DLF Developer Bangalore:DLF Westend Heights Bangalore

DLF Westend Heights Projects:
DLF brings its new residential project Westend Heights New Town in Bangalore. DLF Westend Heights New Town offers 2 & 3 bedroom apartments ranging from 1085 to 1820 square feet. It is G+19 storeys with excellent amenities. DLF New Town is a premium residential township with a appending Spanish style of architecture against a backdrop of fabulous gardens. It features an open-layout with buildings being placed in a manner that there is no overlooking and most of the apartments enjoy the views of structured landscaping.

Location of Westend heights
3.5 km from Apollo Hospital, 4 km from IIM-B, 6.5 km from Jayadeva Flyover, 8 km from Electronics City, 9.5 km from Forum Mall, 13 km from MG Road, 16 km from Railway Station / Bus Stand, 50 km from Airport

Common Amenities of Westend heights
Gym, Swimming Pool, Banquet Hall, Cctv, Spa, Restaurants, Beauty parlor, Healthcare Centre, Shopping Complex, Play Ground, Iptv, Intercom facility, Earth Quake Resistant, 24 hrs power back up, 24 hrs water supply, Water treatment plant, Municipal water and Rainwater harvesting.

About DLF Developer
DLF is the largest real estate company in India. The group has over 224 million sq. ft. of existing development and 751 million sq. ft. of planned projects. DLF is committed to quality, trust and customer sensitivity, and deliver on promises with agility, financial prudence and in tune with the highest global standards. The company has also entered into several strategic alliances with global industry leaders.

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

http://www.bignews.biz/?id=823430&keys=DLFgroup-DLFRealEstatesinBangalore-DLFprojectsBangalore-WestendHeightsprojects

Bangalore realty sector fails to benefit from low-cost housing

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Bidadi township rises from ashes

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Investment in a second home

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Builders revive stalled commercial projects on early signs of recovery

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

DLF plans to make affordable homes

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

DLF Likely To Scrap Bangalore Row House Project

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

Source : DNA Money

Realty builds on affordable homes

NEW DELHI: Ekam and Roma Bansal’s (names changed on request) dream of owning a home came true last month when they booked a 12th-floor

two-bedroom apartment on the Greater Noida Expressway, near Delhi. They will be paying about Rs 30 lakh, of which some Rs 20 lakh will financed by a loan.

The Bansals are thanking their stars that they failed to seal a deal in the past two years they were looking to buy an apartment. Prices in the National Capital Region (NCR) are currently down a third from their peak at the end of 2007 and the slowdown has forced property developers to drop prices and build cheaper, compact homes that fit the budget of those such as the Bansals. Their builder Unitech was down in the dumps earlier this year as real estate prices crashed and buyers disappeared. The company is now patting itself on the back after deciding to launch so-called affordable homes, the relatively lower-priced apartments that are attracting buyers such as the Bansals.

Unitech says it sold 8.16 million sq ft of residential space between March and September out of a total of 10.11 million sq ft, helping it post revenues of Rs 3,913 crore that are higher than in the boom years of 2006 and 2007. And all the apartments it sold were in the affordable category, costing less than Rs 30 lakh apiece.

For Unitech and other real estate developers, building affordable homes is paying rich dividends. A survey of India’s top property firms and estimates from industry body Confederation of Real Estate Developer’s Associations of India (Credai) show that over 70 million sq ft of residential space was sold in the first six months (March-September) of the fiscal 2010). Bulk of the sales happened in the last 90 days and majority of the homes sold were in the affordable segment.

By the end of the fiscal in March 2010, builders hope they will have sold close to the 190 million sq ft they managed in 2007.

Across the expressway, where the Bansals plan to shift in about two years, Jaypee is building Wish Town, a 1,162-acre swish golf township with premium homes, malls, school, colleges and hospitals. It originally launched apartments with a view of a golf course and priced these at a minimum of around Rs 1 crore. But over the past few months, it has launched smaller flats starting Rs 25 lakh.

“In six months, we sold 10,000 affordable homes, while we also managed to sell another 2,000 luxury apartments around the golf course,” says Manu Goswami, head, sales and marketing, Jaypee Greens.

Unlike three years ago, when most developers were not offering affordable houses, now everyone is in that segment, says Hiranandani Group chairman Niranjan Hiranandani. Mumbai, where Hiranandani is based, has seen close to 8.4 million sq ft of housing sold in the past 6 months.

“Sanctions have picked up and we are already at 70% of the peak. We expect home loan disbursals to reach the peak levels of 2007 by the end of this fiscal, subject of course, to the fact that developers do not increase rates further,” says SN Nagendra, senior general manager, HDFC, one of the country’s largest housing finance companies
.
Developers say enquiries for homes began around March 2009 and conversions started to happen July onwards, with bulk of the demand in the affordable segment.

There was latent demand but it was not converted into sales due to economic uncertainty, observed Mr Hiranandani.

“The sudden spurt in demand due to perceptible change in the economic environment in the past three months, combined with lower interest rates, has bolstered the confidence of home buyers.”

Among the major developers who have ridden this new real estate wave are Unitech, the Jaypee group, DLF, BPTP and Omaxe, witnessing a sharp rise in demand, particularly for new projects.

Home loan trends bolster this claim. In the first six months, State Bank of India’s disbursements were in excess of Rs 10,000 crore, compared to Small is beutiful

Rs 3,900 crore in 2007-08 and Rs 4,900 crore in 2008-09 for the April-September period.

“We are sanctioning much higher volumes now for home loans. The growth in home loans has been even higher than in 2007,” says P Nandakumaran, head retail banking, SBI.

However, due to lower pricing, average realisations for most real estate players is down 25-30% per sq ft in comparison to 2007-08. Unitech has seen its average sales price coming down from Rs 4,000 per sq ft before September 2008 to Rs 3,234 per sq ft in the past 6 months.

The profitability of these companies will surely come down due to the decline in realisation, says Aditi Vijayakar, executive director, residential service at real estate consultancy Cushman & Wakefield.

“The profit margin of these companies depends upon when and at what price these developers bought the land,” she added.

Jaypee, which has sold close to 11.5 million sq ft of residential space in six months, has seen a decline of 25-30% in average basic sale price, primarily because it is selling more affordable homes.

Unlike during the last boom period when developers concentrated solely on luxury housing, this ongoing surge is seeing a mix of both affordable and luxury housing.

“The market was overheated and people were waiting for it to come back to a realistic level. The expectations of developers and buyers were mismatched. Everyone was working on the wrong product, including us,” says Manu Goswami.
A senior official of DLF, the largest real estate player in the country, said that the company has sold 2.5 million sq ft of space in the past three months. Of this, about 2.1 million sq ft has been sold in the past 30 days.

“The confidence of the people is back as the economy is turning around. This has led to robust demand for housing at good locations and affordable prices,” says Rohtas Goel, CMD, Omaxe. The company has sold close to 1.8 million sq ft of housing space over the past three months.

Delhi-based developer BPTP has sold about 6,800 homes across three properties in Faridabad totalling about 7.76 million sq ft. According to Prakash Challa, vice-president (south) at Credai, the southern region has seen sales of around 20 million sq ft in the past 6 months. The eastern region saw close to 3 million sq ft of sales.

Ashish Puravankara, director of Puravankara Projects, says that while demand was always there, it is sentiment that has changed.

“Now, with companies showing great results, hiring again and even giving a 8-10% hike in salaries, the sentiment is getting better.”

Source:http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/Markets/Real-Estate/Realty-Trends/Realty-builds-on-affordable-homes/articleshow/5147148.cms?

DLF Marine Drive Kochi – DLF New Projects Kochi – Marine Drive Apartments Kochi

DLF Marine Drive Kochi Project

DLF Developers soon launching New Affordable Residential Housing Project on a prime location in Marine Drive, Kochi. DLF Marine Drive is located on the waterfront and over looking the water channel leading in to kochi harbour. The landscape is beautiful with spacious Houses. DLF Marine Drive Project apartments are fully air conditioned and have Full with all modern amenities like children play area, round the clock security, gymnasium, swimming Pool, doctor on call facility and house keeping services. Get full details about DLF Marine DriveKochi Project log on to http://www.affinityconsultant.com

DLF Marine Drive Kochi Location
CBD, Marine Drive

DLF Marine Drive Kochi Common Amenities
Gymnasium, Swimming Pool, Children play area, Car Parking, 24×4 Power Back-up, Clubhouse, Swimming Pool, Sewerage Treatment Plant, Water Treatment Plant,

DLF Marine Drive Kochi Type Size & Price
2 and 3 Bedroom Apartments with area 1860 Sq. ft.

About DLF Developer
DLF is the largest real estate company in India. The group has over 224 million sq. ft. of existing development and 751 million sq. ft. of planned projects. DLF is committed to quality, trust and customer sensitivity, and deliver on promises with agility, financial prudence and in tune with the highest global standards. DLF Homes provides a wide range of products including condominiums, duplexes, row hoses and apartments of varying sizes, with a focus on the higher end of the market. The company has also entered into several strategic alliances with global industry leaders.

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

Source : http://www.bignews.biz/?id=818705&keys=DLFHousingKochiDLFApartme-MarineDrivekochiDLFkochip-DLFMarineDrivekochiDLFpro-DLFprojectsKochiDLFkochip#

It’s boom time again for home sales

It took just two hours for DLF, the country’s largest property developer, to sell all the 1,250 apartments in the second phase of its Capital Greens project near the Moti Nagar area of Shivaji Marg (Najafgarh Road) in West Delhi. The project was launched on September 23 and the prices were around 25 per cent lower than the prevailing market rates.

In Mumbai, Rustomjee, a prominent private property developer, got bookings for 44 apartments in its Global City project in Virar, a distant suburb of Mumbai, in the first two days of a property exhibition organised by the Maharashtra Chamber of Housing Industry (MCHI) from October 1-4

The developer has already received bookings for 600 apartments in the Global City and another 200 apartments in Rustomjee Urbania project in Thane, on Mumbai’s outskirts, in the last three months, all in the Rs 10 lakh to Rs 50 lakh category.

Another realty firm Nahar Group says it has sold 800 apartments in its Amrit Shakti project in Powai in the last five months. Nahar expects booking for another 15 apartments after MCHI exhibition.

After witnessing a revival of sorts in home sales in the first and second quarters, developers are hoping to cash in on the demand for affordable homes in the third quarter too, due to a large pent-up demand and the general feeling that prices may not go down further.

