (super area) 38.00 Lacs
3 BR -  SF Second Floor -1091 sqft (Built up area) 1522sqft (super area) 29.00 Lacs
* Unit Sizes may vary +/- 10 %
* The prices can be revised any time on the sole discretion of the management .
* The above cost is inclusive of one dedicated surface car parking , EDC/IDC (Existing ) .

For more details for the project, please click on following link:
http://www.propjunction.com/advcontactus.aspx?project=Ge …

SAS Group:
The vision that drives the SAS Group of companies is a dogged determination to build lasting businesses that create enduring value for all its stake-holders.This is perhaps the key to its continued success – a firm belief in building for the long-term, in every sense of the word, combined with the necessary patience and grit to work towards achieving the most challenging goals.

The SAS Group of companies has over twenty years of experience in conceptualizing, initiating and implementing, operating and then successfully sustaining continued growth, in the businesses they have undertaken.

SAS Group is now a conglomerate which has its diversified interest ranging from Hospitals, Hospitality, Telecom, Real Estate, Facility Management, Micro Finance Etc.

Source : http://www.prlog.org/10325272-sas-arcadia-independent-floors-independent-floors-in-gurgaon-call-9990444500-for-independent-floor.html

After a lull, land deals make a comeback

The slowdown in the property market, induced by the global meltdown and negative sentiments, had dealt a body blow to the mega land deals, in the country. But the gloom seems to be finally lifting. Coinciding with the return of buyer interest in select pockets of residential market and the improved liquidity position of builders, land auctions are inching back into the spotlight.

Consider this. DLF Ltd recently made headlines when it walked away with 350.7 acres in Gurgaon, for an estimated Rs 1,750 crore, marking one of the largest land deals in the country. The prime land, on the Gurgaon-Faridabad road, had been put on the block for re-bid after the only bidder in the first round (DLF) had drawn attention to certain difficulties in project implementation.

HSIIDC (Haryana State Industrial & Infrastructure Development Corporation) re-invited bids in July this year with easier terms and conditions, including staggered payment plan spread over seven years. This time, DLF clinched the deal with its winning bid of Rs 12,000 per square metre — two other bidders did not qualify on technical grounds.

The land in the Delhi suburb would be used for development of commercial, residential, sports complexes, and an 18-hole golf course. DLF, however, remains tight-lipped about the project, but sources say that the land deal is “positive” for the company, given its proximity to South Delhi on one side and the existing golf course on the other.

DLF is not the only one going after such transactions. Earlier this year, Anant Raj Industries decided to set aside nearly Rs 400 crore from its cash reserves, to acquire land for upcoming residential projects.

So are the land deals back in reckoning, after a long dry spell? Industry experts believe that land acquisition will gather pace, but will remain largely need-based.

“The market definitely is improving, new projects are being launched and the cash flow, for builders, is getting back in shape on the back of QIP issues and some proposed public offers that are being lined-up,” says Mr Manish Aggarwal, Executive Director, Investment Services, Cushman & Wakefield (C&W) India.

Time to buy

While the conditions are turning positive, the biggest clincher clearly is land valuation. In many cases the land prices have corrected nearly 60-70 per cent, says an industry observer.

Agrees Mr Amit Sarin, Director and CEO, Anant Raj Industries. “It is the best time to buy land — the valuation is a fraction of the 2007-level. Everyone is announcing low cost and affordable housing projects and the main ingredient of low cost in real estate is the land cost, not construction cost,” Mr Sarin points out.

But Anant Raj Industries, itself a zero-debt company, expects land buying to remain selective for a while.

“It is not a trend in the industry. It will happen only in those cases where the land costs are extremely attractive and the builder has a comfortable liquidity position,” he adds.

The company has stayed away from aggressive land buying over the last 2-3 years.

No frenzy likely

Real estate consulting firm CBRE too does not foresee the return of land frenzy seen in 2007-2008. “Companies are not rushing into transactions. They are more cautious and evaluating deals carefully on parameters such as potential for development, location, margins and valuation,” says Mr Anshuman Magazine, Chairman and Managing Director, CB Richard Ellis South Asia Pvt. Ltd.

Source : http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/iw/2009/08/30/stories/2009083051041500.htm

Residential prices creep up

Call it better home loan rates or just improved consumer confidence and market sentiment, demand in the residential category, particularly in the affordable segment, has picked up.

And, as bookings and enquiries pour in, developers, particularly in Mumbai, have gone back to the customary practice of hiking rates, which have risen 20-30 per cent since May and continue to go up by the day as bookings grow.

Sales improve

Of late, there has been a marked improvement in sales across metros. DLF reported bookings for 1,356 apartments, measuring 2 million sq.ft, for its project Capital Greens, on a single day.

Indiabulls Group, which launched an affordable home project in Gurgaon, has closed over 100 bookings of its launch of 200 in the first phase. The project is a cluster of 800 apartments.

In Mumbai, Kalpataru Group’s project in Thane saw 110 flats sold in 10 days at Rs 3,100 per sq.ft. Another of its project at LBS Marg logged a sale of 50 flats after the rate for a two-and-a-half BHK was reduced from Rs 98 lakh to Rs 82 lakh. At the distant western Mumbai suburb of Virar, a residential township project promoted by Rustomjee and Evershine on 217 acres registered sale of 174 apartments at Rs 1,700 a sq.ft.

“DB Realty project at Dahisar registered 1,400 bookings, even before construction began,” says Mr Suman Memani, Associate Vice-President, Religare Securities, who also points out that prices have since gone up, particularly in the Mumbai suburbs.

Prices go up

According to Mr Memani, HDIL’s Versova project launched at Rs 7,500 a sq.ft had since gone up to Rs 9,500. Similarly, DB Realty had raised prices at Dahisar to Rs 3,300, from Rs 2,700. The most recent instance is of the Harasiddhi Group, which launched its offering in Goregaon, near here, at Rs 10,000 a sq.ft (carpet area), raised the price to 10,300 a sq.ft.

In general, the price hike creeps in after 50-60 per cent of the project gets sold out. In some ways developers are testing the waters and gauging how much the market can absorb. In any case, after the major chunk is sold any developer can afford to wait for a better tiding, he says.

The price increase is only 5-8 per cent since May, says Mr Anand J. Gupta, General Secretary, Builders Association of India.

Justifying the increase, Mr Gupta says it is purely based on demand-supply dynamics. Builders, who were languishing for want of enquiries, now see a silver lining on the horizon, after they had lowered prices to the maximum to stimulate demand.

Mr Gupta points out that historically real estate had either gone up or come down. It had never been stagnant and in places where it had been constant, development was rather stunted such as in Baroda and Ahmedabad. For ages, the only reason for real estate remaining a choice asset class is because it appreciates, he says.

NO JUSTIFICATION

Mr Pawan Swamy, Managing Director – West India, Jones Lang LaSalle Meghraj, sees little justification for escalation in rates at this point in time. The corrections that have taken place in overheated locations of cities such as Mumbai were required, since developers had priced themselves out of the market.

The fact that the slowdown forced them to rationalise their rates has been working to the developers’ advantage, and one would have assumed that the recent market dynamics had delivered a clear and unequivocal message.

However, Mr Swamy feels that there has been a resurgence of demand for residential property in many markets that are not seeing much supply. In such locations, a number of developers who have successfully sold a sizable component of their existing projects are now attempting to see what kind of price escalations the market will be able to accommodate.

This is, to a significant extent, a gamble that can backfire if the developer in question misjudges market dynamics.

However, this is not happening across the board, but rather in high demand-low supply locations and only among developers who have sufficient capital clout. Nevertheless, much depends on the buyer community — if such price escalations are pandered to, we may be looking at price bubbles building up in such locations.

Last month, Mr Deepak Parekh, Chairman, HDFC, cautioned developers against raising prices, stating that such a move would stall recovery of the segment. He was also sceptical about the builder fraternity’s commitment to the affordable housing segment.

Source : http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/iw/2009/08/30/stories/2009083051051500.htm

Take a look at some charges with home loans

While choosing a home loan, a borrower should first analyse the conditions subject to which the loan is being offered. Many of the conditions make  an impact on the total cost of the loan. In addition to the interest rate, many other costs and benefits should be analysed.

Although individually these may look insignificant, the cumulatively effect they have is substantial. A borrower can negotiate on many of these charges depending on the loan amount, tenure and his credibility.

Some charges you need to analyse:

Processing fee

Processing fee is payable at the time of filing the loan application. This is nonrefundable and is charged to cover the costs of determining the loan eligibility of the potential borrower. It varies from 0.5 to one percent of the loan applied for.

File and legal charge

This is the documentation preparation charge. Some banks charge this amount to the borrower. Legal charge pertains to the legal evaluation of the documents. Some banks charge these separately.

Commitment charge

This charge is payable if the loan is not used within a specified period of time after sanction.

Administration fee

This is payable on the acceptance of offer, i.e., once the loan has been sanctioned. The amount is the same as the processing fee -0.5 to one percent of the loan sanctioned. Some banks charge both processing fee and administration fee together.

Commencement of EMI

In some cases, the EMI starts from the month of final disbursement of loan. In other cases, it starts from the month following that. Depending on the cash flow position of the borrower, a decision on this behalf should be taken by him. The timing of commencement of EMIs has an impact on the total interest cost to be paid by the borrower over the period of the loan.

Change of mode of interest

In case you want to switch over from a floating rate to a fixed rate (because the interest rates are likely to go up) or vice versa (in case the interest rates are excepted to come down) you are required to pay an amount to the lender.

Insurance

Some banks insist that the house should be adequately insured or the borrower should take a life insurance policy where the sum assured is at least equal to the loan amount. Some offer free insurance. In case of unfortunate death of the borrower, his family is not financially-affected because of the home loan liability.

The insurance amount is used to repay the loan amount. In case of any damage to the house – by earthquake, fire, riots etc, the costs of repair or reconstruction are paid back to the borrower. This is usually in the nature of term insurance, and the premium involved is low. Many banks offer free term insurance for the tenure of the loan for the outstanding loan amount.

Switchover charge

In case the borrower decides to switch over from one bank to another, because the other is offering better terms, some banks charge a penalty. However, if the loan is repaid out of one’s own funds, these charges may not be payable.

Prepayment charge

Some banks levy prepayment penalty in case the loan is repaid before the full term or certain agreed minimum period. This is done because it disturbs their cash flow and income estimates. The amount varies from one to five percent of the outstanding amount of loan. Some banks do waive off these charges. The charges should be payable on the balance amount outstanding and not on the total amount of loan sanctioned.

Source : http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/Features/Financial-Times/Take-a-look-at-some-charges-with-home-loans/articleshow/4949841.cms

Developers witness revival of big ticket residential deals

The wealthy and elite across the country are scouting for good deals in the real estate sector. And in their kitty are a few crore of rupees to buy Land as investment the home of their choice. The concept of bigger, better and more luxurious has caught on. So is the demand in the Rs 5 crore plus housing seeing a revival?

Says Anuj Puri, chairman & country head of global real estate consultancy Jones Lang LaSalle Meghraj (JLLM), “Our Homebay residential agency has concluded several high-ticket residential transactions over the past three to four months, and we can vouch for a significant sea-change in how the luxury home market is being perceived. High networth individuals (HNIs) have begun to show renewed investment sense of purchasing luxury properties in prime locations of leading metros, realizing that supply in such locations is limited.”

But some feel that this demand is primarily coming from existing projects. Shveta Jain, national head, marketing & investment, residential, Cushman & Wakefield (C&W) India, says there already are significant amount of existing projects in the luxury segment that have not been fully absorbed. The demand, thus, is not significant enough to warrant key new luxury project launches, she feels.

At a time when affordable is the buzz in the real estate sector, are developers looking at new luxury launches? Manu Goswami, head, business development and strategic planning, Jaypee Greens, says although they have not launch anything over the last 10 months, they do have plans of launching luxury projects in mid September.

“The demand has turned around over the last few months. But people are more choosy now.” The developer has Estate Homes in Greater Noida which are priced at an upwards of Rs 8 cr and about 50% of their inventory has already been sold.

During the boom time in 2007, real estate developers were mainly concentrating on luxury projects. The margin for a developer in luxury housing would be at least 15-20% higher than say an affordable housing project. So for many, this seemed as a more attractive proposition in earlier times. But developers defend this logic.

“The absolute margins may be higher for a luxury development but the profitability also accrues over a much longer period of time vis-a-vis affordable housing which gets sold much earlier,” adds Goswami.

However, there are some developers who are not launching any new projects in this category at the moment. BPTP, for instance, is focusing on the affordable housing segment. But they agree that activity has started happening in the luxury segment. “The elite who were earlier waiting for the right investment opportunity have now started buying property. There has been an increase in demand for luxury housing,” says a BPTP spokesperson.

Raheja Developers too has an upcoming project — Raheja Atlantis, a ready-to-move-in luxury housing project. Located on NH-8 in Sector 31, Gurgaon, villas and presidential suites are primarily available for sale. It’s priced at Rs 6,600 per sq ft.

Harinder Dhillon, GM, marketing, Raheja Developers, says the demand has been quite encouraging. “In Atlantis we have had over 30 bookings in the last three months at Rs 1.50 cr onwards per apartment. The demand for luxury housing is making a comeback, provided it is ready to move in and at a good location.”

Most of the demand in the apartments segment is being seen for ready-to-move-in apartments. “We are witnessing enhanced demand for completed Land as investment projects or those nearing completion,” says Rohtas Goel, chairman National Real Estate Development Council and CMD of Omaxe. He says developers across the board are noticing this trend and focusing on completing existing projects and speeding up delivery.

Puri of JLLM too seconds the view. “The highest demand is for ready-to-move luxury properties, since the ability of developers to complete projects is generally not being viewed with much enthusiasm at the current time.

However, there are serious purchase inquiries for under-construction projects by highly reputed developers, especially in locations where there is very little potential for future supply.”

Real estate investment advisers such as Ashok Kumar find that the bulk of revival in Delhi has been in the heart of the city in premium areas such as Defence Colony and Greater Kailash where the supply is limited. So deal hunters are now picking up plots for between Rs 12-19 crore to redevelop old properties. And the buyers? CEOs, professionals and HNIs.

Buyers today are willing to spend to get the home of their choice. But the last economic downturn has showed them that long-term investments are counter-productive. Projects are behind schedule by one to two years and there is no guarantee that buying at premium rates fetches you better returns. Therefore buying a near-complete apartment is seen as mitigating the risk.