“Buyers have realised that prices may not go down further and there is no point in waiting now,” says a senior State Bank of India executive. SBI’s stall at the property exhibition got over 500 enquiries every day during the four-day exhibition and the bank expects a good conversion.

All bankers are also expecting the good run rate on home loan disbursals to continue. ICICI Bank Managing Director Chanda Kochhar expects a surge in home loan disbursals in the third quarter. “The confidence is coming back due to increased job security and the feeling that real estate prices have corrected enough,” she says. There is also a general consensus that interest rates have bottomed out, she says.

JS Augustine, director of marketing at Everest Developers, says there was a huge pent-up demand which is coming into the market now. Buyers who were holding back are now buying. Developers who had pulled back a lot of projects earlier are also launching new projects given the improvement in the market,’’ Augustine says.

The period from October 2008-March 2009 was the toughest period for developers when property sales touched lowest levels since 2004. Property prices had fallen over 40 per cent from their peak in 2007-08 as buyers stayed away due to salary cuts and fears of job losses.

But successive interest rate cuts, stimulus packages from the government and overall improvement in economic conditions changed the scenario since April this year with the country’s biggest developers, DLF and Unitech, selling over 6,500 units in the first quarter of FY 2010.

“We expect better sales in Q3 and Q4 as well. We have got very good response in Delhi which gives a good value for developers like us,’’ says Rajeev Talwar, group executive director of DLF. Even a Unitech spokesperson said the company expects to continue its growth momentum in the coming quarters.

Home loan lenders are naturally bullish. SBI is targeting a growth of 30 per cent in the current quarter against 21 per cent in 2008-09. HDFC, the country’s largest home loan provider, saw disbursals rise 22 per cent in first quarter and expects the trend to continue.

Normally, there is a lag of three to six months from the time of purchase and disbursal of loans by a bank or a housing finance firm.

Developers, which have increased prices by 10-15 per cent in the last six months, say this is the best prices buyers can get.

“Prices have bottomed out. We do not see any reason to cut prices further. Though prices will not go up sharply, they will certainly go up slowly in the coming months,’’ says Parag Shah, general manager, sales, Nahar Group, which sells apartments in Rs 60 lakh-Rs 75 lakh in its Powai project.

Apart from launching premium housing projects in the last few months, developers have also withdrawn freebies such as free parking, waiver on stamp duty, free holidays and so on after the spurt in sales. “Last year there was a recession and sales were sluggish. That is why developers needed to doll out freebies. Now products sell without this,” says Nahar’s Shah.

But that’s precisely why some analysts are concerned. Pankaj Kapoor, chief executive of Liases Foras, a realty research firm, says “there is high demand only in the lower price bracket of Rs 10-20 lakh. August and September sales have fallen by 20 to 25 per cent as developers have increased prices again. There is still lukewarm response for premium properties,’’ he says.

Prospective buyers like Govind Chitre, a retired government employee, agrees: “The moment developers see increase in the Sensex, they jack up the prices. They charge on the super built-up area, which is really absurd. I feel there should be a strong regulatory authority to control builders.’’

Source : http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/it%5Cs-boom-time-again-for-home-sales/372338/

Property prices could get costlier this Diwali

If you are a homebuyer looking for some hefty discounts to come your way this festive season, you are in for some bad news. Real estate companies across the country are all set to increase prices this season in a bid to improve investor sentiment. CNBC-TV18’s Priyanka Ghosh reports.

Traditionally, the Diwali season has great offers for homebuyers. Developers shell out free parking, price-offs and in some cases even a Mercedes Benz to kick in bumper sales. But such offers may be hard to come by this time around. Analysts rule out a further price reduction as prices have already corrected by 30-35% since last Diwali. In fact, a price increase seems imminent.

Says Anuj Puri, Country Head of Jones Lang Lasalle Meghraj, “If the schemes have done well, you’re going to see some price increase. I think where the developers are coming in, they want to provide confidence to the buyer who had bought may be three-four months ago to say: look, when you bought it, it was at x price but today it is 5-7% higher.”

In the past few months, the real estate sector has seen a sharp price increase led by mumbai and the NCR market. An IIFL report says Mumbai has seen a price recovery by 25-40% from the bottom of early 2009. Prices in the NCR market has revived by 15-20% from March-April levels. Take a look at a few projects: HDIL has revised prices upwards by 38% along with Peninsula Land. Godrej Properties too has increased prices in its Planet Godrej project by Rs 5,000 per square feet.

In the NCR region, both Unitech and Indiabulls Real Estate have revised prices by 18% and 23%.

A slew of real estate companies are set to hit the primary market in the next six months. A price revival boosts cash flow income — that’s vital for the valuation these companies are vying for. There are projects where volume has been kicking in — both DLF and Unitech have doubled transactions in the first five months of this financial year compared to FY09. However, analysts caution that growth of income could soon fail to keep pace with the indicative price increase.

Source : http://www.moneycontrol.com/news/cnbc-tv18-comments/property-prices-could-get-costlier-this-diwali_417525.html

Genuine demand still hasnt returned to realty market

SO IS the demand for homes getting real again It seems to be a mixed bag so far. While developers are aggressively talking about a spurt in demand, industry experts and buyers attribute this revival to the strong nexus between developers and intermediaries .
SundayET spoke to a cross section of developers, bankers, buyers and realty brokers to assess the ground situation. In fact, the demand in the residential segment for Q3 of this calendar year remained marginally higher than the previous quarter. However , leading developers said that the growth has been optimistic and some even claimed a 30% rise in demand in these three months.
Last month, Indias largest real estate developer DLF claimed to have sold 1,250 flats in two hours in the second phase of its Capital Greens project in Delhi. Rival Unitech too said that they had a sale of 3,500 apartments across cities between July and September . Similarly, BPTP sold nearly 2,100 apartments in the same quarter.
For Delhi-based realty firm Omaxe, Q3 got a sale of Rs 300 cr, up 50% from the previous quarter . And according to Niranjan Hiranandani , MD of Mumbai-based Hiranandani Developers, there has been an overall industry sale of 10,000 units in the Mumbai region in these three months.

These figures, no doubt, look impressive. But there is a catch. Industry experts and buyers say that this business is mainly the result of a strong developer-intermediary network. To some extent it is artificial hype but it is not completely a false story. Around 35-40 % of such stock goes to end users and 50-60 % goes to brokers or investors who want to sell it off later, says Pankaj Jain, executive director of Realistic Realtors, a North Indian real estate consulting firm.
Jain is not the only one echoing this view. Other reputed brokers in the industry also have a similar take. Rajesh Arora, vice chairman of Arora and Associates Realty, puts it this way, It is not practical to sell 2,000 or 3,000 apartments within a few hours. They would have sold it to middlemen or agencies. The demand in the sector has remained the same as in the last quarter and though the prices in Mumbai have increased, in Delhi they are at the same level.
Businessman and prospective buyer, Anil Dhawan, says that such claims by developers do not hold any meaning. Financiers take up most of the stock. End users would possibly make up only 10% of the buyers in these cases. Dhawan says that although the time is conducive to buy right now, he would mainly look at a ready to move in property over an under construction one to avoid delivery hassles.

Developers, however, are upbeat about the housing demand. DLF is basking in the glory of good demand. We have launched the second phase of Capital Greens project. We are selling one flat per pan card and buyers cannot sell the property within a year. So I am sure that end users are the buyers right now, says Rajeev Talwar, group executive director, DLF.

The demand is robust, says CMD of Omaxe, Rohtas Goel. There has been a 30% increase in this quarter. We had a sale of Rs 300 cr in these months as against Rs 200 cr in the last quarter.
Many also are of the view that the fear of increased prices later is propelling more number of buyers to come forward right now. That is leading to increased enquiries as well as conversions. People think that is the best time to buy as prices may go up later. The price band of Rs 15-Rs 40 lakh is doing quite well. We will be launching more projects in the affordable segment. Our target is to launch 30 million square feet in residential space by the end of this Financial Year, reveals a Unitech spokesperson.
Home loan offtake too bears out increased demand statistics. The management of HDFC is upbeat about 20-25 % growth in the home loan disbursement. Also, according to a senior official from Indian Bank, the demand of home loan remained the same as it was in the previous quarter. The demand for loans between Rs 15-20 lakh is more than the rest, said the official.

Source:http://lite.epaper.timesofindia.com/getpage.aspx?edlabel=ETD&pubLabel=ET&pageid=3&mydateHid=04-10-2009

Citys affordability index soars

Bangalore: Is it actual demand or pent up demand or just plain affordability Call it what you may, theres literally a slugfest now in the affordable housing market, homes priced between Rs 12 lakh and Rs 30 lakh.

The big daddy of the Indian real estate market, DLF, is looking to enter the affordable home market and Bangalore could well be its launch pad.

According to sources in the know, DLF is looking to attract buyers with annual household incomes of Rs 3 lakh to Rs 5 lakh per annum. This income group would be able to afford homes that cost between Rs 9 lakh and Rs 15 lakh, said a source. The company is said to be initiating a national market survey to find out what exactly buyers are looking for in an affordable home.
Since Bangalore is seeing a lot of action in the affordable housing space as compared to other metro markets, DLF would look at a roll out in Bangalore first, said a source. A point that can be corroborated by the number developers in the city who have launched projects in the Rs 12 lakh to Rs 30 lakh bracket.

In the last seven months, Puravankara, Confident, Mantri, CSC, Ozone, Nitesh Estates and Shriram Properties have all launched such homes. P Dayananda Pais Century Group has just announced its foray into this segment. The company launched Century Indus, located in Rajarajeshwari Nagar, comprising of 2 BHK (850 sqft to 950 sqft) and 3 BHK (1,120 sqft to 1,135 sqft) apartments in the price range of Rs 22 lakh to 30 lakh.

The Prestige Group is believed to be looking at launching homes in the Rs 25 lakh to Rs 40 lakh price band in Electronics City. Brigade Group has already spelt out plans of foraying into the affordable space early next year. Silverline Group too is looking at unlocking its land bank by developing affordable homes.

According to Cushman & Wakefield India, demand for housing in Bangalore is likely to be about 570,000 units over the period 2009-2013 , with a compounded annual growth rate of 14%. The affordable and mid segment housing category are likely to be the primary focus of most developers , says Anurag Mathur, MD of the real estate consultancy firm.