Though developers too have started to build in the affordable segment in keeping with the thrust of the government and the incentives offered to developers as well as buyers, few have exited the luxury segment. But with an increased interest shown from buyers, it seems that luxury housing is ready for a grand comeback.

Source : http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/News-by-Industry/Realty-sees-revival-of-big-deals/articleshow/4949705.cms

Rich, powerful flouting laws for real estate construction

New Delhi: The Supreme Court today came down heavily on economically affluent people, bureaucrary and civic body officials for mushrooming illegal real estate construction in the country and ruled file notings by ministers or officials do not have any legal validity.

“Economically affluent people and those having support of the political and executive apparatus of the state have constructed buildings, commercial complexes, multiplexes, malls etc. in blatant violation of the municipal and town planning laws, master plans, zonal development plans and even sanctioned building plans”, said a bench of Justices B N Aggarwal and G S Singhvi in a judgement.

“In most of the cases of illegal or unauthorized constructions, the officers of the municipal and other regulatory bodies turn blind eye either due to the influence of higher functionaries of the State or other extraneous reasons, the bench observed.

“In most of the cases of illegal or unauthorized constructions, the officers of the municipal and other regulatory bodies turn a blind eye either due to the influence of higher functionaries of the state or other extraneous reasons, it said.

The apex court also said file notings ministers or officials do not have any legal validity.

Its ruling came while dismissing an appeal filed by Sathish Khosla, President of Shanti Sports Club of India which claimed to run a cricket academy at a village in Delhi.

One of the pleas of the club was that its illegally constructed sports club should not be demolished as the then Minister for Urban Development in 1999 had noted in his file that the construction be regularised.

Source : http://www.samaylive.com/news/rich-powerful-flouting-laws-for-real-estate-construction/651243.html

Soft launches cushion city realtors from slump

Ahmedabad: With the real estate market still in recession, builders in the city have fallen back on the old strategy of ’soft launches’ for their new projects. Experts say this benefits developers as well as buyers. While builders are able to acquire some cash (as advance from buyers) for their upcoming projects, buyers are able to get decent discounts on the property they are purchasing.

In the past one month, more than 10 new residential schemes have been launched in the city. Most of them were soft launches. All the housing schemes launched in the past one month are in areas such as Bopal, Chandkheda, Motera and eastern Ahmedabad.

The real estate sector gets no financial support from the government. For this reason, builders have always resorted to ’soft launches’ to solve their liquidity problem. “Even investors (i.e., customers) benefit from soft launches,” said president of the Confederation of Real Estate Developers Association of India- Gujarat chapter, Jaxay Shah.

Shah said that a builder planning the soft launch of a project usually informs his loyal clients and investors about his new scheme. “These include people whom the developer has known for long,” he said. “Then there are people who purchase property as a kind of investment for long-term gain. In many cases, new buyers, who have come to know of the soft launch by word-of-mouth publicity, also invest in the new project.”

The real estate company, Safal Infrastructure Pvt Ltd, has ’soft launched’ a housing scheme of two and three-BHK apartments in Bopal. The managing director of Safal Group, Rajesh Brahmbhatt, said “Soft launches are good in every way. On the basis of the response to a soft launch, it is possible to assess the credibility that a builder enjoys among buyers.”

“The buyers are being given various benefits, including ’soft prices’ (discounted prices) for the property they want to purchase,” Brahmbhatt said. “These prices are lower than market rates.”

Source : http://www.dnaindia.com/india/report_soft-launches-cushion-city-realtors-from-slump_1285789

Analjit Singh joins hand with EIH for hotel business

New Delhi:
MAX India chairman Analjit Singh has joined hands with PRS Oberoi Group flagship EIH to set up a 100-room five-star hotel in Dehradun under the Trident brand, triggering talk that the billionaire businessman had larger plans for the hospitality sector.
The property will be owned by Mr Singh, while the Oberoi Group will manage it, two people familiar with the development said.
Two industry observers, who asked not to be named, saw the collaboration as a sign of Mr Singhs larger interest in EIH and diversification into the hospitality sector. The Max group chairman had a 4.37% stake in EIH at the end of June this year, up from 2.17% at the end of March, according to disclosures made to the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE).
Mr Singh, who is based in New Delhi and declined to comment for this story, has built and sold many businesses, the most notable being mobile operator Max Telecom to Hong Kongs Hutchison Whampoa. His stake in EIH has been acquired through his investment company, Private Finances, from the open market over the past few quarters.
One industry official said Mr Singh’s investment was made in his personal capacity, and had no connection with his listed company, Max India, the insurance and healthcare company of which Mr Singh is the promoter and chairman. The Dehradun venture marks Mr Singhs foray into the hospitality sector, the official said.
Last year, ITCs investment arm Russell Credit increased its stake in EIH to 14.9%, which triggered speculation that the cigarette-to-hotels group may press for an open offer. However, ITC chairman YC Deveshwar has clarified that the company had no intention of launching a hostile takeover bid for EIH.

A senior EIH executive, who asked not to be named, told ET that the Oberoi Group will manage the Dehradun property, which will be branded Trident, the groups five-star brand. It will be positioned as a leisure-cum-business hotel, targeting both holiday makers and corporate offsite meetings, he added.
The cost of setting up the proposed hotel were not immediately known, but Siddharth Thakar, executive director of hotel consultancy firm HVS India, said the cost of setting up a fivestar hotel in India is around Rs 65 lakh per room, excluding the cost of land.

Bandra-Worli Sea Link to drive prices of real estate

It’s a classic case of infrastructural development boosting real estate prices.The Bandra-Worli Sea Link seems to be doing more than just easing the traffic flow from north and south Mumbai. Experts in the country’s financial capital say that there could be an increase of 10-15 per cent in property rates in surrounding areas. “The Bandra-Worli Sea Link will not only provide relief from the agonising traffic, but will also trigger a major crowd influx, which will affect real estate prices. South Mumbai will have high demand .There are indications of a 10-15 per cent hike in property prices and this may effect connecting areas. Builders who are already selling flats in the area would go for a price correction immediately, says Rajesh Vardhan, managing director, Vardh­aman Group, a Mumbai-based real estate development company. In the same breath, he says it is time for a Nariman Point-Worli sea link as well.
Bandra-Worli Sea Link is a Maharashtra state road development corporation project, constr­ucted by HCC, India’s largest engineering contracting company. The road hangs in between cable-stayed bridges on the two ends namely, the Bandra and Worli Cable-stayed bridges of 500 and 150-metre spans, respectively – with the highest towers soaring to a height of 126 metres, equivalent to the height of a 43-storeyed building. The sea link was opened for general public on June 29.
Not everyone, however, shares the same optimism. Shreegopal Maheshwari, broker attached to Mumbai-based Maheshwari & Maheshwari, feels that it is too early to see an impact on property prices. “It is just over a month since the link was inaugurated. We may see the real impact in six months. Worli Sea face has, however, seen a drop of 10 per cent property prices due to increased traffic in the area,” he said. While the office properties in Mumbai generally continued to fall.
“Mumbai continued to remain volatile in terms of rental values. Bandra–Kurla Complex (BKC) corrected by another 20 per cent over the previous quarter to settle at Rs 225 per sq ft/month. The location has also witnessed over 40 per cent correction over June, 2008. This has triggered increased interest in the location from corporate occupiers and approximately 1.41 million sq.ft was leased within this location. With the growing demand for this location, the rentals are expected to remain stable in short to medium term,” said a recent report by Cush­man & Wakefield.

ICICI reduces rates for new home loans

New Delhi: The largest private sector bank, ICICI Bank, launched new home loan schemes at lower interest rates for new borrowers . Under the new offer, interest rates for up to Rs 20 lakh is 8.75%. For the loan between Rs 20-Rs 50 lakh, the new interest rate is 9.25% and 9.75% above that. The new scheme has already been made effective from August 20.

Except for the special offer , ICICI Bank’s interest rates are in the range of 9.25 % to 11%. Prior to this, the other major home loan lenders the SBI and HDFC Ltd have already cut their interest rates. SBI is charging only 8% on home loan for the first year. In the second and third year, the interest rates vary between 8.50% and 9.25% depending on the loan amount. However, from the fourth year onwards, the interest rates will be levied at the rate linked to the benchmark prime lending rate of bank. TNN

Source : http://lite.epaper.timesofindia.com/getpage.aspx?pageid=27&pagesize=&edid=&edlabel=CAP&mydateHid=27-08-2009&pubname=&edname=&publabel=TOI

Haryana eases building norms, makes room for cheaper homes

New Delhi:  Homebuyers can now look forward to buying homes for as low as Rs 4 lakh to Rs 16 lakh in Gurgaon, thanks to a recent policy initiative by the Haryana government. The state government’s new scheme caps the price of the homes built by developers in return for permission to builders to make more housing units of smaller sizes in the same area.

Developers say the scheme will help launch new projects and increase cashflow . “Projects under the scheme would give minimal margin. Nevertheless , developers would be encouraged to launch homes under the scheme, as there is a great demand for low-cost homes,” says Navin Raheja, chairman of Delhi-based Raheja Developers that plans to shortly launch some projects in Gurgaon under the scheme.

The incentives for developers include a relaxed density norm (from current 250 people per acre in Gurgaon to 600 people per acre) and higher ground coverage area from 35% to 50%. “The move to relax density norms will help us build smaller homes and thus make them more affordable ,” Unitech head of corporate planning R Nagraju said, adding that it was impossible to build homes of less than 1,500 sq ft on average under present density norms. Under the new scheme, a 10-acre plot will be able to house over 1,200 dwelling units as against 450 units at present, Mr Raheja estimates.
A larger ground coverage means concrete structure could occupy larger area on the ground thus lowering project costs. Construction cost is usually lower in low-rise buildings.

Under the scheme, which will be open for developers until November 20, the low-cost homes with a minimum carpet area of 25 sq mt (approx 350 sq ft) will have a maximum price tag of Rs 4 lakh all over the state. Dwelling units with a minimum 48 sq mt (approx 700 sq ft) carpet area, defined as affordable category by the government, will be sold for Rs 16 lakh in Gurgaon-Manesar urban complex, Rs 14 Lakh in Faridabad, Panchkula and Ballabhgarh complex and Rs 12.50 lakh for rest of the state.

Below poverty line (BPL) families as well as the class IV staff of the state government will be eligible for the Rs 4-lakh homes, which will be at least 15% of the total dwelling units built in a project. The allotment will be made through a draw of lots and allottees can’t sell their property before five years of possession.

Haryana government’s new scheme caps the price of the homes built by developers in return for permission to builders to make more housing units of smaller sizes in the same area

Incentives for developers include a relaxed density norm (from current 250 people per acre in Gurgaon to 600 people per acre) and higher ground coverage area from 35% to 50%

Under the new scheme, a 10-acre plot will be able to house over 1,200 dwelling units as against 450 units at present.

Source : http://content.magicbricks.com/haryana-changes-building-norms-to-make-room-for-cheaper-homes

Rs 5000cr redevelopment project up for grabs in Bandra

Mumbai: Close on the heels of the Mantralaya redevelopment project, another massive redevelopment plan in the western suburbs is expected to be pushed through by the government soon.

Highly reliable Mantralaya sources say that three builders have emerged as the frontrunners for the 100-acre project to redevelop the PWD-built quarters for state government staff in Bandra east, located around the suburban collector’s office. According to these sources, the leading contenders for this lucrative project – estimated by PWD chief engineer SB Tamsekar as worth Rs 5,000 crore are DB Realty, Kakade Infrastructure and Akruti.

DB Realty is a company formed just a couple of years ago by Vinod Goenka of Conwood Group and Shahid Balwa of Balwas Group. This company has often been described in industry circles as among the biggest emerging real estate firms in Mumbai and surrounding areas. Kakade Infrastructure is a firm headed by Pune-based builder Sanjay Kakade, who has bagged several big government projects in the past. Akruti is a Mumbai-based construction company headed by Vimal Shah and became known mainly because its involvement in various slum rehabilitation projects in the city.

Tamsekar said the state government’s cabinet committee on infrastructure headed by chief minister Ashok Chavan will soon take a decision on awarding the project. He added fewer than five firms had been “short-listed”. The fourth company on the list is Man Infrastructure. Early this year, the infrastructure committee, which includes deputy chief minister Chhagan Bhujbal, water resources minister Ajit Pawar, finance minister Dilip Walse-Patil, transport minister Surupsingh Naik and MSRDC minister Vimal Mundada, decided to trifurcate the project.

This is because the committee felt no single developer could handle such a huge project. Each of the three components is worth over Rs 1,500 crore. The developer has to quote a minimum of Rs 440 crore upfront for upkeep and maintenance of the new buildings. But like the Mantralaya redevelopment project, several builders have complained in private that the tender for the PWD redevelopment project was not widely publicised. A former office-bearer of the powerful Maharashtra Chamber of Housing Industry – which represents top builders – has said that the tenders were selectively given to some firms.

“We were asked to meet certain politicians if we were interested in the project,” he alleged. It is learnt that a Kandivali-based developer had written to various departments in Mantralaya, seeking information about this project. “He received no reply,” said this builder’s colleague. The PWD colony currently has almost 5,000 flats in ground-plus-three storey buildings. It was built between 1958 and 1968.

According to the plan, the successful bidders will have to redevelop the residential buildings and construct shopping complexes, gardens, schools and recreational grounds. The project also envisages construction of a super-specialty government hospital as well as an 8-lakh sq ft administrative building as large as the Mantralaya. There would also be a community hall, a club house and shopping arcade. Developers are expected to get over 20 acres to exploit and earn profits from. Situated along the Western Express Highway in close proximity to the commercial hub of BKC, it is a plot developers have for long been vying for.

Source : http://content.magicbricks.com/rs-5000cr-redevelopment-project-up-for-grabs-in-bandra

Puravankara, Mexico’s Homex talk JV

Bangalore: Realty major Puravankara Projects is in talks for an alliance with Homex, a Mexican company that specialises in affordable housing.

The idea is to give a boost to its affordable housing subsidiary Provident Housing.
Ashish Puravankara, director, Puravankara Projects, said, “We are holding discussions with Homex as they have build a large number of affordable homes. They like our business model and are very keen to tie up.” He did not divulge the nature of the alliance.

Homex is vertically integrated home development company focused on affordable-entry level and middle-income housing. It is also the largest home builder in Mexico, based on the number of homes sold, revenues and net income. It has so far delivered around 270,000 homes.