Source:http://lite.epaper.timesofindia.com/getpage.aspx?edlabel=TOIBG&pubLabel=TOI&pageid=17&mydateHid=24-09-2009

Below-market price attraction in Delhi, Mumbai home market

DLF, the country’s largest property developer, sold all the 1,250 apartments on offer in the second phase of its Capital Greens project near the Moti Nagar area of Shivaji Marg (Najafgarh Road) in West Delhi, within two hours of launching the booking on Tuesday evening.

While the prices were lower than the market, the lowest effective price was 39 per cent higher than the lowest price it had charged during the first phase of the project this April. At the time, DLF had sold all 1,356 apartments on offer under the first phase in a single day; a prime factor was that their lowest effective price was 32 per cent lower than the market price. This time, claimed a company spokesman, it was more than 25 per cent lower than the market one.

Apartment prices are upwards of Rs 6,000 a sq ft in the area. In the second phase, the company charged Rs 6,750, Rs 7,500 and Rs 8,000 a sq ft, respectively, for the apartments, which ranged from 1,210 to 2,720 sq ft each. There was a discount of Rs 500 a sq ft for timely payment and a 8.5 per cent discount on down payment. Hence, the effective selling price, which includes both discounts, is about Rs 5,677, Rs 6,363 and Rs 6,820 a sq ft, respectively. The company additionally charged for parking and for those wanting a preferred location.

A spokesman said the increased charges were due to the better location of the second phase, with a 90 per cent view of greenery and inclusion of four-bedroom apartments, which did not exist in the first phase.

“If buyers lap up the properties with increased prices so quickly, it shows there is a still an appetite in them to absorb that franchise,’’ said Anuj Puri, chairman of property consultancy Jones Lang LaSalle Meghraj (JLLM).

However, Puri said if speculators had participated in the project, then it is bad for the property market, as they could go in for arbitrage later. However, the company spokesman said it had imposed a restriction of one apartment per PAN card holder and a lock-in period of one year within which the buyers cannot sell the apartments.

“We are committed to give value for money for our buyers and rates are still 25 to 30 per cent lower than the prevailing market prices,’’ the spokesman said.

Unitech’s Mumbai launch
In a first of sorts in the Mumbai property market, Unitech, the country’s second largest developer, is planning to launch a new residential project in the Worli area of south-central Mumbai, which is expected to be 35 per cent lesser than prevailing prices in the area, sources in the company said.

But the catch is that the buyer of the apartments should pay 75 per cent of the apartment cost in one go, as against the construction-linked payment plans prevailing in the real estate market, wherein the buyer pays some money as booking amount and the rest in installments linked to each stage of completion.

‘’But the project is in its very initial stages and is expected to be launched in a year’s time,’’ sources said. The company is also expected to return buyers the entire amount with 12 per cent interest if it is unable to finish within a year from the launch.

Ashok Kumar, managing director of Cresa Partners, a realty consultancy, said: “It will certainly put pressure in the south-central Mumbai market, where a number of new projects are coming up, resulting in oversupply.’’

Source : http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/below-market-price-attraction-in-delhi-mumbai-home-market/370986/

DLF sells 1,250 west Delhi apartments in just two hours

DLF, the countrys largest property firm, on Tuesday said it sold off the entire block of 1,250 apartments in the second phase of its Capital Greens project in west Delhi in just two hours of the launch on huge demand.

DLF MD TC Goyal credited the companys network of 400 brokers for the success. But for them (brokers), we would not have seen this kind of success. These brokers were working for almost one-and-a-half-months on behalf of DLF to convince homebuyers and investors for putting in money in the project.

It is usual for realty companies in the national capital to work through brokers, who prepare the ground for new launches. In many cases, it is only after the brokers have arranged enough buyers that developers launch projects to claim record successes.
In April also, DLF claimed that it was able to sell 1,350 apartments in the first phase of the Capital Greens project in just a day.

Similarly, infrastructure major Jaiprakash Associates had claimed over two months ago that it had sold over 3,000 apartments for its project Aman in Noida in just a day.

Mr Goyal said Capital Greens has all the right ingredients of a successful project. The location, product, price and developers reputation alls right for the project, which is what led to its success, he said.

The minimum price was Rs 68 lakh for a 1,200 sq ft apartment in the project at a rate of Rs 5,677 a sq ft, a 25% premium to the first phase, when prices were Rs 4,500 a sq ft. These are basic prices that include all discounts , but does not include additional charges for parking or preferred location of apartment.

Source:http://lite.epaper.timesofindia.com/getpage.aspx?pageid=4&pagesize=&edid=&edlabel=ETKM&mydateHid=23-09-2009&pubname=&edname=&publabel=ET

Real estate firms build hopes on festival sales

NEW DELHI: Property firms are launching housing projects and raising pitch for ongoing ones in the hope of making decent sales going into the  festive season. The mood among builders may be buoyant, but very few believe price hike is possible as demand is still hesitant and new supplies are hitting the market.

The festive season, which usually begins late September with the Hindu festival of Navratra and continues up to Christmas, often sees higher sales of property, cars and other durables.

“Last year’s festive season was a total washout. But this time indications are that we are back to normal,” said Mumbai-based Lodha Developers director Abhisheck Lodha. He said property firms usually make 30% of their sales in one-and-a-half month between Navratra and Diwali, and this time will be no different.

Last festive season though was disastrous. Lehman had collapsed plunging the economy in a crisis and driving away homebuyers.

Mr Lodha is planning to launch two new projects, comprising apartments priced over Rs 1 crore, in Mumbai’s suburbs of Andheri and Thane. So far, the slow return of housing demand was scripted by lower-priced homes. But Lodha’s offerings indicate the builder is confident of getting buyers for high-priced segment as well.

Similarly in Delhi, DLF is preparing to launch over 1,500 apartments in a project in which it sold 1,350 apartments just six months ago.

DLF says it is yet to fix a price or number of apartments to be sold for the project, but brokers on behalf of DLF are offering apartments at a 30% premium to the first phase price. “If a location has a very good demand and not enough supply, prices will go up,” says DLF executive director Rajiv Talwar. Delhi may be one such market as it has lived under state-controlled DDA’s monopoly for long and has not many private developers building homes.

But price rise is not something many are really betting on. “Housing demand is not going to rise dramatically in a hurry. The market remains price-sensitive and any attempt at price hike will adversely impact demand,” says Vipin Aggarwal , principal of $200-million India Industrial Growth Fund. Mr Aggarwal is currently engaged in raising a $600-million India-focused real estate and special situation fund.

Agrees Pradeep Jain, chairman of Delhibased Parsvnath Developers and head of the NCR chapter of industry body CREDAI. “We have requested all  developers not to increase prices. If we increase prices in the next six months, it’s likely that demand will be hurt and we may get into that vicious circle of lower demand and higher debt,” he says. He is also launching more projects in NCR and western UP, as he expects demand to go up in the next few months on housing finance companies further lowering mortgage rates.

But Omaxe chairman Rohtas Goel says prices will go up after Diwali as festive sales will help ease cashflow pressure for developers. But international real estate consultancy DTZ India director Ambar Maheshwari says it’s still a delicate situation in the property market. “Developers still carry a lot of debt despite a string of QIPs and need steady cashflow to service that,” says Mr Maheshwari.

Several listed realty firms, including Unitech, Indiabulls real estate and HDIL, have in the past six months raised funds via qualified institutional placement route.

But this festive season, unlike last year, homebuyers may not get many freebies. “Developers’ margins have shrunk and there is little scope for freebies, even though in some cases, one would see such offers,” says NCR-based Supertech CMD R K Arora, who is offering free ACs in one of his projects.

Source : http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/News-by-Industry/Real-estate-firms-eye-festival-sales/articleshow/5040847.cms

Property Demand Resurges in India

Investors are once again interested in India’s housing market after residential prices dropped as much as 30 percent earlier this year.

The country’s largest home developer, DLF, sold close to 1,400 units in one day alone this spring; while in Mumbai, another company sold 90 percent of its premium apartments in less than four months, a surprising economic feat after the market’s sudden downturn in 2008.

While some real estate companies, including DLF, have been quick to adjust property rates due to the recent demand—increasing newer housing projects by 15 to 20 percent in the last few months—many economists believe price levels will still stay at all-time low. In the last quarter of 2008-09, developers cut middle-income home prices by 25 to 30 percent, after sales fell 50 percent from the housing market’s peak in 2007.

Despite a few recent economic dips, India has been on the radar of property investors for last eight years. It’s still one of the fastest growing economies in the world with an increasing middle class and strong technology industry that’s driving entrepreneurs to relocate to the world’s second largest country. Cities like New Delhi, Bangalore and Mumbai have been built up with residential and commercial properties to accommodate India’s BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India, China) powerhouse status— a conglomerate of countries expected to dominate the global market in the next ten years.

The increased interest in Indian real estate may also be an example of investors wanting what they can’t have: Nonresidents, tourist visa holders and business partners of the two are restricted from buying properties in most areas of the country, and are only allowed to lease properties for a period of no more than five years. However, economists encourage those looking to establish residency and take advantage of IT opportunities in India to invest in real estate now, as values will appreciate around 2011.

Source : http://www.buyassociation.co.uk/property/news/india/property-demand-resurges-in-india-13876.html

DLF may exit Amanresorts; to focus on residential, office properties

NEW DELHI: India’s largest property firm, DLF, that scaled down ambitions in the hotel business, following an economic downturn, to focus on core  areas of building homes, offices and shops, is planning various options to fully or partly exit from the international luxury hotel chain Amanresorts that the developer had purchased at the peak of the economic boom in 2007 end. The company has also held preliminary talks with at least two Indian hotel chains, but a huge gap between the buyer and seller’s expectations has played spoilsport for concrete deal discussions.

Founded by Indonesian hotelier Adrian Zecha, Amanresorts is a super luxury chain of resorts usually built with small inventory of rooms to offer exclusivity. The company is known to charge one of the highest average daily room rates that sometimes cross $600. The hotel company owns and manages 23 small luxury resorts worldwide and will open a new resort in Utah, USA, in October, as per the company’s website. It operates three resorts in India – one in New Delhi and two in Rajasthan.

In 2007, Adrian Zecha, announced that he has formed an equal partnership with DLF, which has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire a controlling interest in the Aman Resorts group. DLF, currently, holds 50% in Aman and as per the agreement, would acquire controlling stake in due time.