Its affordable entry-level housing ranges between 452 sq ft and 818 sq ft in size and its middle-income apartments are typically 818-1,851 sq ft.

Homex has operations in 32 cities located in 20 Mexican states as of December 2008.
Homex integrates aluminum moulds into its construction process. With this method, the shell of an entire home can be constructed from concrete poured into as many as 1,000 interconnected pieces of aluminium moulding for an affordable entry-level home.

Once the concrete hardens, the moulds are disassembled for use on another home. Each mould can be used as many as 2,000 times. The method also generates less waste, reducing materials cost. Most importantly, the mould system reduces the average time of construction.

Provident Housing has roped in SBI Capital and Housing and Urban Development Corp to raise funds for it affordable venture. The firm is currently at an advanced stage of talks with private equity investors for diluting stake on a project level and hopes to close the deal soon.

It has already launched two projects in Bangalore and Chennai and is in the process of launching its second project totalling 6 million sq ft in size in Bangalore with an investment of around Rs 900 crore.

The project is expected to have 6,000 apartments. It is currently waiting for sanction to kick start the project.

The real estate player will invest Rs 1,900 crore by 2010 on three affordable housing projects in Bangalore and Chennai. The three projects, slated to be ready by 2010-11, will house 15,000 units.

The one, two and three bedroom flats will be priced at Rs 10 lakh, Rs 15 lakh and Rs 20 lakh respectively spanning from 750 sq ft to 1,100 sq ft.

Provident Housing will also roll out the concept to other cities like Hyderabad, Coimbatore and Mysore in the Phase I. In Phase II it will set up properties in Delhi, Kolkata, Kochi, Jaipur, Pune and Nagpur.

Source : http://www.dnaindia.com/money/report_puravankara-mexico-s-homex-talk-jv_1284925

Hotel Industry in India witnesses tremendous boom

A touch of tenderness, a helping hand, a welcoming visage… the Indian hospitality sector is certainly the most apt replication of the belief  ‘Atithi devo bhava’. Good quality products and services at affordable prices should be the USP of any successful venture – and hotels in the country boast of exactly this!

According to the world travel and tourism council, the growth in the hospitality industry is pegged at 15% every year, and with 2,00,000 rooms (both luxury and budget) needed in the country, the segment is poised for a stupendous growth.

Travel tales

While the high influx of foreign tourists has ensured huge footfalls for the sector over the years, internal tourism too has, off late, begun offering great potential. With travelers taking new interests in the country, players in the hospitality sector have had to offer the best of services, at affordable prices. Also, with the USD 23 billion software services sector pushing the Indian economy skywards, more and more IT professionals are flocking to Indian metro cities, thus signaling a boomtime for the hotel and hospitality segment. Several other factors such as Commonwealth Games in Delhi are fueling the need further.

The best bet

The Indian hospitality industry is projected to grow at a rate of 8.8% between 2007-16, placing India as the second-fastest growing tourism market in the world. Initiatives like massive investment in hotel infrastructure and open sky policies made by the government are all aimed at propelling growth in the hospitality sector.

“Hotel and hospitality industries are among the biggest employment generators in the country. Towards propelling its growth, while the government should confer infrastructure status to the hotel industries, several taxation issues also need to be rationalised. Further permits and licenses required for the hotel operations need to be rationalised by offering a “single window” mechanism,” says Sanjay Gupta, CMD, Neesa Leisure Ltd – the Group which boasts of providing state-of-the-art facilities and services at its hotels.

Be it Cambay Sapphire – the elegant 3 star business hotel at Ahmedabad or The Cambay Grand – the upcoming 5 star hotel in Ahmedabad that takes contemporary luxury to new heights with opulent rooms and suites, exotic spa, virtual golf, and multi cuisine fine dinning, redefining luxury is the perennial mantra in each of Cambay’s hospitality projects. Some of the Group’s forthcoming ventures include The Cambay Spa & Resort at Neemrana, Rajasthan – a proposed five star business hotel boasting of one of the largest conference and convention facilities, another venture of Neesa Leisure Ltd in Dahej (SEZ) to have 100 rooms including apartment and conference facilities and Cambay Sapphire, Jodhpur – a business hotel. Exclusive and innovative initiatives like the Cambay projects certainly focus on ensuring a bright future for the Indian hotel industry.

The government’s decision to substantially upgrade 28 regional airports in smaller towns and privatization & expansion of Delhi and Mumbai airport has improved the business prospects of hotel industry in India. Also, the upgrading of national highways connecting various parts of India has opened new avenues for the development of budget hotels in India. Couple this with the availability of qualified human resources and the hospitality sector has already got great growth prospects!

The right call

A focus on quality, behaviour-based evaluation, market choice and market response has predominantly shaped the State’s hospitality industry. Increased competition and increase in demand has consolidated the hospitality segment, whilst opening up a plethora of opportunities. Fierce competition has led to innovative ideas by hotel majors, thereby delivering impressive hospitality products and services.

This has, in turn, also prompted them to generate new lines of revenue with creative approaches, be it by reducing transaction costs, increasing productivity or promoting traditional Indian values.

A pioneering initiative, herein, is the concept of mixed-use developments, wherein the real estate typically includes an apartment block of a commercial block along with a hotel. Still in its nascent stages in India, the concept offers inspiring potential. Also, the entry of multinationals and Indian hotel chains expanding internationally only reinforces the segment’s untapped business potential.

Combining unparalleled growth prospects and unlimited business potential, this industry is certainly on the foyer towards being a key player in the nation’s changing face.

Source : http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/Corporate-Trends/Hotel-Industry-in-India-witnesses-tremendous-boom/articleshow/4934663.cms

SBI Purana Bazar loan mela underway

Dimapur, August 24 (MExN): The State Bank of India, Purana Bazar Branch has launched a special campaign starting from August 24, Monday to August 26, Wednesday for Personal loan, Car loan and Home loan to government employees. This was stated by the Branch Manager, SBI Purana Bazar while also informing that all regular government employees with a minimum service length of two years serving within the district and drawing their salary through salary accounts maintained with any branch of the SBI are eligible. Among others, the campaign is giving out special concession in interest rates for car loan and Home loan for a limited period. It was informed that loan processing fee for car and home loans have been waived for a limited period. Personal loans upto Rs 3 lakh will be sanctioned and disbursed immediately on submission of necessary forms/ documents, stated the Branch Manager.
Application forms will be issued on the above mentioned dates from 10:30 am to 5:00 pm on production of original identity card and passbook besides quotation/invoice in case of car loan and patta/jamabandi, sale deed/gift deed, mutation order etc. in case of Home loan are also to be produced, it was informed.

http://www.morungexpress.com/regional/31662.html

Office space rentals decline at slower rate

While there has been a drop in the rate of decline in office space rental rates in the country in the second quarter of the current fiscal, the absorption rate has shown an uptrend for the first time in four quarters. This is according to a recent research report — State of the Office Sector – by financial and professional services firm Jones Lang LaSalle Meghraj (JLLM). The report shows that the rate of decline, as a national average, has slowed to 8.3 per sent in the second quarter, compared with a dramatic drop of 18.8 per cent in the previous quarter. Nation-wide, rates had dropped sharply in the first quarter of this fiscal as compared with an 8.6 per cent drop in the last quarter of the previous fiscal.The report’s author, JLLM research head Abhishek Kiran Gupta has attributed slowdown in rate of decline of office space rental rates to four factors that have helped shape the Indian economy over the past six months. The factors pointed to are: Firstly, increased liquidity in the market due to fiscal measures taken by the government. Secondly, a sharp rise of 4,536 points in the Sensex in the first six months of this fiscal. The index has risen over 50 per cent after hitting a low of 8,451 points on November 20 of last year post the Lehman Brothers-led global financial crash. Thirdly, strengthened political stability with the UPA governments being sworn back into to power and sweeping the elections by a large margin. The government has also shown its resolve in boosting the economy with a string of fiscal measures as well as its decision to disinvest large public sector undertakings. And lastly, green shoots that are now being seen in the affordable segment of the residential sector. There has been a rise in the number of developers embarking on affordable housing projects across the nation. The study covers seven cities — Hyderabad, Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata, Bangalore, Chennai and Pune. It, however, does not include Chandigarh. While only Hyderabad has shown a steady decline in office space rentals quarter-on-quarter — from (-)5.8 per cent in Q4 of the previous fiscal to (-)7.6 per cent in Q1 and a further drop to (-)10.4 per cent in Q2 of this fiscal — all other cities, except Pune, have shown a drop in the rate of decline. In Pune, the decline in office space rental rates has been witness to a gradual slowing down — from (-)17.3 per cent in Q4 of the previous fiscal, to (-) 12.9 per cent in Q1 of the current fiscal, to a weak (-)4.2 per cent in Q2. The country’s financial and political capitals — Mumbai and Delhi — have seen a drastic drop in rate of decline. Both cities have seen a near-13 percentage point drop in rate of decline of office space rentals. Gupta contends that the factors that led to the slowdown in decline, coupled with the gradual revival of opportunistic demand, have led to strengthening of absorption rates.

After decreasing since Q2 of the previous fiscal, absorption rate at the pan-India level has picked up for the first time in a year in Q2 of the present fiscal — inching from a low of 7 per cent in Q1 of this fiscal to 13 per cent in Q2. The JLLM study notes: “Net Absorption of office space in Q2 stood at around 4 million square feet, doubling from (the) previous quarter. About 1.8 million square feet of absorption in Q2 is contributed by pre-leased projects of SBD (small business development) Bangalore, which became operational in the quarter. Gupta, in the report, goes on to state that “considerable rationalisation of rents in the information technology (IT) as well as non-IT spaces (has resulted in) opportunistic demand led by domestic occupiers who have expanded their real estate portfolios in various Indian cities. Apart from IT/ITES and BFSI (banking, financial services and insurance) sector, other sunshine sectors -– like telecommunications, pharmaceutical and automotive — are leasing out office spaces in various Indian cities”.

The seven cities covered in the nationwide survey witnessed completions of 7.5 million square feet of office space in Q2 of the current fiscal, taking the total operational office stock to 200 million sq ft. “While vacancy in office space decreased at the country-level from 12.6 per cent in Q1 of the previous fiscal to 11.1 per cent in Q2 of the current fiscal — on account of completion of a few projects and better absorption — it has witnessed a year-on-year rise of 490 basis points,” says Gupta.

There are also chances of high vacancy levels in micro-markets through 2010. As total operational office stock continues to grow, the vacant space available in operational projects continues to augment itself to massive proportions.

Source : http://www.expressestates.in/full_story.php?content_id=93889

Spire South Gurgaon, Sohna Road Gurgaon !! Spire South Sector 68 Gurgaon, Spire South

We are Rai Realtors, For further details of Spire South Gurgaon Call our exclusive Sales Lines +91 9990884141/ +91 9990885151/ +91 9990886161/ +91 9999913391 and we will be happy to assist/guide you right through.

Spire World is launching Spire South in Sector 68 on Sohna Road Gurgaon. Spire South Gurgaon is spread over a huge lush green garden of 18 acres and all Ground+9 Story Structure.

Mera Ghar Meri Marzi Concept (Customized Option):
This concept is introduced in real estate first time. Every individual have different needs such as old age persons prefer security, bachelors have their own different needs or Married person have others. Therefore company has designed five options in a single segment for e.g. if anyone books 900 sq ft, company will offer him five different options to choose their dream house as per their own preference. This option is applicable for all different dimensions.
Green Building Concept Mainstream Green is a philosophy that first brings together the most lucrative residential factors- location, typology etc – and then infuses ‘Green Building’ features in the structure to reduce costs and maximize efficiency. It addresses current needs & future challenges, keeping in mind the available natural resources. It thus promotes an architecture that brings about the perfect confluence between the constructed & the natural environmental.

Flexible payment Plan:
Company is offering three different payment options i.e. Construction link plan, Development link plan & Combo Plan (which shall be described later)

Key Features & Amenities:
• Climate Proof controls, Insulated roofs, Open area covered by shrubs, trees, External electrification by solar panels, solar hot water system results 30% energy efficient.
• Mera Ghar Meri Marzi Spread over in 18 acres of land Located on three side sector road (250 ft wide roads each)Located on Sohna Road, Sector 68 Gurgaon .
• Excellent connectivity to Gurgaon- NCR through upcoming Metro
• Proximity to residential, retail & commercial development on Sohna road
• World Class Schools such as Shikshantar, The Shri Ram school, DPS, Amity International, Heritage, Pathways & GD Goenka within 20 minutes driving distance
• Leading hospitals such as Medicity, Artemis, Max, Fortis, Apollo, Sir Gangaram & Batra Hospital within 20 minutes driving distance.
• Ground + 9 storey structure

For further information about Booking process write to info@rairealtors.in or you may call on +91 9999913391 or +91 9711199708

Source : http://www.bignews.biz/?id=811074&keys=Spire-South-Gurgaon-Spiresouthsohnaroadgurgao

Declaration to acquire land a must: SC

The Supreme Court has ruled that the government has to compulsorily issue a declaration for acquiring public land within a year after the preliminary notification had been issued as otherwise the acquisition proceedings would become illegal.

Maintaining the appeal filed by Vijay Narayan Thatte and certain other aggrieved land owners of Maharashtra, the apex court said if the statute prescribes certain rules and prohibitions, then the same have to be complied with.

A two-judge bench quashed the acquisition proceedings launched by Maharashtra government on the ground that the declaration proceedings as mandated under section 6 of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894, was not followed by the government.

Source : http://www.expressestates.in/full_story.php?content_id=93888

Commercial property market may revive post-Diwali: Religare

MUMBAI: The commercial property market may witness a revival post-Diwali, says Religare Securities.

“We have seen a strong demand in the residential property market from December-January and now we may see buying activity in the commercial property market post-Diwali,” Religare Securities’ Associate Vice-President, Suman Memani, told reporters here today.

Banks and financial services would be seen buying office spaces, but IT and ITeS sectors are yet to enter realty market as they are still passing through degrowth.

“We still remain negative on retail segments and expect sentiments to improve only 15-18 months from now as the economy gradually gets back on track,” Memani said.

“We believe that there has been a significant rental correction happening in the commercial segment in Tier I and Tier II cities. However, there has not been any erosion of capital value of commercial properties,” Memani said.

Lower home loan rates, property price cuts, apartment downsizing, and a recovery in the job market are translating to a pick-up in demand for residential projects as evidenced by an increase in property registration in major cities.

With the improvement in macro-economic conditions as well as buyer affordability, developers witnessed a stronger response to new launches across cities over the past quarter.

Now that property prices have climbed down and the risk of job lay-offs has diminished, the service class is likely to participate actively in property absorption, leading to a strong recovery in residential demand in Q2 FY 10, he said.

Commenting on realty prices, Memani said, “after going into a severe tailspin from January 08 onwards on account of weakening economic dynamics, we believe realty prices have started to bottom out and have already troughed in a few locations. With the return of liquidity to the sector in the form of FDI, QIPs and bank loans in recent months, the balance-sheet position of realty players has started to improve, in turn changing the risk dynamics of the business.”

Listed real estate stocks were in the danger zone, a key risk measure for bankruptcy-but with equity infusion, the chances of bankruptcy have diminished, he added.

Most developers are looking to enhance their execution capabilities in this space. If 60 per cent of the planned development is executed, it will improve the balance-sheet of realty players and also enhance buyer affordability, he said.

Realty stock prices corrected 85-95 per cent over January 08-March 09, but have bounced back significantly thereafter. Still, they remain 25-30 per cent of their peaks. With positives like liquidity infusion, stronger balance-sheet positions, a stable reform-oriented Government and an improved employment outlook, “we expect the sectors’ fundamentals to improve,” he said.

Source : http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/Markets/Real-Estate/News-/Commercial-property-market-may-revive-post-Diwali-Religare/articleshow/4929472.cms

Real Estate boom in Rajarhat and New Town…!!

Rajarhat and New Town are the names of the new destinations for the ‘home seekers’ in Kolkata and its surrounding areas. Spread over thousands of acres, both Rajarhat and New Town are growing fast as residential and commercial areas, thanks to the real estate developers who are investing there heavily. While New Town has already turned into an IT hub with several reputed companies having their centers, Rajarhat is attracting companies that are in to the business of developing residential apartments.

If you take a car from Nicco Park or Nalban and head towards Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport, you will travel on a road that bifurcates the Rajarhat-New Town area and on its both side you will notice hundreds of real estate projects that are under way. Indeed Rajarhat-New Town is changing the cityscape of Kolkata very fast.

Located in the Eastern outskirts of Kolkata, Rajarhat-New Town is attracting increasing numbers of real estate developers everyday because of its vast area and its locational advantage. The international airport, the biggest transit point in the city is just minutes away from Rajarhat. Besides, Salt Lake, the biggest commercial area in this part of the city and Sector –V, the new working hub are also within the vicinity of Rajarhat-New Town.

For people who are financially sound, Rajarhat-New Town is certainly an ideal address. In the recent times, lots of people, who were originally inhabitants of different parts of Kolkata have shifted to Rajarhat and in the coming years, this modern city is certainly going to get more populated. Being located over a huge area and a little away from the bustling city, Rajarhat-New Town is a place where you can stay close to the nature and breathe in some fresh air. Sitting on the balcony or terrace of your house you can enjoy a panoramic view of a city which is growing up day by day.

With its steady growth, the Rajarhat-Newtown is slowly giving birth to a sophisticated society which will surely give a new identity to Kolkata in the future.

Source : http://www.bignews.biz/?id=810907&keys=RajarhatandNewTown-realestatedevelopers-NiccoPark-Theinternationalairport

Home loan eligibility norms

A host of factors affect the eligibility of a potential borrower. A bank has its own parameters and criteria to determine the eligibility and quantum of housing loan. A borrower would do well by being aware of these factors. Verification The application form provides information about the applicant. The information that is submitted in the application form by the individual is verified from various primary and secondary sources – through interview, calling up the employer, verifying from the bank’s database etc. In case of wrong information /inconsistencies, the loan application is liable to be rejected. Repayment capacity The financial position of the individual is an important determinant. The individual’s financial profile is an important consideration for the bank. The loan eligibility as well as repayment capacity depends on the financial position of the borrower. The income level, net income, liabilities etc determine the amount of loan a person is eligible for. The requirements include a particular minimum income or a fixed source of income. The credit history of the borrower also plays an important role. Usually, the lenders maintain a database of the borrower and verify the credit history to check out previous repayment defaults, even from other lenders. Profile The personal profile of the individual is also important. Banks take into account the personal profile of an individual. These include factors like educational qualifications, profession, number of dependents, assets owned, liabilities owed, savings history etc. A higher number of dependants or existing liabilities implies lower repayment capacity. Age It plays a major role in determining the earnings potential of an individual. In case a property is coowned, the co-owner cannot be a minor. Also, the coowner cannot be above a certain age limit. The age limits are set to minimise ownership disputes. The age limit also affects the tenure of the home loan and EMIs. The applicant’s retirement age is also considered. For example, if an applicant is 45 years of age and is set to retire at 60 years, the maximum loan tenure available will be 15 years. Also, in case the bank has a 75-year age limit for a coapplicant, and if the applicant is 40 years old and the co-applicant is 60 years old, the home loan will be sanctioned for a maximum period of 15 years only. Location of property This also affects the eligibility. Certain areas are specified as being ‘negative’ in the books of some banks. If an individual intends to buy a property in such an area, he will not be granted a loan. Banks have specific norms with respect to a minimum area of the flat. This may be built-up area or carpet area. The age of the property is also an important consideration in case of purchase of existing properties. Home loans on resale properties are sanctioned only if they are less than 50 years old. Banks conduct legal and technical appraisals of the property to see whether the title of the property is clear, there are no ownership disputes, the property is free from any encumbrances etc. In case there are any objections in these appraisals, the loan application is bound to be turned down. Each bank has a list of pre-approved builders. Their credentials will be verified by the bank and as such loans are easily available for their properties. Source : http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/Features/Financial-Times/Home-loan-eligibility-norms/articleshow/4924070.cms

NRI home loans : Financial tools for getting homes in one’s motherland

Loans are facilitating every individual in the country, whether the person be a citizen of the country or an NRI. Loans are available to the every corner of the country, with a purpose that every one should make a healthy use of it.

Loans entails as the best friend of an individual in the present scenario. Whether the person be a citizen or an NRI in the country, loans are easily approachable services which enhance the status of individuals. In the present arena, owning a home or a car is a status symbol. Loans in India has provided an edge, which has the ability of satisfying anyone’s wishes in simple and easy steps. Presently, the NRI home loan facility is available for non-resident Indian for the purpose of acquiring a home. All financial lenders go by the NRI definition guideline given by RBI i.e. “an Indian citizen who holds a valid Indian passport and who stays abroad for employment or for carrying on business or vocation outside India or stays abroad under circumstances indicating an intention for uncertain duration of stay abroad is an NRI.”

‘NRI’s are eligible to take residential property in India. Different banks use different criteria for lending to NRIs, including the various mandatory aspect of financial lenders as- An NRI must have an account with the lending bank. He should tend to earmark the deposit held in addition to the mortgage on the property Else all required documents are similar to those applicable to the local residential persons Non-Resident Indians (NRI) can apply for a loan for construction, renovation, alteration or repairing of a house or for purchasing a plot or house in the country. Since, the interest rate for the NRI home loans do not vary much from the the one charged for Indian citizens. But they could get their loan sanctioned for the shorter period of time. For a home loans, NRIs get only 85 per cent of cost of loan. Whereas, the loan-size depends on the refunding capacity of the borrower. The loans equivalent to 36 times of the gross monthly earning of the applicant may be issued.

On the other hand, the car loans are available for all kinds of people to satisfy their various needs with different names. Which could be auto loans bad credit, fast auto loans, logbook loans, auto loan after bankruptcy, sub-prime auto loans, cheap auto loans and many more, which are further bifurcated in secured and unsecured ones. Lenders offers you the best possible option of car loans, whether you need to purchase a new car or an old one. Banks like ICICI, Bank of Baroda, State Bank of India, HDFC etc. are some institutions offers fixed as well as floating interest rate for a tenure, ranging from three to five years.

In India, millions have been fulfilled the availability of various car loans scheme offered by the numerous financial lenders and banking organization, which even enables consumers to own the latest model of cars of various manufacturer like Hyundai, Maruti, Tata, Fiat, Ford etc. the eligibility criteria to avail the car loan, seeks an individual to be between the age of 21 to 65 years as well as the person should be salaried person, professional, or self-employed. The car loans can be availed, when the individual’s net annual income must be more than INR 1,00,000. Whereas, it could get sanctioned when it will be of about 2.5 times the net income of the person.

http://www.bestsyndication.com/?q=20090821_nri_home_loans.htm

IndiaProperty.com to organize ‘Virtual Property Fair’ for properties in Chennai

IndiaProperty.com, India’s no 1 property portal pioneered the concept of ‘Virtual Property Fair’. This is a unique platform that will bring property seekers from across the globe to interact with renowned builders online and gather information on residential & commercial properties.  More over one can view details of the builders projects and can also book and close property transactions online.

IndiaProperty kick started its first Virtual fair in Bangalore and then followed by Mumbai. The two fairs received an overwhelming response from the participants and attracted 100’s of members and non-members on the day of the event. The virtual fair gives an opportunity to the participants to gather information at their own comfort & convenience from wherever they are – office or home.

Registration to the property fair is free of cost and one can log on to IndiaProperty.com on the 20th & 21st of August from 9.00 am to 6.00 pm respectively. They can chat online with the builders or opt for the ‘click to call’ option and get the best deals & offers.

To register pls log onto: http://www.indiaproperty.com/virtualpropertyfair/login.php

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Source : http://www.prlog.org/10316064-indiapropertycom-to-organize-virtual-property-fair-for-properties-in-chennai.html

TDI’s Rs 1,000 cr project for low-cost homes

NEW DELHI: Delhi-based realty firm TDI is planning to invest Rs 1,000 crore to build lower-priced homes in the national capital region in the next  three years, a senior company executive said.

“The demand for homes is coming back slowly,” said TDI managing director Kamal Taneja, adding that the company was focusing on lower priced homes to attract buyers. TDI, which has its real estate projects spread over Delhi, Kundli and Panipat in Haryana and Mohali in Punjab, recently launched 350 residential units in Kundli and claims to have sold all of it in just a month.

The company is now planning to launch another 350 homes over the weekend in Kundli, around 35 kms from central Delhi. The 900-sqft independent floor homes will be priced between Rs 16.50-19 .50 lakh. The company will invest around Rs 1,000 crore to build a total of 700 homes in Kundli over the next three years, Taneja said.

TDI has tied up with architectural firms Drew Dickson Associates of Australia and HO Partners of Hong Kong for development of its 1600-acre Kundli township. Following a revival in the capital market, many listed real estate companies, including Unitech, HDIL and Sobha, have raised funds via QIP, while some other unlisted firms are lining up their initial share sale.

Source : http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/Markets/Real-Estate/News-/TDIs-Rs-1000-cr-project-for-low-cost-homes/articleshow/4917254.cms

Indian developers to hold property fair here

REAL estate is real hot. And we are not talking about the scene in Singapore.

The Indian residential apartment market, which hit a slump last October-November, is rising again.

Almost every day, there is a report in the Indian media about the housing recovery and many say this is the best time to buy.

Well, for those of you here in Singapore, you need not go looking for a good developer in India to buy an apartment.

More than 40 developers managing 150 projects in different Indian cities will be here on Sept 5 and 6 to showcase their projects.

It is called India Homes Fair and it is being organised by Housing Development Finance Corporation Limited (HDFC), which has an office in Singapore. For details of the fair.

Said HDFC’s Singapore head Sanjna Parasrampuria: ‘HDFC has been regularly organising such events in India and abroad.

The objective is to facilitate interaction amongst the NRIs and PIOs interested in buying properties in India, with the developers and HDFC under one roof.

‘And now with HDFC’s presence in Singapore, we are attempting to make property purchase in India seamless for the Indian diaspora based here.’

Some of those who have heard about the forthcoming fair, the first such organised by HDFC here, want to check it out.

Mr Srinivas Bilamkar, 34, an electrical engineer from Bangalore, who is based here, told tabla!: ‘I’ve been in Singapore for a while so I am not sure what the property market is like back home.

‘I have been wanting to buy property in Bangalore for my family and I would like to see what is on offer and what the price ranges are like at this exhibition.

If it fits my criteria and my budget, I might consider buying.’

The India Homes Fair will be held at the Meritus Mandarin Singapore.

And the event will showcase prime properties from across India. Some of the big developers at this event include DLF, Hiranandani, K Raheja Corp, Paranjpe Schemes and the Nahar Group. HDFC officials will be on hand to help with the procedural and housing loan requirements.

Looking forward to the property fair, director of K Raheja Corp, Mr Vinod Rohira, said: ‘In the past few years we are seeing a greatly increased interest for residential properties in India. There has been increased sales of apartments offered from Singapore. We believe this trend will go on increasing and see lots of potential from this region.’

India’s Business Standard newspaper reported recently that the housing market has turned around. It said that sales of major real estate developers have more than trebled in the June quarter compared to the preceding three months, amid growing expectations that the good times will continue.

Mumbai’s realtors claim that this is the best time to invest in residential apartments as prices have touched the bottom.

‘Realty prices will only rise again and the best time to invest is between September and December,’ Hiranandani Group of Companies managing director Niranjan Hiranandani told The Times Of India on Aug 17 while addressing a real estate meeting in Mumbai.

This feeling of optimism is echoed across India. Mr Santosh Rungta, president of the Confederation of Real Estate Developer’s Associations of India was quoted in the Economic Times on Aug 2 as saying in Kolkata: ‘The prices have got corrected. And whatever pent-up demand was there in the market has started getting converted into business.’

Analysts are also upbeat.

Mr Pankaj Kapoor, chief executive of Liases Foras, a real estate research firm, told the media that the momentum in sales would increase after Diwali.

But for some, like those who will be showcasing their projects here, Diwali might come early!

The India Home Fair

When: Sept 5 and 6, 10am to 8pm
Where: The Grand Ballroom, Meritus Mandarin Singapore, 333 Orchard Road
Who’s coming: 40 developers from India displaying over 150 projects.
For more information contact HDFC Singapore: 20 Raffles Place, #10-01A Ocean Towers, Singapore 048620. Contact: 6536-7000, e-mail nrisingapore@hdfc.com or log on to www.hdfc.com

Source : http://business.asiaone.com/Business/My+Money/Property/Story/A1Story20090821-162497.html

NRIs Focusing on Indian Investment

A stint or two abroad is a common thing for most professionals these days. No wonder, financial advisors have to deal with many Indians with non-resident tag these days. According to them, most non-residents are keen to keep their Indian ties intact and invest in various avenues like mutual funds (MFs), fixed deposits, real estate and so on. “Most of these people look to return to India finally. That is one of the reasons why they are keen to invest here,’’ says Suresh Sadagopan, chief Financial planner, Ladder7 Financial advisories.