As per two executives in the hotel industry and one at DLF, the Indian real estate developer’s interest in carrying Aman in its portfolio has whittled given the economic downturn that has substantially pared occupancy levels as well as room rates across the hotel industry. As per industry estimates, Indian hotels together lost Rs 4,000 crore in revenues due to the economic slowdown and after the Mumbai terror attacks in the last financial year. Following this, few tourists visited India or stayed in five-star hotels and room rates dropped by at least 20-30%.

A senior DLF executive, who asked not to be named, said: “There is surely an interest among potential buyers. They have spoken to us. But it’s just been talks, little else, as their offer price is too low compared with the price we had paid for Aman in 2007.” He did not name the companies that has shown interest in Aman.

But the DLF spokesman denied the company was planning to dilute equity or sell any property of Amanresorts. In the past, while announcing the company’s falling interest in the hotel business, DLF vice-chairman Rajiv Singh had said the company would want to retain Aman as it was a boutique brand. As per two hotel industry executives, who did not wish to be named, DLF has held some preliminary talks with ITC Hotels. But the ITC spokesman said: “We have made no move” to acquire stake in Amanresorts. But hotel consultants said it makes sense for an Indian hotel company like ITC to bid for Aman since they have no presence in that segment.

Another senior hotel industry executive said DLF could consider an option to hive off Aman properties in Alwar, Rajasthan, and two loss-making properties in Sri Lanka to some investors or hotel chain without the Aman brand. It is speculated that the realty major spent $200-250 million with plans to get into full-fledged hotel business. It planned to build around 75 hotels in a joint venture with foreign hotel chain Hilton in India. But following Hilton’s takeover by private equity player Blackstone, Hilton’s interest in hotels with DLF waned. Meanwhile, DLF, too, had started facing cashflow pressures. The two partners scaled down their ambition to just four properties.

In early 2008, the stock market started seeing turbulence and the entire economy took a nosedive following the collapse of US investment bank Lehman Brothers later that year. As demand for homes, offices and shops dried up, property firms were faced with cash crunch. Realtors reprioritised their plans in order to ease cashflow pressure. DLF decided to sell assets and shift focus from capital-intensive businesses such as hotels to those like homes where revenue could easily be generated. DLF plans to raise Rs 5,500 crore through sale of assets and exit from some businesses such as windpower and township projects in Dankuni, West Bengal and Bidadi, Karnataka. DLF has already sold its small hotel project in Saket, Delhi. It has put on block over 10 hotel plots across the country, including in Gurgaon and Mumbai. The company has since been able to successfully sell some of its assets.

As per reports, Amanresorts was adversely impacted after 2002, due to the tourism downturn in south-east Asia, following the Bali bombing and other disaster since a large chunk of its resorts are in Asia. The current economic slowdown, which significantly reduced business and leisure travel, has hurt all luxury and five star hotels.

Source : http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/News-by-Industry/DLF-may-exit-Amanresorts/articleshow/5035334.cms

Housing sector is shining again

Last August, Gurgaon real-estate broker S Karan was planning to move out of his tiny basement office in a small building to a fancy new one in one of the tall steel-and-glass buildings that have become the signature of this booming Delhi suburb.

Then, Lehman Brothers, one of the Big Four investment banks in the US, collapsed on September 15, sparking off a global recession, an Indian economic slowdown, and a slump in the once booming real-estate sector.

Karan (34) then thought his dreams would remain still-born — till the first signs of a recovery in the first quarter of 2009-10.  “Usually, we seal 70 per cent of our deals around Diwali. Last year, that figure dropped to 30 per cent.”
There were many reasons for the death of his dream.

The global recession took the Indian stock markets down with it. The BSE Sensex fell from 14,001 on September 12, the last trading day before the Lehman collapse, to a low of 8,198 on March 5, this year.

So, the supply of speculative money that had mainly fuelled the 2005-08 real estate boom, in which house prices doubled and rentals soared more than 75 per cent, stopped.

Rising inflation also forced the Reserve Bank of India to hike interest rates. Result: interest rates on housing loans rose from 7-8 per cent levels at the end of 2007 to 12 per cent a year later.

Housing was no longer attractive for speculators, and out of reach of the middle class.

The bubble had burst.

Between October last year and March this year, housing sales dropped from 10,000-12,000 units per month in the National Capital Region to less than a third of that number.

“Earlier (prior to the Lehman collapse), I used to conduct two to three transactions in the resale category and three to four original bookings every month. After October, that number fell by half,” says Karan.

Transaction values also fell as realtors, who had got used to net profit margins of more than 50 per cent, cut prices to lure buyers back.

But the double whammy of lower prices and plunging sales took its toll. DLF, India’s largest real estate company, saw its January-March 2009 sales and profits plunge 96.6 per cent and 95.3 per cent, respectively, to Rs 55.5 crore and Rs 29.8 crore.

Unitech, India’s second-largest real estate developer, and a host of other biggies like Omaxe, Parasvnath, Prestige, Puravankara, etc., also suffered similar setbacks.

Then the tide began to turn in the first quarter of 2009-10. The global recession brought down crude oil and commodity prices worldwide.

The wholesale price-based inflation rate began to ease – and even entered negative territory for a while. Interest rates started falling once again.

Realtors cut prices, by up to 30 per cent, and launched a slew of affordable housing projects (priced at Rs 15-50 lakh per apartment).

And the release of arrears to government employees, following the Sixth Pay Commission Report, thus, putting massive sums of money in the hands of government employees, provided the icing on the cake.

Buyers returned to the market.

Unitech Managing Director Sanjay Chandra says the company booked nearly 4,000 housing units in the first two-and-a-half months of 2009-10.

The number of registration agreements signed has also seen a healthy improvement. In Mumbai and Pune, registrations increased 24 per cent and 21 per cent month on month, respectively, said a June 2009 report, On the road to recovery, by Religare, Hitchens Harrison.

“The residential property market has been driving this recovery,” says Aditi Vijayakar, director, residential services, Cushman & Wakefield India, a large real estate consultant. The commercial and retail segments, though, have not yet picked up.

“The worst is over,” says Kumar Gera, chairman of the Confederation of Real Estate Developers Association of India, the apex body of realtors in India.

So, Karan can probably breathe easier now, even though his dream office may still be out of reach.

Source : http://www.hindustantimes.com/Housing-sector-is-shining-again/H1-Article1-455508.aspx

Yesterday once more: Realty firms start raising prices

Mumbai: DLF, the country’s largest property developer, will soon conduct a poll among property brokers to decide the pricing and number of apartments to be offered in the second phase of its Capital Greens project in West Delhi.

Yesterday once more: Realty firms start raising prices

It’s a novel experiment, but property brokers in Delhi say the company is trying to test the waters in view of the vastly changed situation in the real estate market.

Though DLF’s spokesman said the company is yet to fix a final price, feedback from brokers suggests the company is exploring the option of charging around Rs 7,000 a square foot (sq ft). At this level, the price is 56 per cent more than Rs 4,500 a sq ft it charged in the first phase of Capital Greens, when DLF had sold 1,356 apartments in a single day in April this year.

Developers such as DLF, Unitech, Omaxe, Parsvnath and HDIL were among those that cut property prices or forayed into mid-income housing, which were 25 to 30 per cent lower than prevailing prices, in the last quarters of 2008-09, as the economic slowdown and fears of job losses impacted home sales. Property sales fell 50 per cent from their peak in 2007-08 (when prices had more than doubled froom 2004-05) as buyers stayed away.

Those days are rapidly becoming a distant memory, with many developers increasing prices 15 to 30 per cent the moment they became sure of demand returning.

Take Mumbai-based Lodha Developers. The developer has increased prices 30 per cent in its premium housing project, Lodha Primero in South Mumbai, since its launch about four months ago. It has already sold 90 per cent of the apartments. For its mid-income projects, Lodha has increased prices 12 to 14 per cent.

Neptune Group, another Mumbai-based property developer, has increased prices in its Neptune Flying Kite project in Bhandup 26 per cent, from Rs 4,691 a sq ft a couple of months ago to Rs 5,900 a sq ft.

The national capital region (NCR) is not far behind with housing prices in Gurgaon having moved up to Rs 3,200 a sq ft from Rs 2,800 a sq ft six months back, brokers in the locality say.
Unitech, the country’s second largest developer, which is mostly focusing on mid-income housing projects under the Unihomes brand, is also considering a minor price rise in its home prices, a company official says.

“Markets are looking up and this is prompting developers to come up with increased prices for their Navratra launches. Prices are up by 15 to 20 per cent in the secondary market,” says Anil Singhal, a property consultant based in Connaught Place, Delhi. Navratra, a Hindu festival, is considered auspicious for property buys and developers generally launch new projects in the 10-day period.

Developers say the move to increase prices is in tune with rising demand from home buyers. “We are not hoarding our property. When the market was down, we were quoting low prices. Since it has moved up, we have increased prices. We sell according to the forces of demand and supply,” says Nayan Bheda, chairman and managing director of Neptune Group.

Adds R Karthik, senior vice president of marketing at Lodha Developers: “It is a standard way of operating projects. It is a strategic as well as tactical move so as to offer value for those who have bought properties.”

However, the move to raise housing prices has had its fair share of criticism. Analysts warn that property sales may fall again if developers increase prices sharply since the economic recovery is hardly complete.
“Demand is coming back with much difficulty. It does not make sense to increase prices now. They have to hold prices steady till demand comes back fully,” says Anuj Puri, chairman of Jones Lang LaSalle Meghraj (JLLM), an international property consultant.

According to a recent CII study, the Indian real estate market is expected to recover only in 2010-11. However, the government growing fiscal deficit is expected to impact the sector negatively with increases in the cost of funding and falling return on investments through exchange rate variations.

Some have been once-bitten-twice-shy and have avoided raising prices. Parsvnath Developers Chairman Pradeep Jain says he doesn’t see any scope to increase prices for the next couple of months. “We have to concentrate on selling properties and generating internal accruals first. We are planning to sell properties with attractive discounts in the festive season,” says Jain who is also president of NCR chapter of the Confederation of Real Estate Developer’s Associations of India (Credai).

Going by the trend in property prices in recent weeks, few of his counterparts in other real estate companies agree with Jain.

Source:http://news.in.msn.com/business/article.aspx?cp-documentid=3229249

Affordability trap

Before the great economic doom caught up with the economy in general and the real estate sector in particular, life for developers was relatively cushy. High-priced houses were being hawked as if there was no tomorrow. But when tomorrow did come, there were many lessons to be learnt. The foremost among them being this: a residential project should appeal and target the majority to be successfully sold out. Real estate developers learnt this concept of ‘affordability’ only after a large number of their premium and luxurious residential projects failed to take off and many others had to be tweaked in order to cater to a wide spectrum of end-users.

Over the last one year, developers of all hues have announced residential projects in the affordable category. These projects, which were launched in different parts of NCR (national capital region) reported quick sales within days of their official announcement.

Consider this: DLF sold its phase-I of the Capital Greens project located in the heart of Dehi within two days of the launch, Jaypee sold its residential project Aman in Noida within a day of the official launch. BPTP reported brisk sales for its Park Floors project in Faridabad. Similar has been the case with residential projects launched by Omaxe.

The developers claim that the end users have finally come out of their hibernation. Sales figures provided ballast to their claims.

Yet doubts remains about the timely completion of projects. Many affordable projects which have been launched and successfully pre-sold, do not either have the mandatory environmental clearance or have not received orders for the change in land usage required for residential development.

“Many developers miscalculated the time lag between the soft launch, and actual delivery. Some of the projects monitored by us are already delayed by a year or so,” Ajay Dabas, director of Gurgaon-based consultancy Certes Realty, told FC Estate.

The developers do not wish to delve too much on these aspects. They concede, however, that mandatory clearances are a matter of concern for them. “A project’s delay does affect our reputation. But as these clearances are given by various governmental agencies, which take their own time, there is very little a developer can do to ensure speedy clearances,” admitted an NCR-based developer on conditions of anonymity.

However Tanuja Pradhan, national head of the global real estate consultancy Cushman & Wakefield, holds a divergent view. “The affordable projects have been launched by the same developers who have various stalled projects in their kitty. They are under pressure to complete them.” She added that it would be too early to say that the projects are being delayed: “Even if delay takes place, developers are willing to compensate with a penalty amount payable on per sq ft basis.”

In fact, a closer look reveals that similar factors lie at the roots of the present-day crisis in real estate.

Circa 2004: Project after project was being launched albeit in the premium category with a price tag of Rs 1 crore plus. ‘Income levels are increasing at a fast pace’, ‘the average age of the home buyer has come down drastically’, ‘NRIs will be our target customers’, were some of the rationales doled out while launching these projects.

This was also the time when Rs 1 crore became the base value while talking about the price of a house. Ironically this was also the time when real estate deals started happening only between reckless investors (read speculators).

These projects too did not have the mandatory clearances. People were lured to invest money in realty projects to make a fast buck. Prices were appreciating within a matter of weeks. But as this appreciation was bereft of any real buyers, be it resident or non-resident Indians, the developers soon felt the pinch. The weeks after collapse of the erstwhile Lehman Brothers saw developers of all hues being gripped by a severe financial crunch.

Intense analysis and introspection into what went wrong followed. Dwelling deeper into the causes the sector soon found the mantra of all ills, affordable housing!

Akin to the phoenix rising from ashes, developer after developer began announcing projects in the affordable category. So even as a couple of years earlier ‘premium’, ‘luxury’, ‘exclusive’ and ‘Rs 1 crore’ were the catch words, they have been replaced by ‘inclusive’, ‘affordable’ and ‘Rs 1 lakh. How times change!

The transformation and change of heart has been often been touted as a learning curve for the real estate sector. The sector has found its place and would emerge stronger in a short time, has been the argument. In fact, a recent Knight Frank survey points out that it is the average tenant households staying in their current residence for the last two-and-a-half years who are driving the demand for affordable houses. These buyers perceive Noida, Ghaziabad and Gurgaon as the most favoured destinations for living.

A large number of affordable projects have indeed been launched in these cities. Interestingly, with inevitable delays, the affordability of projects are also at risk. “Projects were launched with the popular tag of “affordable” but the hidden costs and delays would amount to over-runs for the end buyer in many cases. Coupled with the fact that many developers insisted on a lock-in period and no cancellation for 12-15 months, consumers are not very happy too,” argued Ajay Dabas.

The Knight Frank survey also revealed that the developers have to pay external and internal development charges to the government which ultimately, are passed on to the consumer thus increasing the overall cost of a house. “The EDC and IDC costs coupled with the high transaction cost and stamp duty can go as high as Rs 350-400 per sq ft which are transferred on to the end user by the developer,” says the report.

Counters Dabas: “Many developers who had priced their projects at high rates were forced to re-launch with a lower price tag. That signalled the increase in demand. ”

However, most are really not affordable owing to the many hidden costs and spiralling charges of external and internal development charges, parking etc, which constitutes nearly 25 per cent of the base price.” He further adds that there is hardly any project which has been launched in the recent past in the truly affordable gross cost of Rs 20-22 lakh.

Yet another concern which warrants attention is the diversion of funds which have been garnered from the investors for a specific project to other incomplete projects of the company. The developers remain tight-lipped over the issue of fund diversion towards completion of other projects and only say that their affordable housing projects will be completed on time.

However, a couple of years earlier, funds were diverted towards purchase of land and building land banks.

So if the developers divert the funds mopped from their ‘affordable housing’ projects towards completion of earlier projects and miss on the deadlines promised in their brochures, the sector would fall into a deeper mess than at present.

Industry body Assocham had recently mooted the idea of having an escrow account, which can ensure that payments received from the buyers is utilised towards the construction and development of the said project.

“Very few projects are funded through deposits into the escrow accounts. In its absence, the buyer would remain at the mercy of the developers, till the validity of the lock-in and payment commitments,” said Dabas. He added that payments made against project “A” can legally be used by the recipient for other purposes too, since it is legitimately accessed.

However, R Nagaraju, general manager corporate planning of Delhi-based developer Unitech, said that an escrow account for all projects will make it difficult to simultaneously manage various product portfolios of the company. He further reasoned that subsidising a low-profit project with that of high profit projects is a commonly accepted business practice.

Nitty-gritty aside, the end-user who puts in his hard-earned money into buying a house would want to move in it as promised by the developer.

Whether the delay happens due to governmental apathy or the lack of business acumen on the part of developer, the sufferer ultimately remains the end-user.

Source:http://www.mydigitalfc.com/real-estate/affordability-trap-171

DLFs phase II flats to cost 30% more

NEW DELHI: Indias largest property firm DLF plans to formally launch 1,900 apartments in its Capital Greens project in Delhi within a week. The flats will be sold for around 30% more than the phase I price of the same project signalling the companys rising confidence in the revival of the property market, a company executive said.

DLF intends to launch the second phase of Capital Greens project, a 200-acre project located in West Delhi, at a minimum rate of Rs 6,500 a sqft, making the cheapest apartment in the project cost around Rs 80 lakh. This is significantly higher than the rate of Rs 5,000 a sqft, or the least price of Rs 60 lakh for an apartment, at which DLF sold 1,350 apartments in the first phase of the project in April.
Unlike in the first phase, when only 2 and 3 bedroom apartments were available, the second phase will have 2, 3 and 4 bedroom apartments with areas ranging from 1,200 sqft to 2,600 sqft.
A DLF spokesperson said the company was still carrying out a market survey through a chain of brokers and consultants to reach an offer price for the project.
Despite a good response in the first phase of the project, DLF was cautious about launching the second phase as it was unsure of the homebuyers appetite. Many of those who booked in the first phase were investors hoping to earn a premium when prices move up. Our Bureau

Source:http://lite.epaper.timesofindia.com/getpage.aspx?pageid=5&pagesize=&edid=&edlabel=ETD&mydateHid=14-09-2009&pubname=&edname=&publabel=ET

DLF to Adopt New Property Pricing Model

With an uncertain demand situation in the real estate industry, pricing practices are taking a novel turn. DLF, the country’s largest real estate company, is adopting a pricing model that resembles book-building in initial public offers (IPOs) of shares, using a process to test the market while pricing. Only the style is informal unlike in shares, in which a price band is set and formal offers are invited. The company which earlier used to set property price internally is now surveying buyers to arrive at a price for forthcoming projects. DLF’s authorised brokers and property consultants are collecting feedback from prospective buyers on what should be the price of a project by sending out mailers, text messages and in some cases, making personal visits.

“The purpose of the survey is to let us decide how many flats to launch and set good prices, which are attractive and value-for money,” said Rajeev Talwar, executive director at DLF. The company had for the first time conducted such a survey before launching the first phase of its Capital Greens project in West Delhi’s Shivaji Marg area in April this year. It initiated the second such survey in mid-August for the next phase of around 1,400 apartments it plans to launch next week during the festive period. Such surveys are going to be regular feature for upcoming residential projects, Talwar said. The results of the survey are expected by the end of the week and DLF is likely to launch the project at a premium of around 20 per cent, in the range of Rs 6,500-Rs 7,000 per square foot whereas it sold close to 1,400 apartments during the first phase at Rs 5,500 per square foot.

Source : http://www.indianrealtynews.com/real-estate-developers/dlf-to-adopt-new-property-pricing-model.html

DLF New Projects Capital Greens Shivaji Marg New Delhi

DLF Capital Greens Shivaji Marg New Delhi Project
DLF Developer Launching New Affordable Residential Township Project in Delhi CAPITAL GREENS Shivaji Marg, Moti Nagar, New Delhi. Apartments Ranging 2, 3, 4 BHK. apartments having Area 1200 sq. ft to 2600 sq. ft, High Rise Buildings: 26 to 28 floors, is located at Heart of City New delhi on very affordable and attractive prices. Suitable for all segments & a good investment option. Booking Amount Started from 7.5 Lacs to 10.0 Lacs. Amazing price between 6,000 to 7,000 per sq. ft. pre register your self not to miss life time opportunity. DLF Capital Greens luxury Township Apartments with all Modern Amenities.