Besides emotional reasons it also makes perfect sense as India is one of world’s fastest growing economies and they can hope to pocket superior returns here. “The chances of getting double digit returns abroad is limited. In India, you can always hope to get 8-10% returns,’’ says a wealth manager with a bank. “For example, Indian stock market has given even 100% returns till a few years ago, something one can never dream of in a developed country. Even fixed income investments will offer you around 8-10%, whereas getting even 3-4% from such instruments is considered great abroad,’’ he said.

But what are the investment avenues the NRI lot flocks to? Many a financial consultant maintains that property is a big attraction for them. “Most of the queries I get are related to property,’’ says an investment consultant who doesn’t want to be named. “Some people want to buy a home because they want to return to India eventually. Others look at property as pure investment. In fact, NRIs were a major force behind the real estate boom that went bust recently,’’ he adds. Sadagopan says some NRIs are also keen on MFs as they are permitted to invest in the entire universe of schemes. “It is not true that everyone wants to invest only in property. Some are also keen to invest in mutual fund schemes, as they know there is a possibility of superior returns,’’ he says. “Also, there are no restrictions on where they can invest. OIC and PIO enjoy all privileges like ordinary Indians. They can invest anywhere they like,’’ he adds.

However, financial advisors caution NRIs that they have to be careful while listing the details at the time of investment. They should clearly mention their status, complete with relevant documents and details. Suresh Sadagopan offers an example of investing in MFs: “They should clearly mention in the application form that they are NRIs. They should also provide their overseas address.’’ He also adds that in the case of fixed deposits, they should know the difference between various deposits like NRE account and NRO account. This is crucial because you can repatriate the income under NRO, while you can’t do the same in NRE account. The issue of relevant papers and documents is something that creeps up regularly in conversations with financial experts. They all insist that having relevant documents is a key factor. “Some investments may require the investor’s status card abroad. If they are going for insurance cover, the company may ask for details like work permit in some cases. It can vary from company to company,’’ says Sadagopan.

Source : http://www.indianrealtynews.com/real-estate-india/nris-focusing-on-indian-investment.html

Gurgaon Rapidly Develops as One of the Most Modern Cities of India

Gurgaon has emerged as one of the most modern cities of India, with state-ofthe-art commercial buildings, posh residential condominiums and large malls. It has emerged as the first choice for a large number of multinational companies opening their offices in the country. The township has benefited hugely from its proximity to India’s capital and power centre at Delhi. In the last ten years, Gurgaon has had a number of MNCs opening their offices here. This has led to a rapid growth in real estate in the city, and today, it has emerged as a major residential, commercial and retail hub. Favorable government policies, good connectivity with Delhi, and its upcoming infrastructure has enabled Gurgaon to position itself as an industrial & IT/ITeS hub. A number of IT/ITeS companies, auto and auto ancillaries and garment export industries are operating out of this place.

The city’s proximity to the domestic and international airports, quality of real estate developments coupled with proactive government policies have helped it to grow faster than any other competing suburbs of Delhi, says Samir Jasuja of PropEquity, a real estate research firm. The commissioning of NH-8 (Delhi-Gurgaon Expressway) has further fuelled developments in Gurgaon. The Metro link, currently under construction, will further strengthen Gurgaon’s position in the NCR by providing muchneeded quality public transport connectivity. The city has also benefited from the government’s enhanced focus on a comprehensive infrastructure development plan for the 2010 Commonwealth Games in the NCR. However, Gurgaon has still a long way to go in terms of social and physical infrastructure as it faces severe power shortages and traffic bottlenecks.

Jasuja says the city is all set to witness a fresh residential supply of 97.60 million sq ft during 2009-2011, 80% of which has already been sold. However, the slowdown in economy for the last one year has affected its rate of absorption. The slowdown in absorption or sale of residential units has led to a significant price drop, in the range of 30% to 45%, for projects getting completed in 2010-2011, and 20% to 30% for projects nearing completion in 2009, Jasuja says. The completed projects are also witnessing a price drop of 10% to 15%. On the other hand, drop in prices have led to an increase in real estate activities as residential sales have picked up due to this significant price correction since the first quarter of 2009. It has also lured developers to launches residential projects in the affordable price bracket.

The slowdown has also affected commercial office market, which witnessed a drop in demand with corporates deferring expansion plans owing to changed business environment. Commercial office market witnessed corrections in terms of capital values and lease rentals. According to a report of PropEquity, the city saw a supply of 7.3 million sq ft in 2008, of which only 63% was absorbed. The gap between demand and supply is expected to widen in the current year as a lot of projects that were scheduled to be operational by 2008, have been delayed and are now likely to get completed in 2009, resulting in an increased supply at 20.9 million sq ft of commercial space in 2009.

The retail market has been affected due to a decrease in consumer spending, as a result of the ongoing slowdown. The earlier expansion plans of retailers are likely to be revised. In fact, retailers are using the slowdown as an opportunity to renegotiate existing leases at lower rentals. With high vacancy levels, developers are evaluating revenue sharing models to attract retailers. But, with the correction in prices, construction activities are picking up. The new Gurgaon-Manesar Master Plan, in fact, is fuelling a boom in developments. It has brought in fresh areas under development and given a lease of life to the city.

The city, says Jasuja, is expected to grow along the southern peripheral area where Sohna Road and Golf Course Road extension are the major growth corridors. With the local civic body – Haryana Urban Development Authority (HUDA) introducing the Gurgaon- Manesar Master Plan 2021, the availability of land for development and avenues for new growth corridors has opened up. Sector 8, 11, 12, 12A and Palam Vihar comprise the old section of Gurgaon. Sector 4, 5, 14, 15, 29, 56 and 57 are amongst the most developed HUDA sectors in Gurgaon. Areas like DLF Phase I-V, Sushant Lok I-III and Golf Course road are the prime residential areas commanding the highest real estate prices. Concentration of new development is mainly in the new sectors, Jasuja points out. Dharuhera, Sohna Road, Pataudi Road, DLF Phase V are the emerging growth corridors.

Total city-level supply by 2011, a report by PropEquity says, is 107.56 million sq ft, including a completed stock of 9.95 million sqft spread across 111 projects, comprising apartments and villas. As per the new master plan, 14,930 hectare of land has been allotted for residential use with an addition of 58 new sectors. 27 per cent of the proposed residential land is under the process of licensing.

Source : http://www.indianrealtynews.com/real-estate-india/gurgaon-rapidly-develops-as-one-of-the-most-modern-cities-of-india.html

RE/MAX India Expand its Area of Operation in 7 More Regions

RE/MAX India, the master regional franchisee of RE/MAX International in India, has expanded its areas of operations in 7 more regions. The company has appointed regional owners for seven new regions which include Bangalore, North & South Gujarat, Rest of Tamil Nadu, Delhi NCR, Chandigarh and Pune. Mr. Samir Chopra, head of RE/MAX operations in India, will retain the Delhi/NCR region in order to maintain first hand experience with the trade. With this development, RE/MAX India is nine regions strong in India within a short span of 4 months into operations.

RE/MAX recently forayed in India with the mission of organizing the Real Estate brokerage industry. The company is rapidly expanding its presence and is planning to establish its operations throughout the country within the next few years. Expressing his delight on this development, Mr. Samir Chopra, CMD RE/MAX India said – “I’m extremely happy and excited about the way things are shaping up. We have found like minded people, who share our values and our vision.”

“RE/MAX India with its network of brokers, authentic information and world class standards of operations will certainly infuse transparency in this sector. The organization of the highly fragmented Real Estate sector will not only solve the woes of the consumers but would also generate many entrepreneurial opportunities in the industry,” Mr. Chopra added.

Source : http://www.indianrealtynews.com/real-estate-india/remax-india-expand-its-area-of-operation-in-7-more-regions.html

Real Estate in Kolkata

Real estate is among the most booming industries across the world at present, thanks to the rapid growth of human population

Real estate is among the most booming industries across the world at present, thanks to the rapid growth of human population. The geography of states and cities and towns are changing rapidly as more and more concrete structures are filling up vacant lands to provide shelter to people. The drastic rise in population is leading to increasing demand for residential areas and as a result multistoried buildings and residential apartments are coming up in large numbers. To create spaces for real estate projects, people are even filling up ponds and water bodies and playgrounds are getting lesser in numbers everyday. Not only residential apartments but real estate projects have changed the definition of commercial centers too. Modern flashy shopping malls with all kinds of modern facilities are coming up in all developed cities of the world to meet the changing needs of people.

Kolkata being one of the five metropolitan and among the largest cities in India is home to billions of people and like all other cities and towns the population is growing drastically here too. So the city is changing and changing at a great pace. In the last five-six years Kolkata has become the new address for thousands of new people. Several national and multi-national real estate developers have come up with lots of real estate projects, which include both residential apartments and commercial centers in all parts of the city. The cityscape of Kolkata is surely on a permanent changeover mode. If you are financially stable, finding a new address in Kolkata is not a big deal today. But to get one that suits your budget, you need to know about various real estate projects that are under construction in different parts of the city.

Getting information about real estate projects is not at all difficult these days, thanks to the B2b portals. Ebizzkolkata.com is a B2B portal that serves the purpose of a guide for people who want to know about Kolkata. All kinds of information that people may like to know about the metropolitan city is available in detail here. If you are trying to get an idea about real estate projects in Kolkata, logging on to ebizzkolkata.com will be an ideal option for you. We provide information not only on existing and under construction projects in the city but about those, which yet to come up. Moreover by browsing through our portal one can get to know names and contact numbers of all real estate agents in the city.

Source : http://www.bignews.biz/?id=810431&keys=PropertyinKolkata-Buildersinkolkata-RealEstateinKolkata-SellHousesinkolkata

SRS Group launches SRS Royal Hills Affordable Homes

After the unprecedented success of the SRS Pearl project in Faridabad, SRS Group, one of India’s leading real estate developers with business interests in real estate and township development, multiplex, retail and hospitality has formally announced the launch of SRS Royal Hills. Located at Sector 87, Greater Faridabad is a Group Housing project will feature affordable apartments spread across a sprawling area of 45 acres in the plush new sectors of Faridabad. All required approvals have been obtained by the company and actual construction has started at the site.

Dr. Anil Jindal, CMD, SRS Group, said, “Our core aim is delivering townships complete in all aspects for peaceful and happy living at extremely affordable prices. Our commitment reflects in every minute detail of SRS Royal Hills, be it the design, the material, the finish, the landscaping and just about everything. We have done some very serious planning by bringing together the finest architects and designers to ensure a construction that is not only aesthetic, but safe as well. We are confident that our customers will appreciate the calm and serenity that SRS Royal Hills offers them.”

The SRS Royal Hills will have apartments with two, two + one, three and three + one bedroom options, the sizes of which will range from 1025 sq ft to 1650 sq ft. These apartments are affordably priced at Rs. 19.99 Lakh onwards. The price includes one covered car parking and 1KVA power backup installation. The apartments will also have 24-hour water supply and backed up by low-cost and effective maintenance. Housing loans for SRS Royal Hills apartments are available from Union Bank and LIC Housing Finance.

SRS Group seeks to attract both investors as well as home seekers to this landmark residential complex built in harmony with acres of peace and serenity. Considering that all the earlier projects of SRS Group in Faridabad have met with phenomenal success and the last project, SRS Pearl, sold out within about a month, the location of SRS Royal Hills is once again expected to be a major draw for interested buyers because of the facts that Faridabad has the distinction of being the 6th fastest growing city in India and is the closest location to Delhi, Noida, Greater Noida in NCR.

“We are confident that the buyers will find our projects to be extremely promising because of the facts that the elevated corridor of NH-2 will be completed by 2010 and Metro Connectivity will be extended till YMCA by 2012 enabling Faridabad to emerge as the fastest growing city in the NCR in near future. Also, the upcoming International Airport in Greater Noida will prove to be a boon to the city,” Dr. Jindal further added.

SRS Royal Hills will be attractively landscaped and designed keeping in mind a typical Indian family’s needs and comforts. The most distinguishing feature of the project is that it will have 70% green coverage with landscaped podiums and will also introduce Sky Gardens, a new concept that will have well cultivated gardens on the roofs of the buildings.

SRS Royal Hills will have an earth quake resistant structure with environment friendly waste disposal and rain water harvesting systems. The project will have 100% power backup for common areas with well detailed parks for children and other areas for recreation. SRS Group also plans to have a Shopping Centre inside the complex itself. SRS Royal Hills will have restricted entry for a safe, secure and pollution free environment.

Source : http://www.webnewswire.com/node/465385

B’lore realtors scout Goa, Mumbai for new projects

MUMBAI: With the real estate sector story looking up in large parts of the country, Bangalore-based realty companies are now exploring options to  enter new markets. Among the interested players are Puravankara Developers, Sobha Developers and Nitesh Estates, three of Bangalore’s large real estate companies. It is learnt that these players are drawing up plans to invest in cities like Mumbai , Goa and Pune.

Provident Housing, a fully-owned subsidiary of the Puravankara Group, is said to be in talks with individual land owners in Mumbai to buy land in three locations for affordable housing projects. An industry tracker said Provident Housing is largely looking at western Mumbai for this venture. Ashish Puravankara , director, Provident Housing confirmed the plan to enter the Mumbai market through affordable housing projects though he declined to share details on locations. “We have not bought any land yet and are exploring options in Mumbai,” he said.

The cause for concern, according to analysts, comes from the fact that companies in the sector are highly leveraged. Purvankara , for instance, had a debt of Rs 582 crore on its books at the end of FY09 even as company officials maintained that the the debt-equity ratio at 0.56 was favourable.

Like Purvankara, Sobha Developers is also keenly looking at Mumbai and Pune. A source in the industry said that the company is close to sealing a deal with another developer for an affordable housing project. JC Sharma, managing director, Sobha Developers, when contacted said, “Mumbai is an attractive market and we are certainly interested in it though nothing concrete has been decided so far.” After a recent debt restructuring exercise, Sobha has reduced its debt from Rs 1,900 crore to Rs 1,450 crore. “We are at a comfortable position as far as debt is concerned,” he added.