DLF Capital Greens Shivaji Marg New Delhi Location
DLF Capital Greens Located at ShivaJi Marg, Moti Nagar Near Swatantra Bharat Mill, 1.5 km from Karam Pura/Moti Nagar Metro Station (Operational), 0.75 km from Inder Lok Metro Station, 0.50 km from Zakhira/Ashok Park Extn Metro Station, 2.5 km from Outer Ring Road, Raja Garden, 2.5 km from Main Shadi Pur Bus Terminal, 2 Minutes drive from Kirti Nagar Metro Station, 15-20 Minutes drive from Cannought Place, 20 Km from Indira Gandhi International Airport

DLF Capital Greens Shivaji Marg New Delhi Common Amenities
Landscaped greens Garden, Limited Power Back-up, Clubhouse, Banquet Hall, Swimming Pool, Gymnasium, Games Room, Sewerage Treatment Plant, Water Treatment Plant, Garbage Disposal Room, security system, Door Phones.

Type Size & Price
Types——Size(sq.ft)——Price Approx INR(sq.ft)
2b+2T——–1200—————6000- 7000 #
3b+2T——–1420—————6000- 7000##
3b+2T——–1435—————6000- 7000
3b+3T——–1450—————6000- 7000
3b+3T——–1465—————6000- 7000
3b+3T——–1475—————6000- 7000
3b+3T——–1480—————6000- 7000
3b+3T——–1490—————6000- 7000
3b+3T——–1505—————6000- 7000
3b+3T——–1525—————6000- 7000
4b+4T——–2600—————6000- 7000

About DLF Developer
DLF is the largest real estate company in India. The group has over 224 million sq. ft. of existing development and 751 million sq. ft. of planned projects. DLF is committed to quality, trust and customer sensitivity, and deliver on promises with agility, financial prudence and in tune with the highest global standards. The company has also entered into several strategic alliances with global industry leaders.

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

Source : http://www.bignews.biz/?id=814022&keys=DLFinDLFCapitalGreensDelh-DLFDeveloperDelhiDLFDelhi-DLFDelhiProjects-DLFCapitalGreensApartment

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

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

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

DLF Launches Phase II of its Project in West Delhi

India’s largest real estate developer DLF is showing signs of greater confidence. It is launching the second phase of a project in West Delhi at about a 30 per cent premium to the price of the flats it sold in the same project a few months ago. In a sure shot sign of a revival, DLF, back in business, is set to launch the second phase of the Swatantra Bharat Mills project, one of the most expensive land deals ever.

NDTV learns from sources that phase II launch can be expected by August end. This phase will have 1,400 flats, and will be priced at Rs 7,000 per square feet. The first phase was sold by DLF in the range of Rs 4,500-Rs5,500 per square feet. DLF officials are confident that even at 35-40 per cent premium over the first phase, the company will be able to attract interest of investors and end-users, considering the fact that during peak, flats in the locality were selling at more than Rs 15,000 per square feet. Interestingly, some Delhi-based property dealers operating in West Delhi say that even SBM phase I flats are commanding Rs 8,000-Rs 9,000 per square feet in the secondary market.

Following the response that DLF had attracted in SBM phase I, many real estate developers had decided to go affordable in the national capital region. These include Unitech, which is selling apartments for as less as Rs 1,900 per square feet in some parts of Noida. BPTP has launched floors in Faridabad at just Rs 15 lakh. Also, Assotech, which had priced its luxury project Celeste in Noida at a whopping Rs 4 crore plus range, has now brought the price down to just about Rs 45 lakh, but of course, it has also cut down on size and features to accommodate the price cut. Meanwhile, Raheja Developers is giving final touches to an affordable housing project in South Delhi.

Navin Raheja, MD of Raheja Developers, said, “It is now a proven fact that only houses that can be afforded by the common man attract interest. We have realised this, and therefore, most action is in that segment.” Evidently, the real estate companies have realised that the mantra for survival is selling flats and not selling stakes and surplus land banks. Flats in turn can only attract end user interest if they are affordable.

Source : http://www.indianrealtynews.com/real-estate-developers/dlf-launches-phase-ii-of-its-project-in-west-delhi.html

Realty firms may get Rs12,000 crore push

New Delhi: Real estate firms and construction companies will see an increase in business with the country’s home ministry looking to build—at a cost of Rs12,000 crore—100,000 houses for people who serve in paramilitary forces such as the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) and Border Security Force.

These houses will be built over the next four years.

The home ministry wants to involve private real estate and construction firms in the project in an attempt to speed things up. This will be the first time the private sector builds such residential complexes for the paramilitary. It is usually the Central Public Works Department, the government’s construction arm, that builds residential apartments for the paramilitary forces.

“As of now only around 15% of the paramilitary forces have accommodation. We plan to raise that to around 25% in the next four years and for that we need to build 100,000 housing units,” said a home ministry official dealing with the matter, who did not want to be identified.

The selected firm could be paid an annuity over a specific number of years to make the project attractive, added this person.

This will reduce the risk involved in the project and guarantee the builder a fixed payment every year. It is also likely to expedite the construction process.

DLF Ltd’s group executive director Rajiv Talwar said the government could consider several other options to make the project viable. “The government could offer a part of the floor area ratio (FAR) to the developer to help recover cost or it will have to look at some other option which makes the project viable.”

Talwar also said that it would be better if the ministry were to call representatives of the real estate sector for discussions before announcing these projects.

FAR, also called floor space index, is a metric that defines the size of buildings that can be developed on a plot of a certain size.

Omaxe Ltd’s chairman and managing director Rohtas Goel said his company would be interested in these projects if it was meant for developers—who would develop the entire project and take care of all issues, including financing—and not contractors, who typically implement a building contract for a fee.

The government wants to move swiftly to address the severe shortage in housing for paramilitary personnel.

According to the home ministry, currently only one in seven personnel posted with the Central paramilitary forces has official family accommodation.

And less than one-third of the policemen in the police forces of the various states stay in accommodation provided by the government.

At a time when the state police forces and the paramilitary are countering threats from insurgents in many parts of the country, a shortage of accommodation could cause unrest among the personnel, say analysts, as it already has in some cases.

Of the 770,000 personnel in the paramilitary, only 110,000 have government-provided accommodation. And of the 1.5 million personnel in the police departments of states, only 400,000 have government-provided accommodation.

Top officials in the home ministry and the paramilitary say that there is a constant demand from the men for official accommodation, which they are unable to meet. “The army gets the best of facilities. But today the war against insurgency is being fought by the paramilitary, who are getting stepmotherly treatment,” said an officer with the paramilitary, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

In the past two years, CRPF has lost 200 personnel in various skirmishes with insurgents and nearly 2,000 have been injured.

Former CRPF chief J.K. Sinha said the morale of the men had taken a beating as they were forced to live in huts and camps in areas where they were often under attack from extremists.

“It is very difficult to keep up the motivation among the men when they feel insecure about where they live. This insecurity also leads to depression, suicide and other problems,” Sinha added.

Source : http://www.livemint.com/2009/08/07003923/Realty-firms-may-get-Rs12000.html

Realtors rebuild hopes on rising home sales

After a long hiatus, home sales are finally back on track. 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 to roll.

Consider this: DLF, the country’s largest real estate developer by market value, has sold 2,500 apartments in the first quarter of the current fiscal, compared to nearly 600 in the quarter ended March 2009. In the preceding quarter, DLF had sold just about 120 apartments.

Unitech, the country’s second largest property developer, went a step further and sold 5,000 units in the first quarter, compared to 300 to 400 apartments in the preceding quarter.

Delhi-based Parsvnath Developers did 100-odd transactions against 25 to 30 in the previous quarters, and Omaxe reported sales of 700 units, compared to 200 in the same period.

“After a few difficult quarters last fiscal, we have seen a fairly good first quarter of the current fiscal. The economy on the whole has been showing signs of recovery, and activity in real estate has picked up,’’ DLF Vice-Chairman Rajiv Singh said.

Almost all of them are convinced that the future looks bright. While DLF’s Singh said he expected the market to improve, a Unitech spokesperson said the market would pick up in the second quarter, though demand would be mainly for affordable products.

“It is a good time to bargain-pick now,” said Ravi Ramu, director of Bangalore-based Puravankara Projects.

That the first-quarter sales are no flash in the pan is reflected in the fact that developers have lined up around 60 million square feet of new launches this year, more than double last fiscal’s bookings.

DLF plans to launch 8 to 9 million sq ft of city centre projects in Chennai, Kochi, Delhi and Gurgaon and 5 to 8 million sq ft of mid-income housing projects in the National Capital Region and southern cities. Unitech has launched buildings covering 15 million sq ft since April and plans to launch an additional 15 million by March 2010.

Apart from lower interest rates and affordable housing, the reduction in the number of fence-sitters has helped in a major way. ICICI Bank Chief Financial Officer N S Kannan said buyers had been postponing their purchase decisions in the hope that prices would fall further.

“There is a general sense now that prices have stabilised,” he said, adding “our disbursements, month-on-month, have increased and we would like to play in that market based on our current strategy on pricing”.

Though Kannan was not willing to comment on a specific number, sources in the bank said it was expecting a 20 per cent growth in disbursals in the second quarter.

SBI, the country’s largest bank, has set a monthly home loan disbursal target at Rs 2,500 crore compared to Rs 1,500 crore disbursed over the last few months. The bank is targeting a home loan growth of 30 per cent in the current fiscal against 21 per cent in 2008-09.

HDFC, the country’s largest home loan lender, saw its disbursals rise 22 per cent in the first quarter and expects the trend to continue.

While several property developers have ventured aggressively into Rs 20-Rs 60 lakh apartments and launched properties that were 20 to 30 per cent lower than the prevailing rates, interest rates have also softened in the last six months, which eased the monthly loan pay-outs of home buyers.

In December, the Indian Banks’ Association (IBA) and its members in December had announced new rates, under which loans up to Rs 5 lakh was offered at 8.5 per cent and those between Rs 5 lakh and Rs 20 lakh at 9.25 per cent.

Private sector banks have also reduced their retail lending rates 50 to 100 basis points in the December 2008-June 2009 period.

Analysts are also gung-ho. Pankaj Kapoor, chief executive of Liases Foras, a real estate research firm, said the momentum would increase after Diwali. “Now we are seeing a momentum for some time, lull for the next few days and then momentum. This will change as the economic recovery gathers steam,’’ he said.

Source : http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/realtors-rebuild-hopesrising-home-sales/366216/

Props for affordable housing

After an “uneventful” Interim Budget and the Union Budget 2009-10 for real estate, the Finance Minister surprised home buyers and builders while replying to the debate on the Finance Bill, 2009, in the Lok Sabha earlier this week.

Relief came in the form of interest subvention of 1 per cent for home loan borrowers in the affordable housing segment, and a one year extension of tax holiday to housing projects approved in FY’08.