Joining Purvankara and Sobha is Nitesh Estates which has already bought a large tract of land in Goa for a high-end project . “We would be developing higher end villas in Goa,” L.S. Vaidyanathan, Director, Nitesh Estates. The company is planning to raise around Rs 1,200 crore through an infusion of private equity (PE) funding and a planned public issue. Nitesh is also said to be interested in the Mumbai market.

The consensus is that money will not be easy to raise at a time like this. “It will be interesting to see how these companies arrange for the funds for these projects. While PE money is hard to come by, it will not be easy to take the capital markets route,” said a consultant at an international real estate firm.

Source : http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/News/News-By-Industry/Services/Blore-realtors-scout-Goa-Mumbai-for-new-projects/articleshow/4905366.cms

DLF Set to Finalise India’s Largest Land Deal

Real estate major DLF is set to bag India’s largest land deal. Haryana government sources said DLF has emerged as the sole bidder to qualify for 350.7 acres of prime land in Gurgaon close to South Delhi for development of a recreation and leisure project which will include an 18-hole golf course. Haryana Industrial and Infrastructure Development Corporation (HSIIDC) disqualified the two other bidders on technical grounds. HSIIDC had fixed the minimum reserve price as Rs 1,700 crore for the land at Wazirabad village on Gurgaon-Faridabad road which includes part of Sectors 42, 53 and 54 as well as agricultural land for the project comprising commercial, residential, sports and golf course activities. A senior HSIIDC official said DLF’s bid was approximately Rs 1,750 crore.

If the deal goes through, it would be the largest single land deal in the country so far. Though BPTP had bagged a 95-acre plot in Noida last year for a whopping Rs 5,000 crore, the deal had to be called off after the realtor failed to make the complete payment. DLF had purchased a 38-acre plot in west Delhi from DCM Shriram Group for Rs 1,680 crore. “We did not open the financial bids of two others as they failed to meet the technical criteria. The sub-committee set up to take the final view on the bidding will submit its report to the government and then the decision would be taken,’’ the official added.

Bharti and Unitech were the two other bidders, officials said. “One of the lead partners in case of Bharti Realty could not meet the financial conditions. In case of Unitech, it did not have the experience of managing an 18-hole golf course for 10 years. Though it has developed one at Manesar, it still does not have the occupation certificate,’’ a HSIIDC official said. However, sources maintained that Unitech had quoted Rs 1950 crore and Bharti Realty Rs 2,500 crore for the project. Though the agency had floated tenders in January, it received only one bid from DLF. It then decided to retender the project with modifications.

In order to make the project viable, HSIIDC increased the FAR by 20%. This additional construction rights could be used by the developer to increase FAR in any of its projects in Gurgaon-Manesar plan. The new revised bid document also incorporated that the government would get environmental and defence clearances for the project. Earlier, these clearances were the responsibility of the developer. The authority also relaxed the payment plan. “These new incorporations are going to benefit DLF in a major way since it has several projects going on in the region,’’ said a market analyst.

Source : http://www.indianrealtynews.com/real-estate-india/dlf-set-to-finalise-indias-largest-land-deal.html

Changing Real Estate Scenario in Tier 2 and Tier 3 Cities

The demand fundamentals of the India story are now focused around all cities that have sufficient economic activity, be it industrial, service sector-driven or incentive-driven programs by the State Government. In Gujarat, which has seen considerable industrial progress, the key cities of Ahmedabad, Surat and Vadodara come readily to mind. Baddi in Himachal Pradesh and Pantnagar and Rudrapur in Uttaranchal attracted a lot of residential developers that met with success, thanks to proactive Government policies. In the South, Coimbatore, Vizag and Kochi emerged, either thanks to a large investor segment or as the outcome of sufficient economic activity. Towards the West, Pune, Nasik and Nagpur are noteworthy in this context. In all cases, developers positioned their development close to industrial hubs, targeting a totally different price segment and making the most of it.

This said, every developer was inspired to create a national footprint three to four years back. While this was a worthy ambition, it was poorly conceived as a plan since many of them did not factor in State Government-level regulatory challenges such as local municipal laws. They also did not consider that they may not have had the requisite financial resources, organizational depth and knowledge of the local markets to manage and execute projects in Tier II and Tier III cities. Nor had they accurately gauged the demand fundamentals of these locations. Such developers proceeded to enter into land acquisition on their own equity and were caught short-footed, not realising that the property cycles were then at their peak, and that there was bound to be a correction – if not a fall.

Major players are now going to re-align their positions vis-à-vis unexplored territories. There is now a very clear realisation that it is extremely difficult to become a genuine Pan India player in every geography and real estate segment. Moreover, developers today have woken up to the fact that there is only limited capital available to real estate players today – capital that is earmarked for residential projects, construction funding against achieved leases and signed contracts, or for cities displaying sufficient demand even in subdued market conditions. In the current context, it makes sense for developers to re-strategize and focus on their core geographies. For example, if a certain developer is extremely accomplished as a residential player in the South, having high credibility and sufficient brand recall in this region, such a company would ask itself how wise it is to experiment in the North or the West, and whether it would not make more sense to expand in the South.

Likewise, developers accomplished in IT projects would now concentrate on geographies that feature a healthy IT component, and avoid branching out into cities that lack a sufficient volume of such activity. Such developers would see the virtue of focusing on IT-centric cities such as Bangalore, Hyderabad, Chennai, Mumbai, Gurgaon and Pune, and re-think on plans to invest in cities that lack Information Technology activity. Tier II and Tier III cities still represent a great story, especially in terms of affordable housing for industrial workforces. However, this story may no longer be suitable for some of the larger developers. These are locations where the strength of regional players will come into play. There is at least one strong developer in every region. For instance, Panchshil Realty, Magarpatta, Paranjape Builders and Kumar Builders are very powerful local brands in Pune, with a company like Pharande Spaces practically spearheading the residential drive in Pune’s PCMC area. These brands have demonstrated that they understand their geographies better than any players who arrive from the outside to experiment on the Tier II / Tier III story.

The success of these local developers will inspire larger developers from beyond a region’s borders after the fundamentals of that area’s demand are captured sufficiently and the markets are sanitised in terms of municipal and financial market stabilisation. In the next one to two years, developers will have realigned their business strategies sufficiently to leverage the potential of Tier II / III cities that have sufficient market drivers or are witnessing considerable investor activity (such as Kochi, Surat, Mohali and Chandigarh).

Source : http://www.indianrealtynews.com/real-estate-india/changing-real-estate-scenario-in-tier-2-and-tier-3-cities.html

NRI meet to seek changes in Indian property laws

NEW YORK: The Global Organization of People of Indian Origin (GOPIO) will pressure the Indian government to amend property laws to protect the  interests of NRIs at its annual conference here this week.

The biggest and oldest body of the Indian diaspora will hold its two-day conference at the Crown Plaza Hotel near LaGuardia airport Aug 21-22.

It will be opened by Oversees Indian Affairs Minister Vayalar Ravi. The 20th annual conference will also be attended by Frank Wisner, former US ambassador to India.

“Though our main theme is ‘People of Indian Origin: Strengthening Global Connections’, our thrust this year is to put fresh pressure on the Indian government to change property ownership laws for NRIs,” outgoing GOPIO president Inder Singh said.

“How can we wholeheartedly involve ourselves in India’s development if someone steals our investments and properties in our absence? The current Indian laws are so outmoded that they are not even fit for Indians, let alone the diaspora,” Singh said.

“We are 25 million in strength and pumping billions into India. And don’t forget that it was the NRIs who ushered in the IT revolution in India to set it on the path to greatness.

“India should realise that we matter a lot in its aspirations to become a superpower,” he said.

Apart from Vayalar Ravi and Frank Wisner, the conference will also be attended by Basdeo Pandey, former prime minister of Trinidad and Tobago, Logie Naidoo, mayor of Durban in South Africa, and Lord Daljit Rana from Britain.

GOPIO counts the institution of the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas and People of Indian Origin (PIO) and Overseas Citizenship of Indian (OCI) cards as its biggest achievements in its two-decade history.

“We mooted these proposals to the Indian government at our very first conference in 1989. Finally, when the Vajpayee government set up the L.M. Singhvi panel to discuss the issue, we worked with it. We also proposed that prominent Indians abroad be recognized each year for their services to India,” said Singh.

He said GOPIO also worked with other Indian bodies in the US to put pressure on Congressmen and Senators to vote in favour of the nuclear deal bill last year.

Singh said their future agenda is to turn GOPIO into “the Rotary Club of the Indian diaspora at the local level in their adopted countries”.

Source : http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/news/world/indians-abroad/NRI-meet-to-seek-changes-in-Indian-property-laws/articleshow/4905037.cms

Housing dream ready to take wings in city

JAIPUR: The time is ripe to strike. For, if you wait till Diwali, your housing dreams could well send your budget awry. At least, this is what most  real estate experts in the city believe. And they have good reasons too.

First, an anxious city has been waiting and watching the market to grow for just too long. And now there is substantial number of residential projects ready for the citizens.

Second, the builder himself having reached the threshold of his holding capacity has now reached a point where he wants his investments to yield return. And third, a fall out of the two combinations puts the buyer in a perfect position to bargain for an additional furnishing or a parking lot or a discount for himself.

“But the situation will not remain like this for long,” says Gopalji Gupta, president of Rajasthan Builders and Promoters’ Association and chairman of Anukampa Group.

Gopalji should know, for with about 1,000 flats in various categories in different parts of the city, he feels that the investor who has been out of the market due to recession, might just jump back after Diwali, sending the price soaring.

Agrees Vibhishek Pal Singh, director of Unique Builders. “In fact, over the past year, our target clientele too has changed. Earlier, it was the investor in an effort to earn most of his money invested in most of our projects. They would just come to know of the project and without even taking a look at it, book one in advance. But ever since the recession, many such investors have lost a lot of money in the stocks and share market and have now withdrawn from the market.

“Now our clientele is the end user. We are now looking at those who are the actual end users while selling our flats,” he says.

“In fact, the buyer of Jaipur has been lucky so long. The real estate boom since the past few years have amply met the demand for flats thereby keeping the prices in check. However, now the situation might just change as not only has there been fewer clearance of plans by the Jaipur Development Authority in the past few months but most builders are working only on their old projects and that might just reduce the number of flats available. In fact, having to hold on to their old projects have escalated their prices too which will be passed on to the buyer,” says Gopalji.

Even if the recession has changed the shape of real estate business in Jaipur and developers spend more time convincing the clients to sell a residential project, none of the builders themselves would agree that recession has actually hit the real estate market in the city.

“The demand for flats has not been affected due to recession,” says Singh. His view is shared by M K Gupta, chairman of the Mangalam Group. “Recession has hit mainly the US market where banks finance 95% of the costs. But in India it is a different system. The book price of any flat is grossly under values from its selling price and the banks finance only 85% of the undervalues book price. So in effect they are just financing about 30 to 35 % of the actual price of the flat. And so banks did not affect the real estate business here,” he says.

However, Gupta too admits that recession while putting the investor out of the market has not affected real estate growth. “What has actually happened is that earlier there were too many investors in residential apartments here. Therefore, for a builder for a project worth say about Rs 1,000 crore, an investment of only Rs 10 crore was actually needed. The rest came in as advances from investors. But now with the investor out, the real estate developer has to invest more money into the project and satisfy himself with lesser profits,” he says.

“But that has not affected demand. There has always been two segments of users — one the middle class and the other with lots of money — and despite the recession, all builders have both categories of projects on,” he said. Gupta currently has two projects one on the Sirsi Road and the other on Hawa Sadak with residential flats ranging from Rs 17 lakh to Rs 80 lakh.

He, however, differs in his opinion that prices of residential property would escalate after Diwali. “It is not just now but every time is the right time to buy a flat,” he says

Be that as it may, the shape of real estate business has definitely changed for now. Many developers are targeting the end user, who most of the time is a middle class family, who look more towards budget houses. Taking a leap in this direction is Unique Builders which is coming up with a Jaipur model of Nano flats on the Tonk road. Targeted towards the middle class, this 3,000 to 4,000 flat complex would sell one BHK flats from Rs 5 lakh onwards.

“With the investor gone, real estate developers are also launching projects where the frills have been done away with. The flats on Tonk Road would have basic facilities and instead of the frill, we would be giving them amenities like a clinic, temple in the premises, a 24 hour take away food shop etc so as to suit the needs of working couples,” says Singh. Facilities like gymnasium, sauna bath have been done away with here.

But that has not taken away the glare from the more posh Rs 20 to Rs 25 lakh flats and villas being built in another part of the city. Even Mangalam’s project of Rs 80 lakh per flat at Hawa Sadak is totally booked.

With the hope of residential projects picking up in the near future, most developers were still doubtful of commercial ventures. “There are not too many MNCs that are venturing into the market now. Besides the lease rates too have fallen. Therefore commercial property market might still take a while to pick up till there is enough liquidity in the market once again,” says Gopalji.

Source : http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/news/city/jaipur/Housing-dream-ready-to-take-wings-in-city/articleshow/4904327.cms

Realtors turn malls and office plans into homes

Mumbai: Residentials hot, commercial space not.

With developers forced to return to the drawing board to make projects financially viable, the landscape is, indeed, changing.

Look what TTK Prestige, the cooker-to-condom maker, said in a notice to the Bombay Stock Exchange last week.

In 2007, the company had entered into a joint development agreement with Kolkata-based Salarpuria Group to develop a 6.3 acre site in Dooravani Nagar, Bangalore.

The initial plan was to construct a mall to ensure recurring rentals. But the financial crisis has forced a change: residential blocks will be added to the project.

“Taking into account the ground reality, Salarpuria suggested putting up a residential-cum-office space. But a decision on this is yet to be taken,” said K Shankaran, director and secretary, TTK Prestige.

The management feels the new plan makes sense from a liquidity point of view.

Also last week, another firm, Sunteck Realty, said it was revisiting its project –a commercial complex on a 1.5 acre site between Kandivali and Borivali. “The project hadn’t even reached the drawing board when we closed the deal a few months back. However, taking into account the oversupply situation in Mumbai’s commercial space, we thought it prudent to develop a high-end residential complex instead, with a small portion of retail added to it,” said Sunteck Realty managing director Kamal Khetan.

Orbit Corporation, the south Mumbai realtor, decided convert its 2.5 lakh sq ft commercial development, called the Hafeez Contractor House in Lower Parel, into a residential project.

Pujeet Agarwal, managing director, Orbit, said the company is actually converting two commercial developments — the Lower Parel one and another in Andheri — into residential ones.

Realty analysts said oversupply and declining demand is making such commercial space development unviable.

“The government’s initiatives towards reducing borrowing costs is reflected in declining interest rates on home loans. This, coupled with realty prices getting more realistic are helping maintain the excitement in the residential space,” said Sanjay Dutt, CEO, business, Jones Lang LaSalle Meghraj, the real estate consultancy.

Revival in demand for commercial space, meanwhile, will largely depend on the global economic scenario.

“The only movement that I see is offices being relocated to more reasonably priced commercial developments thereby cutting costs,” said Dutt.

Investment bank Goldman Sachs in a recent report, said primary residential volume trends (year to date till May this year) indicated recovery in markets such as Mumbai and Noida.

“Inventory days in the two cities have fallen back to early 2008 levels or better. However, the overhang in Bangalore, Chennai, Gurgaon and Hyderabad remains significant with at least 15 months of inventory in the pipeline,” Goldman analysts Vishnu Gopal and Aditya Soman wrote.

With inputs from Pooja Sarkar in Kolkata

Source : http://www.dnaindia.com/money/report_realtors-turn-malls-and-office-plans-into-homes_1282909

Mumbai Developers Advise to Invest in Residential Property

Mumbai’s realtors claim this is the best time to invest in residential apartments as prices have touched the bottom of the curve. “Realty prices will only rise again and the best time to invest is between September and December,” Hiranandani Group of Companies managing director Niranjan Hiranandani said on Monday while addressing a real estate meet. It was organised by Times Property, which launched its annual property event that would come off from August 17 to 24.

Hiranandani said real estate was the best investment. “If you are looking at a five-year cycle and invest in real estate, then you are sure to make good profits,” he said. Lodha Group director Abhisheck Lodha agreed: “Prices will increase slightly but will stabilise and investing in property, especially from now to December, is favourable. The real estate sector is a tortoise but a stable tortoise.” The panelists felt that the effects of the downturn has not hit India that hard because of its resilient economy.

“A great deal of agility has come into the market now. We are banking on the around 60% of the population of Mumbai that do not own their own homes and who are looking out for their first homes,” said Amit Bhagat, CEO and managing partner ASK Property Investment Advisors.

Source : http://www.indianrealtynews.com/real-estate-india/mumbai-developers-advise-to-invest-in-residential-property.html

Signs of Stability for Real Estate India

India’s real estate sector is showing first signs of stability after a free fall that started last year, claims a leading builder. Real estate developers in India think the worst may be over as property prices started to stabilise. Buyers are also returning, encouraged by the government’s decision to provide cheaper home loans, according to Mr Sanjay Rastogi, director, Saviour Builders.

A series of interest rate cuts on home loans and a revival in optimism have encouraged developers to start new projects. Some are even putting a halt to discounts as demand picks up. Property prices are going up by 10 to 15 per cent after falling nearly 30 per cent last year, Mr Rastogi said in a Press statement here.

“For some time, there will be cautious correction and there will be upward trend (of prices). But ultimately, the demand and supply are going to continue because India has globally the largest young workforce whose disposable income is increasing. They will all need houses to live and place to shop,” he said.

Source : http://www.indianrealtynews.com/real-estate-india/signs-of-stability-for-real-estate-india.html

Residential Projects Drive Sales in Orrisa

The demand for residential real estate projects in the city has gathered steam in the past few months after battling a phase of slowdown which had dented sales of apartments.The revival in consumer demand has revved up sales of apartments in the April-June quarter of this fiscal. As per the estimates of the Orissa chapter of the Confederation of Real Estate Developers Association of India (Credai), 800-1,000 apartments were sold by different realty players in the city in the April-June period which is a 20 per cent growth over the sales in the January-March quarter of 2008-09.

Industry leaders attributed this growth to fall in prices and launch of new housing projects with modern amenities by realty players from the NCR (National Capital Region) like Assotech and Vipul. Moreover, all-out efforts supported by publicity campaigns to promote these projects also helped push the sales. “The entry of new real estate players after the announcement of new building norms by the Bhubaneswar Development Authority (BDA) has redefined the real estate market in the city. The projects of realty players like Assotech and Vipul which offer a host of modern amenities has given the customers a greater choice in buying apartments”, DS Tripathy, secretary of Credai-Orissa told Business Standard.

He said, the easing of prices of residential apartments in the aftermath of the economic downturn has helped revive consumer demand. Following the downturn, Credai-Orissa had cut prices by 10 per cent for all the upcoming residential projects in November 2008. The prices of the residential apartments for the middle income groups in the city were in the range of Rs 1,600-Rs 2,500 per sq ft depending on the quality of construction and the project location. “The real estate players like Assotech and Vipul have given a new dimension to the realty transactions. With a strong focus on advertisements on different media, these realty players have made the desired impact on their target consumers. Of late, advertisement has become an investment in the realty sector”, said Anup Mohapatra, president, Real Estate Developers Association (REDA)-Orissa.

Punyabrata Mohanty, manager (corporate communications), Assotech BEBL Infrastructure Limited said, “The real estate market in Bhubaneswar was essentially a supplier’s market with the consumers having very little choice as far as buying flats was concerned. With the arrival of real estate players like Assotech, the choice of the consumers has widened “.

Source : http://www.indianrealtynews.com/real-estate-india/residential-projects-drive-sales-in-orrisa.html

“Deals Are Picking Up:” Investors At VCC Forum In Ahmedabad

The forum was organised at a time when Indian markets are reviving and the deal making activity is picking up.

VCCircle Investment Forum held in Ahmedabad on August 12 attracted 200 delegates from Ahmedabad and from the other parts of the country. The forum – titled Capital Strategies For A Reviving Economy – saw participation from leading private equity fund managers, venture capitalists, companies, entrepreneurs, bankers, advisors and management consultants. The forum was organised at a time when Indian markets are reviving and the deal making activity is picking up.

The keynote panel included Sid Khanna, Chairman, India Equity Partners; Deepak Shahdadpuri, Managing Director at Baer Capital Partners; Cyrus Driver, Director at Helix Investments; Vikram Nirula, Partner at India Value Fund Advisors; Hetal Gandhi, Managing Director at Tano India Advisors and Paresh Patel, CEO of Sandstone Capital LLC, who was the moderator. The panel discussed the state of the private equity business, and was of the opinion that though the funds are now ready to to deals, they will be very cautious. “Limited partner community has gone through a
turmoil and they would expect more discipline from the funds,” said Nirula.

Khanna said that India Equity Partners has not done any deal since early 2008, and they are keenly looking at water and waste management, infrastructure services, FMCG, among others. “We did nothing since valuations had reached the stratosphere and used the period for introspection, and building relationships.” he added. Some investors have also used the crisis as opportunity. “We are working with two of our portfolio companies for acquisitions,” said Shahdadpuri.

The next panel discussion was on Participating in Building India’s Infrastructure. This panel included SG Shyam Sundar, Managing Director at IDFC Private Equity; Srinivas Chidambaram, Managing Director at Jacob Ballas Capital India; Gaurav Mathur, Managing Director at India Equity Partners; Sunil K. Kolangara, Director at UTI Ventures; Arvind Mathur, who was a senior investment professional with ADB Venture Capital. The panel was moderated by Arijit Burman, Bureau Chief, NDTV Profit.

The panel talked about how private equity vis-a-vis infrastructure has developed in the country. Now infrastructure has become the buzzword for PE investors and they are extremely optimistic on the space. But some challenges remain like environmental clearances, quality of infrastructure being built, land acquisitions, policy changes, etc.

The third panel focused on private equity and small & medium enterprises. The speakers in this panel were Dhiraj Poddar, Director at Standard Chartered Private Equity; Vamesh Chovatia, Director at Kotak Private Equity; Mihir Joshi, Managing Director at GVFL; Ashish Bhargava, Vice President, India Value Fund Advisors, and Vivek Subramanian, Partner at Avigo Capital Partners.

The panelists said that the sectors they were looking to invest in this space include infrastructure ancillaries, domestic consumption linked firms, healthcare and pharma. Avigo’s Subramanian said that the key factor for SME invetsing is that they should be very high growth. He said hat revenues of their portfolio companies grew by 60% in FY09 despite financial crisis.

The final panel was on venture capital investments in India. The panelists were Bejul Somaia, Managing Director, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Rahul Chandra, Director, Helion Venture Partners, Rahul Khanna, Director, Clearstone Venture Advisors; Raj Chinai, Principal, SVB India Capital Partners. The panel was moderated by Shiraz Bugwadia, Director, o3 Capital.

The panel concluded though venture capital firms in India look at opportunities from early to growth, right now the focus is on late stage and non-tech investments. “Technology venture capital investing in India is a shallow pool,” said Clearstone’s Khanna. The panel also discussed that intellectual property (IP) based start-ups are less in India and how early stage ecosystem is different from US in India.

Source : http://www.vccircle.com/500/news/deals-are-picking-up-investors-at-vcc-forum-in-ahmedabad

DLF Plans Entry into Hospitality Sector

India’s biggest real estate developer DLF seems to have been bitten by the hospitality bug. While its best-known hotel property is perhaps the luxury Aman Resort in Delhi, it’s now looking at a slew of purchases on the cheap, not just in the region but in North America as well where real estate values are still depressed. A year ago, it was a business that DLF was willing to shed, but now, with its cash crunch is over, the company is going the whole hog on hospitality. It’s looking at expanding this business, not just in India but overseas as well. DLF plans to launch three hotel properties in Delhi over the next couple of quarters in time for the Commonwealth Games and it is also looking to expand the high-end luxury brand Aman Resorts that it acquired in 2007.

According to sources DLF is lining up its wallet with $200 million to buy at least three super luxury hotel properties this financial year. The company is looking for properties in Laos, China and the US. DLF plans to float a special purpose vehicle to raise money for this through long-term debt. When contacted, the DLF spokesperson declined to comment. For DLF, the change in strategy comes after it was forced to sell some of its hotel properties so it could raise the much-needed funding to the tune of Rs 700 crore. But with the housing market starting to stabilise and its core business improving, it’s willing to dip its toes in the hospitality business.

Anshuman Magazine, chairman of CBRE India, said, “Real estate companies were all shying away from non-core business, because their main forte was not in shape. As far as DLF is concerned, there has been visible recovery in home sales, and as such, it is now trying to get back on expansion mode.” Now, while the real estate market is still sluggish in most western countries and Southeast Asia, DLF’s access to funds has improved, helped along by a domestic market that is limping back to life.

Source : http://www.indianrealtynews.com/real-estate-developers/dlf-plans-big-entry-into-hospitality-sector.html

‘Best time to buy real estate’

MUMBAI: Mumbai’s realtors claim this is the best time to invest in residential apartments as prices have touched the bottom of the curve. “Realty  prices will only rise again and the best time to invest is between September and December,” Hiranandani Group of Companies managing director Niranjan Hiranandani said on Monday while addressing a real estate meet. It was organised by Times Property, which launched its annual property event that would come off from August 17 to 24.

Hiranandani said real estate was the best investment. “If you are looking at a five-year cycle and invest in real estate, then you are sure to make good profits,” he said.

Lodha Group director Abhisheck Lodha agreed: “Prices will increase slightly but will stabilise and investing in property, especially from now to December, is favourable. The real estate sector is a tortoise but a stable tortoise.” The panelists felt that the effects of the downturn has not hit India that hard because the of its resilient economy. “A great deal of agility has come into the market now. We are banking on the around 60% of the population of Mumbai that do not own their own homes and who are looking out for their first homes,” said Amit Bhagat, CEO and managing partner ASK Property Investment Advisors.

Source : http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/news/city/mumbai/Best-time-to-buy-real-estate/articleshow/4895369.cms

India gets $7 bn FDI in first quarter

KOLKATA – India received $7 billion in foreign direct investment (FDI) during the first quarter of the current fiscal, a senior official said here Friday.

“For the April-June period there was an approximate $2 billion FDI inflow every month,” Gopal Krishna, joint secretary to the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion, said during an interactive session organised by Indian Chamber of Commerce.

He described the $7 billion received so far as a satisfactory amount.

“Services including financial, non-financial, software, telecommunication, construction and real estate are the areas where we see a large amount of FDI inflows,” he added.

Talking about the annual projection of the FDI for the country, Krishna said the government is not setting any target for the year keeping in view the global economic slowdown.

He was confident the country would manage to bag 1.5 percent of the total global FDIs.

In 2009 it is projected that there would be total $1.2 trillion of FDI globally, down from $1.6 trillion in 2008 due to the economic slowdown.

Source : http://blog.taragana.com/n/india-gets-7-bn-fdi-in-first-quarter-139834/

Disha Direct Announces Retro City, the Brand New Retropolitan Township

Leading Real Estate Marketer Disha Direct is Set to Present a Stylishly Designed Township of Yesteryears in the Contemprorary World of Today at Shirol Near Kasara. Attractive Pre-Launch Rates for Row Houses and Bungalows are Now on Offer

Mumbai, Maharashtra, India, Thursday, August 13, 2009 — (Business Wire India)

Enthusiasts of a unique lifestyle can now enjoy the most exquisite experience of ‘retro class’ dwelling. Disha Direct, the pioneers of the Second Home concept in India will be very soon unveiling the most stylishly designed township called Retro City at Shirol, a flourishing hill station near Kasara. The first-of-its-kind city promises to transport its residents to the aesthetic best of a classical era.

Retro City is an impression of the bygone era that comprised benches by the roadside, town square in the central arena, fountains at prominent places, Gothic street lamps illuminating the evenings, a prominent clock tower at the club house, bicycles plying on brick-laid lanes, flower pockets hosting a rare variety of flora and much more. In short, it brings back the marvel of soothing experiences at a destination easily accessible from Mumbai through a well connected network of roadways and railways.

Disha Direct has taken this initiative of recreating the bygone era, which in turn would add a whole new dimension to its legacy of being the most innovative brand in the Indian realty sector. At Retro City, it plans to implement those elements of yesteryears in realty which will create a magical ambience throughout the project. Equipped with all contemporary amenities masked in the languid grace and elegance of yesteryears, Retro City will comprise Retro Bungalows and Row Houses.