Mr Rajiv Talwar, Group Executive Director of DLF, says the Government has sent out a clear message to builders — “give us smaller affordable houses and you can have benefits”.

These incentives will certainly lift the market mood, he says.

The Finance Minister has talked about an interest subvention of 1 per cent for a year on all housing loans up to Rs 10 lakh to individuals, on houses not exceeding Rs 20 lakh. The sunset clause for the Industrial Park scheme was extended up to March 2011.

Prior to this, Section 80-IA (4) (iii) of Income-Tax Act provided for tax holiday on profits from development, operation and maintenance of an Industrial Park completed before March 31, 2009.

On tax holiday for profits

Moreover, the Centre has also decided to amend Section 80IB(10) of I-T Act to allow the tax holiday for profits derived from projects approved between April 1, 2007 and March 31, 2008, and completed before March 31, 2012. The tax deduction to developers under this section was initially available for projects approved before March 31, 2007. The Finance Minister has now extended these benefits by another year.

Spur for demand

Builders are all considering affordable housing projects and the latest measures are expected to fuel the demand for houses priced in the Rs 12-14 lakh range.

Dewan Housing Finance Corporation Ltd (DHFL) — where loans up to Rs 10 lakh account for nearly 65-70 per cent of the loan portfolio — sees the scheme coinciding well with the current thrust on low-cost housing projects at the periphery location of cities. “We are awaiting the detailed guidelines to be issued by National Housing Bank, the nodal agency. But back of the envelope calculations peg the savings for a borrower at about Rs 8,000, for a one-year period,” says Mr Kapil Wadhawan, Managing Director of DHFL.

A senior Unitech official says, the interest subvention will drive demand for affordable housing. A 1 per cent interest subsidy may not seem much, but it can spur those waiting for the home loan rates to come down, he says. Unitech recently launched a new home brand, ‘Uni Homes’ for affordable housing projects where the units will be priced Rs 10-30 lakh. The company feels the bulk of its projects under this category would get a leg-up from the scheme.

However, reactions are somewhat mixed when it comes to the incentive pertaining to tax holiday under Section 80 IB (10). Some feel that its impact may fall short of expectations, as the benefits are restricted to projects approved within a specific timeframe. “The provision comes with a retrospective effect, and so the industry cannot initiate any action. Only those projects that were approved in the given timeline could be speeded-up,” says an industry watcher, adding that it will not significantly increase the fresh supply in the market.

Omaxe’s Chairman and Managing Director, Mr Rohtas Goel, points out that the conditions under this section (built-up area, as well as the plot sizes) were meant to encourage the construction of houses for low and middle-income households.

“Just how many projects approved during that period will actually fall within the definition of affordable housing? Remember, the thrust then was not so much on affordable projects.”

CREDAI Disappointed

Our Chennai Bureau adds: The Confederation of Real Estate Developers Association of India (CREDAI) has welcomed the subsidy on home loan interest rates and extension on tax holidays but feels these are inadequate. The incentives should at least be doubled, it says.

A release quoting Mr Santosh Rungta, President, CREDAI, says that extending the tax holiday under Section 80IB (10) for just one year to projects approved by March 2008 will will create an imbalance. Most developers would be affected since projects approved after March 2008 will not be entitled to draw any benefits.

The Government should extend the dateline to March 2012 irrespective of the date of approval. This will encourage developers to take up new projects and expedite ongoing projects.

CREDAI feels even the proposed interest subsidy of 1 per cent to home loan borrowers up to Rs 20 lakh is small.

The government should take into account the escalation of construction cost subsidise at least 2 per cent for houses up to Rs 30 lakh.

http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/iw/2009/08/02/stories/2009080250701500.htm

Commercial realty market on upswing

MUMBAI: The commercial property market, which had seen one of the biggest falls till May, is slowly reviving as higher government incomes and an  improving economy are prompting customers to invest in such asset classes. Developers who had slashed prices of their commercial projects by 40-50% due to slow demand, say there are now more enquiries from retail investors, while institutional buyers have closed some deals.

Many developers, instead of trying to sell off properties are signing rental deals with customers and institutional customers. In one recent deal, global consultant KPMG signed a deal with Lodha Developers for renting out a 130,000 sq ft property at Mahalaxmi in central Mumbai, for a monthly rental of Rs 160 per sq feet.

“This is one of the biggest deals in the commercial property market this year, not just for us but also for the sector,” said Lodha Developers director Abhisheck Lodha. “Though rates have fallen in the past three quarters, there is now a lot of interest from customers.” The company has five commercial projects in Mumbai, in areas such as Parel, Worli and Thane. Recently, Lodha also bid Rs 710 crore for National Textile Corporation’s (NTC) 10.3-acre Finlay Mill land in central Mumbai.

Similarly, in a recent transaction in the commercial property space, investor C Sivasankaran acquired a 66% stake in a commercial property SPV from DLF for Rs 310 crore. Ackruti City is the other investor in the SPV.

Explains Ambar Maheshwari, director investments at DTZ, an international property consultancy firm, “While commercial property rates have been at an all-time low, customers are slowly returning. Many prominent developers are going for lease rent discounting, which not only helps them raise liquidity but also helps them sell the property at a later stage for better valuation.”

Under lease rent discounting, developers borrow from financial institutions on the basis of an agreement between the owner and the tenant. The rent from the tenant is then directly deposited with the lender and not with the owner. Industry observers say several realty players who have commercial projects, have adopted lease rent discounting. Market leaders such as DLF and Unitech are known to favour such a model. Both firms had almost stopped work on their commercial property developments in Mumbai. However, according to people familiar with these companies, work has restarted through lease rent discounting.

Said a Unitech executive: “Commercial properties give better returns, but there is lot of risk as rates are volatile. But our company is now better placed to manage these risks as far as funds are concerned.” Rates on commercial properties are more sensitive to market conditions than those of residential units, as they depend on returns or rentals. So when rentals in India dropped, so did the rates for commercial properties. Like the office-cum-commercial Bandra Kurla Complex in Mumbai, which enjoyed a premium tag for commercial market. Rentals here were around Rs 450-500 per sq feet last year; now for the same property, the rates are at around Rs 250 per sq feet.

Though even as the revival in the commercial property is still beginning, a majority of developers are still cautious. Says Kamal Khetan, chairman, Sunteck Realty: “Capital values of commercial properties are dependent largely on rentals. We believe rents have bottomed out and are already seeing upward movement. A number of investors have started picking up commercial property as it makes good investment sense; it gives a rental return as well as capital appreciation when the markets pick up,” he added.

Source : http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/News-by-Industry/Commercial-realty-market-on-upswing/articleshow/4849782.cms

Developers Start New Projects Leaving Old Projects Midway

Home sales in India may be on the rebound, with real estate firms launching new projects to tap a revival in housing demand, but Ajay Jain remains an angry customer of DLF Ltd, the country’s largest property developer by sales. Singapore-based Jain, 49, who signed up in August 2006 for a four-bedroom apartment in DLF’s Belaire project in Gurgaon, a satellite town south-east of New Delhi, is upset that he has paid the developer at least 85% of the cost of the flat—Rs2.4 crore—but only half the work has been completed so far at the site. At the time of booking, Jain said, he was told that the project would be completed in three years—by August 2009. After paying two-three instalments, DLF gave Jain the buyer agreement in February 2007, which said that possession would be given within three years of signing the agreement.

“Though DLF has collected the money for this project, they are not bothered about completing it and instead, they keep investing in other projects,” Jain said in a phone interview with . Belaire is likely to be delayed by 15 months, say real estate consultants. Buyers such as Jain—those who bore the brunt of the downturn along with developers—are in plenty. Since mid-2008, projects of almost every developer across cities have been stuck, delayed or shelved. Average delays have ranged from six months to a year. But what irks buyers even more now is that while several existing projects are stuck mid-way, developers have started launching new ones. These projects, mostly in the budget range, promise possession to buyers within two years, yet there are few signs that the pace of construction at existing, delayed projects will be accelerated.

DLF declined to comment as it was in the mandatory silent period ahead of its first quarter results, likely to be released later this month. Since mid-2008, projects of almost every developer across cities have been stuck, delayed or shelved. In November, the company’s chairman K.P. Singh had said its assets under construction spread over hotels, residential and commercial projects were delayed because of lower demand and an industrywide liquidity crisis. DLF’s Belaire and Park Place projects in Gurgaon are likely to be delayed by 15-18 months, say consultants. Belaire was to be ready by August and Park Place by October. A visit to the sites showed that both projects are far from completion. At both sites, only the structure of the towers are ready. The DLF website reflects as much: Structural work is in progress both at Park Place and Belaire, it says.

With these projects lagging, DLF launched 2.8 million sq. ft of residential projects in the first quarter of fiscal 2010, compared with 2.1 million sq. ft launched during the first quarter of fiscal 2009, according to a July report by Motilal Oswal Financial Services Ltd, a brokerage firm. This is true of other developers, too, who have launched new projects—mostly in the budget or affordable housing category—to generate cash flows even as their existing projects await completion. According to Motilal Oswal, real estate developers, including DLF, Unitech Ltd, Indiabulls Real Estate Ltd, Puravankara Projects Ltd and Housing Development and Infrastructure Ltd, have launched 36 million sq. ft of residential space in the quarter gone by, compared with 2.6 million sq. ft in the year-ago quarter, across cities such as Mumbai, New Delhi, and its suburbs, Bangalore, Chennai and Hyderabad. Of this, developers have already sold 44%, or 16 million sq. ft, of homes.

Unitech’s Fresco, Escape and Harmony projects, all within a 300-acre township, Nirvana Country in Gurgaon, look delayed as well. According to Unitech’s website, Escape and Harmony are to be delivered in the January-March quarter of 2010 and the first phase of Fresco is expected to be completed by the last quarter of 2009. But during a visit to the Escape construction site last week, site workers said construction had just restarted after a lull and it would take at least a year-and-a-half to finish the project. At Escape, only the structure is ready, but the landscaping within the project is still not done. Arvind Panwar, a buyer at the project, is visibly worried. He had bought a three-bedroom apartment in Escape for around Rs1 crore in July 2006. He had opted for a down payment plan, paying 95% of the cost of the flat at one time in return for a 10-11% discount on the base price of the flat.