The actual launch of Retro City is scheduled on September 19, 2009. As a pre launch offer, Retro Row Houses and Bungalows with individual plots will be offered at Rs. 1145/- per sq.ft. This offer is valid only till September 18, 2009. Property investors and home buyers, who have a taste for class and luxury, can grab this opportunity well in advance to be a part of the Retro City. Secondly, considering the unique feel of Retro City, the offered price is a lucrative investment option that promises to yield greater returns in terms of value and comfort. Also on offer are fully developed non-agricultural (NA) Plots with areas starting from 3229 sq.ft. priced at Rs. 7.91 Lacs.

Retro City is being developed at Shirol, a flourishing hill station near Kasara. It is a captivating world blessed with wholesome and unexplored beauty. Located at an altitude of 1000 feet above sea level, Shirol presents a gorgeous view of the Sahyadri ranges. A real treat to all senses, Shirol’s divinity and serenity comes alive during the mesmerising monsoons. The weather remains enjoyable year long. A unique hill station, Shirol is simply wonderful with its interesting contours, natural landscape and breathtaking views.

Sharing his views on ideating Retro City, Santosh Naik, MD & CEO of Disha Direct said, “Retro City is a kind of reincarnation of the bygone era in today’s contemporary world. The amenities that we will be offering in this project imbibe the elements of yesteryears in the modern context. The ambience we plan to create departs from the otherwise fast-paced urban lifestyle. We are trying to keep it as subtle as possible and wish to give everybody a slice of retro life that is better & brighter. Retro City simply would take one back to an era of which they always missed being a part of”.

About Disha Direct:

Disha Direct is a leading real estate marketing organisation. It offers services across the entire spectrum of real estate – be it residential properties in cities and towns, 2nd homes away from the city, plots of developed land, commercial properties, expansive acres of land or some rare charismatic homes and investment opportunities. Well-equipped with a team of over 200 professionals, 7 brands, 10 offices, International Offices at Dubai & New York, 1 Real Estate Expert Advisory, 12 completed projects, 35 ongoing projects and 4000 happy customers; Disha Direct is not just a conglomerate but a philosophy etched in the minds of many. For more details about the project, log on to www.dishadirect.in or speak to a Disha Direct executive on 022-25817900.

Source : http://www.businesswireindia.com/PressRelease.asp?b2mid=19751

Want to buy a home? Shift to a less costly city

A  study of households with an annual income of Rs 3 lakh (Rs 300,000) to Rs 10 lakh (Rs 1 million) in seven cities shows substantial variations in the type of houses they can afford to buy.

The study on affordable housing, done by property consultants Knight Frank, says the Rs 8-10 lakh (Rs 800,000-1 million) income category in Chennai can afford houses up to Rs 45 lakh (Rs 4.5 million), while the same group can afford houses up to only Rs 38 lakh (Rs 3.8 million) in Mumbai [ Images ] and Rs 37 lakh (Rs 3.7 million) in Bangalore. The same category in Hyderabad, Kolkata [ Images ] and Pune could afford between Rs 40 lakh (Rs 4 million) and 43 lakh (Rs 4.3 million).

In terms of apartment sizes, the Chennai households can afford up to 1,200 square feet, while those of Pune and Mumbai can only afford 800 sq ft and 950 sq ft, respectively.

In terms of affordable rates per sq ft, Pune can afford up to Rs 5,900 a sq ft and Bangalore only Rs 3,600 a sq ft, the study said.

“Mumbai’s high cost of living, coupled with the generally higher maintenance lifestyle, has adversely affected the affordability of households in the city. For instance, middle class households in Kolkata, Chennai and Hyderabad can afford houses valued at Rs 14-45 lakh (Rs 1.4-4.5 million), whereas households of similar stature in Mumbai can afford houses valued at Rs 12-38 lakh (Rs 1.2-3.8 million),” the study said.

“Affordable rates are higher if sizes are smaller. If buyers can compromise on size, they can afford higher priced apartments,” said Samantak Das, national head, research, Knight Frank.

The study assumes significance, as top real estate developers such as DLF, Unitech and Parsvnath have shifted their focus towards the Rs 20-60 lakh (Rs 2-6 million) income category in many cities, with the premium housing segment seeing sharp decline in sales after the economic slowdown and stock market decline impacted home buyers.

The report states that not all of the so-called affordable housing projects in the country are really affordable; they are way beyond the means and preferences of buyers.

“Although preferred unit sizes are less than 1,200 sq ft, many projects are offering greater sizes that are unaffordable. Based on consumer preferences, house property beyond Rs 5,900 a sq ft would be unaffordable across all cities covered,” it said.

The consultancy thinks it is premature for developer to raise prices now.

“It is too short a period for developers to increase prices. It is just euphoria after elections and a stable government and not supported by fundamentals,” said Gulam M Zia, national director, research and advisory services, Knight Frank.

Source : http://business.rediff.com/report/2009/aug/13/shift-to-a-less-costly-city-to-buy-a-home.htm

Unitech to pump Rs 600 cr into affordable housing

New Delhi: Unitech Ltd, India’s second largest real estate developer, is looking at investing Rs 600 crore to develop and launch affordable houses under its Uni Homes brands across seven cities in the country.

The developer would launch these homes in the price range of Rs 10-30 lakh in Noida, Greater Noida, Chennai, Kolkata, Rewari, Bhopal and Mohali.

The total area in the phase one of the launch would be about 4.5 million square feet with about 5,000 flats. The company would fund the development with a combination of debt and internal accruals.

The developer had earlier said it would launch 30 million sq ft of development of commercial and residential properties in the current fiscal, which included 20 million sq ft of residential projects. By August it has been able to launch 17 million sq ft of projects, mostly in the affordable housing segment and has already sold 6,000 flats.

However, analysts covering the company believe that Unitech’s margins would go further go down with its concentration in the lower-margin affordable housing segment.
“We expect the profit margin to reduce going forward as affordable and mid housing are low-margin segments compared to commercial, retail and luxury housing segments,” K R Choksey analysts said in a note to clients.

The company plans to launch 40 projects, and would develop 35 million sq ft properties in the next two years. The company may require Rs 6,000 crore over the next two years for funding the expansion, and would use the cash generated from two qualified institutional placements (QIP) of shares, asset sale and internal accruals.

The developer has already raised about Rs 4,410 crore through QIPs. It is also looking to raise Rs 500 crore by selling about 20-25 hotel land parcels as its hospitality expansion plans have been deferred due to low demand.

The realtor currently has debt of around Rs 7,000 crore, which is expected to go down to Rs 4,000 crore by the fiscal end.

Source : http://www.dnaindia.com/money/report_unitech-to-pump-rs-600-cr-into-affordable-housing_1281927

Affordable housing is realty’s new bait

Mumbai: It’s fashionable to be in ‘affordable housing’, particularly after the downfall of medium, premium and luxury housing, wherein real estate companies severely burnt their fingers. Besides, it’s now perceived to be new bait for attracting institutional funds thereby easing off the cash crunch situation most realty companies got themselves in.

A recent private equity update by Four-S Services described the underlying scenario: “PE funds, which around a year back were looking at only iconic towers and exclusive homes projects, are now seeing a new survival mantra in affordable housing. While developers see the segment important to gain quick liquidity and a possible real estate recovery, PE Players see it an opportunity to re-enter domestic real estate.”

The first half of 2009 saw three such investments where in realty-focused funds invested $275.7 million.

However, industry experts feel there isn’t much clarity on the concept itself. For instance, realty companies are positioning their developments located in the extended outskirts of a suburban metro as affordable housing. Some others have launched projects in locations where accessibility is a problem and there is no social infrastructure around it.

Ved Prakash Arya, managing partner, Milestone Capital, said, “I have seen people talk about affordable housing projects quoting prices between Rs 30-50 lakh, while others try to position their ‘match-box’ developments as affordable. Our understanding is that units ranging from 600-1,200 sq ft and priced at Rs 10-20 lakh fit the affordable housing definition.”

The opportunity in low-cost or affordable housing is humongous, according to Knight Frank India. The property consulting firm pegged the market for affordable housing segment in India to be approximately Rs 3.3 lakh crore by 2011.

“Housing requirement for the Rs 3-10 lakh income group across the seven cities being tracked by our team indicates demand for approximately 20.6 lakh units by 2011,” said Samantak Das, national head-research, Knight Frank India.

The irony, is that despite ambitious affordable housing announcements, till date work on just 10,000 units has reached the ground breaking stage. “It’s very premature to say how much of it will actually happen,” cautioned Gulam Zia, national director, research and advisory services, Knight Frank India.

Source : http://www.dnaindia.com/money/report_affordable-housing-is-realty-s-new-bait_1281939

Bangalore Property is on boom, taking place in India.

Bangalore Property is on boom, taking place in India. Keeping pace with this rocketing real estate market is the Bangalore Real Estate Market. The catapulted growth in the advent of IT and ITES sector in Bangalore has made it the leading choice of investors and builders alike.

The surrounding areas of the city such as Mysore Road, Chamarajpet, Basavanagudi, Whitefield, Rajajinagar, Malleshwaram, have also caught the eye of builders and are being developed extensively to cater to the growing demand of the investors in Bangalore Property.

A large part of the population of the city comprises of service class people staying in Bangalore to work in the  city. Due to this, it is a lucrative choice for them to purchase apartments and property and rent it out or sell it off at a higher price later on. The rate of appreciation of the properties in Bangalore is very high. Moreover, due to the multicultural population of Bangalore, the builders focus on constructing and developing apartments in Bangalore that meet the international standards of luxury and style.

For More Information about Bangalore:-
www.investinnest.com/properties/city/bangalore/bangalore_propert ..

Bangalore Property rates have been on the rise and have always manifested fantastic real estate opportunities. Bangalore proves to be a wise choice for people looking for investing for short spans of time as well as for people with long term investment plans, due to the high rate of appreciation of its Real Estate market.

Source : http://www.pr-inside.com/bangalore-property-is-on-boom-taking-r1433433.htm

Developers relaunch, resize luxury housing

Old projects are being tweaked; new and smaller homes at lower prices to attract buyers are being introduced font size

Bangalore/New Delhi: It has sold just around one in three villas in a project it launched in Bangalore late last year, so QVC Realty Pvt. Ltd has now introduced new, smaller homes in the same project at lower prices to attract buyers.

New packaging: A sketch of high-end residential project Lodha Aria launched by Lodha Group in Mumbai’s East Parel in March 2008.

The villas are still available for the asking—for Rs1.5-3.4 crore—but the new houses will cost far less, between Rs72 lakh and Rs94 lakh.

As demand trickles back into the property sector, particularly in the affordable housing space, bringing back buyers and pushing up sales, developers such as QVC Realty, Lodha Group, Unitech Ltd and Ajmera Group are trying various ways to revive their so-called luxury projects in Bangalore, Mumbai and Delhi. So while some are adding cheaper homes alongside villas to boost sales, others are relaunching their high-end offerings in the hope that there will be demand for them.

Prakash Gurbaxani, chairman and managing director of QVC Realty doesn’t think so, which explains his company’s decision to launch the smaller houses: “Given the current market dynamics, we recognized the need for a lower ticket size product. Buyers are eager to see prices for homes come down and this time it is end-users, and not speculators, driving the demand.”

The Rs150 crore project is the first development of Bangalore-headquartered QVC Realty Pvt. Ltd, the country’s first venture capital-funded realty firm, backed by IL&FS Investment Managers Ltd.

Still, other developers remain hopeful about the prospects of their relaunched offerings.

Lodha Aria in Mumbai’s East Parel area, a high-end residential project, was launched by the Lodha Group in March 2008. It was a limited soft launch, primarily for investors and the firm closed a couple of deals. In July, the project was launched again, this time for buyers. The project has 30 three-bedroom apartments, two on each floor, at 2,100 sq. ft each, with prices starting at Rs3 crore.

“It’s a good time to launch now after a dry spell last year because buyers’ interest is rising,” said R. Karthik, vice-president marketing, Lodha Group.

The launch, he added, was triggered by rising demand at the company’s other Mumbai project, where an 1,800 sq. ft apartment costs Rs3 crore. “What worked for us wasthe various sizes of apartments that buyers could pick from.”

Analysts second Gurbaxani’s assessment of the market and say demand is yet to return to the “luxury” segment of the real estate market and that there are several reasons why developers are relaunching such projects.

“First, luxury projects aren’t selling as much as affordable ones, so many projects have been reclassified from luxury to ‘upper middle class’. Developers are repositioning projects by cutting the size of apartments,” said Anuj Puri, chairman and country head, Jones Lang LaSalle Meghraj, a real estate advisory.

And demand has returned to this segment in Mumbai, Puri added.

“Developers rationalized prices by reducing size of apartments by 25-45% and by offering price protection to buyers by telling them that if prices came down, they would be given the benefit of the price drop,” Puri said.

A Bangalore developer has chosen to go the other way.

In a recent auction of nine premium homes for Rs5.5 crore each in the Century Avalon project located at Jakkur in north Bangalore, not a single residence was sold. The builder, Century Real Estate Holdings Pvt. Ltd, has now decided to sell only two to three homes in the project and sell the rest once they are ready. Houses that are ready to move in typically fetch a higher price. The developer is changing part of the masterplan to make the houses bigger and is offering customized interiors.

Unitech recently redesigned its luxury project Unitech Grande on Noida Expressway. From penthouses and duplexes, the firm now plans to relaunch the project as an integrated township with high-rise apartments, villas and developed plots.

Unitech Grande was planned on 347 acres acquired by Unitech for Rs1,582 crore in May 2006 in what was then the largest land deal. Initially, 12 towers were planned, with 36-45 floors each, including duplexes and penthouses. Waning demand for luxury apartments propelled Unitech to redesign the project. This May, the firm launched residential plots, called The Willows, at the site. Around 200 plots have been sold, a company spokesman said.

“There is demand in the market but the pricing and the positioning of the product are important,” said Alexander Moore, managing director, L.J. Hooker India, a real estate agent that conducted the auction.

At the Ajmera Infiniti project in Bangalore’s Electronic City, the developer is now selling cheaper homes in the Rs20-27-lakh category three years after the project’s launch. After initially trying to sell houses for Rs40-72 lakh, the developer is revising the plan for the remaining part of the project and will now build 250 two-bedroom and 180 three-bedroom flats.

“We have seen huge demand in other projects in the same price category. We have got lot of enquiries since we made the change,” said Bandish Ajmera, the Ajmera Group’s managing director.

Source : http://www.livemint.com/2009/08/11215029/Developers-relaunch-resize-lu.html