Panwar, 35, who works with a tech firm in California, US, feels weighed down by loan instalments of around Rs70,000 every month. “I am worried because I am paying my (loan) EMIs regularly, but there is no clarity on when the possession of the apartment will be given,” he said. Panwar’s buyer agreement says the flat would be delivered within three years—a deadline that matures next month. “The penalty for delay that they have said they will pay (Rs5 per sq. ft per month) is nothing compared with the EMIs I am paying,” he said. “I have been getting lots of emails from Unitech and brokers on the new projects they have launched. I get frustrated when I see those mails.” Unitech had not responded to’s queries on email and text messages until late Wednesday. In Mumbai, with five projects still at various stages of construction and far from completion, local realty firm Neptune Developers Pvt. Ltd has launched two more this year.

A 125-acre affordable housing project was launched in March near Kalyan, about 50km north of south Mumbai, and an upmarket, 30-storey twin tower project in Bhandup, a northern suburb of the port city, in April. The developer is clear about the urgency to do so. “One needs to run the show and for that, one needs to keep adding cautiously to one’s portfolio even when times are not that good. We are only launching projects that will sell and ensure cash flow,” said Nayan Bheda, managing director of Neptune. The firm has sold 2,000 of 2,100 apartments in its budget housing project at Kalyan, said Bheda, and expects the development at Bhandup, priced at Rs5,000 a sq. ft, to sell out,too. The quantum of sales at the Kalyan project could not be independently verified by . A realty consultant seconds Bheda’s candidness. “Some developers are launching new projects in a particular price category to ensure cash flow to fund construction of its delayed, existing projects even at a lower profit margin,” said Ashutosh Limaye, associate director (strategic consulting) at Jones Lang LaSalle Meghraj, a property advisory.

Construction at Neptune’s projects running behind schedule has picked up after slowing down, Bheda said, without giving any more details. It doesn’t help, as a spokesman for Parsvnath Developers Ltd said, that realty firms see further liquidity pressure as buyers at older projects default or delay their instalments due to the developer. Bangalore developer Brigade Enterprises Ltd has nearly 20 projects at different stages of construction, each of which is lagging behind by at least six months from completion dates expected earlier, M.R. Jaishankar, chairman and managing director of the company, said at a press meet earlier this month. The Brigade Gateway-branded luxury apartments project in north Bangalore, for instance, is at least 10 months behind schedule and several blog sites on the Internet are flooded with complaints on the delay from customers there. The company has plans to enter the budget housing segment.

Source : http://www.indianrealtynews.com/real-estate-developers/developers-start-new-projects-leaving-old-projects-midway.html

Go and grab your dream home

A house for Mr Surinder Sharma  will now cost less with markets correcting approximately 10-30 per cent in Delhi NCR, Mumbai, Bangalore and Chennai. The next three months, say real estate watchers, are the best time to close a deal.

Where property buying goes, the buzz is that it’s no longer the worst of times. For instance, real estate worth Rs 50 lakh six months ago, will now cost 40 lakh. And with interest rates down to 8 per cent from 13-14 per cent, what the consumer shells out effectively is Rs 32 lakh. In other words, this is the best time to buy.

Indirapuram based finance  professional  Rakesh Mishra  started his search for a house four months ago.  He zeroed in on a project which was launched last month. It’s at a prime location, and comes for a good price. “With the Navratra discount, the house cost me Rs 26 lakh,” he says.

Deals like this are bringing realty back to life again. “This is the right time to do your research and consider buying a  house at the right and real price. Developers are more than willing to give in to the demands of a serious buyer,” Dr. Devender Gupta CMD, Century 21 India. Many who aren’t buying are window shopping. Average buyer interest over the last two months has risen to 30-40 per cent. Experts anticipate an upward trend in the market between May and July. With prices rationalising in many pockets across the country, the dream house is looking affordable for a significant corpus of aspiring buyers. Those who have identified a suitable property and have the financial means to take the plunge should do so now. A deferred decision, say experts, might mean passing over the best bargains.

Developers are wooing customers like never before. “The buyers, chiefly end users are back into the market. There are realistic bookings happening today,” said Alimuddin Rafi Ahmad, managing director of prestigious ILD group. PK Jain,Executive Vice President,PNB housing finance Ltd agrees. “Developers this season are seeing a lot of inquiries, the phones have started to ring again and that is very encouraging. With interest rates dropping enough to take a home loan and prices correcting by almost 10-30 per cent, it’s a good time to get back to the market.”

Even top developers DLF and Unitech who focus on luxury apartments are now coming up with affordable housing projects. Rajeev Rai,vice president, Assotech group, says that the prices have corrected by almost 30 per cent. Developers are tailoring products according to customer needs across all segments, instead of the earlier stress on high-end housing.

Moreover, as Sunil Jindal,director, SVP group points out, “Besides the interest rates and prices moving downwards, consumer fatigue has also set in. How long will a buyer wait? He may as well come forward and buy.” The market is seeing a new movement because of the pent-up demand from end users —  people who typically plan to buy a property for their children and see a future in real estate, says an executive of Cushman & Wakefield. Those with a budget of Rs 20-30 lakh should seal the deal as any further correction is unlikely, points out Jindal.

According to Chaitanya Manohar, director & COO, L.J. Hooker India, Bangalore, “We have seen increased level of activity (enquiries) across Bangalore specifically in projects that are close to completion (possession in 6-8 months). There has been tremendous interest especially in the Rs 20-45 lakh range from first-time homebuyers.” Buyers today have plenty of choice; there are properties under construction for which possession is due in the next three to nine months. “He can expect reasonable returns as the market would be up and moving when he finally gets his house,” says Anil Makhijani of Mak Realtors of South Delhi.

So does that make it a bad time to sell? Well, perhaps. Rizwan, a senior manager with a job portal, recently sold his apartment in Faridabad for the same price at which he had bought it. “I had to dispose of the Faridabad house to take possession of my house in Indirapuram. The house cost me Rs 1,690 per sq ft two years ago. I did incur a loss in terms of the EMI and the foreclosure charges I had to pay the bank,” he said.The market is not favouring the seller, but he can use it to his advantage. He may be able to sell his house to move to a better location or upgrade from a two-bedroom house to a three-bedroom at the same price. A person who bought property more than 3-4 years ago may make a profit if he sells now

http://www.mynews.in/fullstory.aspx?storyid=22058

Low-cost housing drive may dent margins of realty firms

The June quarter financial results of real estate companies will mirror the changes that the sector went through during the quarter. The sector,  which has been languishing for some time, appears to have found its feet with its focus on affordable housing. This has led to higher sales for many companies. But on the flip side, the move has impacted the margins negatively for many. The reason being that the mid-segment housing is a high volume-low margin business.

The June quarter results, hence, may be a tad better on a quarter-on-quarter (q-o-q) basis, but much lower than those reported in the corresponding quarter of the previous year. The average of the estimates of ET Intelligence Group and eight brokerage houses shows that the overall industry sales are expected to decline 30% on a year-on-year (y-o-y) basis. On a q-o-q basis, industry sales would grow at an average of 30%.

It may also be understood that only the residential market has seen a recovery, while the commercial and retail segments are still under stress. Among all the listed companies, Orbit and Indiabulls Real Estate (IBREL) are expected to show a marginal improvement in sales. With a huge fall in property prices in the luxury segment, Orbit has shown a 5% increase in sales. With a 70% yoy decline in revenue, Parsvnath is expected to see the highest fall. DLF and Unitech may follow with a 60% and 54% decline, respectively.

As a move to generate cash for business activities, both these companies have exited from unviable projects and also sold non-core assets. This would help in completing under-construction projects. Even some large SEZ projects have been shelved.

A lot of companies have launched new residential projects in the affordable housing segment. Though construction costs would be low, EBIDTA margins would fall by an average of 5-10% due to a sharper decrease in prices. However, companies such as Unitech, DLF, HDIL and Sobha, which have raised funds, have improved their balance sheet positions and thus lowered their overall finance cost. Average EBIDTA margin for the June quarter would be 39% against 43% for the March quarter. Peninsula Land is expected to show a positive margin, as the number of projects was very limited, hence leverage was also low.

Despite all the gloom, realty sector is seen to show some improvement in margins. The overall profit after tax (PAT) margins for the June quarter will be at 26%.

Though real estate sector is one of the major contributors to the over all profit growth for India Inc, yet it is low as compared to the past PAT margins of 35-40%.

However, since alternate sources of funds have become available, builders have managed to improve their cash position. Loans have been restructured and thus interest liability has been reduced. Developers, such as Mahindra Lifespaces, IBREL and Peninsula Land, are expected to report PAT margins upward of 30%.

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/News-/Low-cost-housing-drive-may-dent-margins-of-realty-firms/articleshow/4787053.cms

Office, retail space is hot property

Lower real estate prices have triggered some big-ticket sales in recent months in the commercial segment

Bangalore: Some six months after they fled the real estate sector, investors are gradually making their way back. This time around, high networth individuals (HNIs) and domestic funds are putting money mainly into office and retail spaces.
As the economic meltdown unfolded in late 2008, commercial realty became the worst hit segment in the sector and lease rental and property rates fell by 30-40% in the metros and the bigger cities. The lower prices, in turn, have triggered some big ticket sales in recent months.
Big catch: The DLF tower in Gurgaon. The cash-strapped realty firm sold its 66% stake in a private mill property in central Mumbai to an undisclosed Chennai-based investor for Rs310 crore in May. Ramesh Pathania / MintIn May, Unitech Ltd, India’s second biggest listed developer, sold a 200,000 sq. ft office property in Saket, New Delhi, to an investor for Rs450 crore, nearly Rs200 crore cheaper than in 2007-08. Unitech didn’t disclose the identity of the buyer.
The same month, a cash-strapped DLF Ltd, the country’s top realty firm, sold its 66% stake in a private mill property in central Mumbai to an undisclosed Chennai-based investor for Rs310 crore. DLF had bought the property for Rs350 crore in 2007, at the peak of a realty boom in India.
In April, three investors from Kolkata bought 50,000 sq. ft of an office property near Bangalore’s Outer Ring Road for Rs35 crore, about 20% lower than the asking price till mid-2008, said a property consultant who brokered the deal. He didn’t want to name anyone involved in the deal. The developer had earlier leased the property to companies.
“Many HNIs and funds are now returning, looking at only commercial properties…to take advantage of the falling rates. The returns for such properties are as high as 12-13% compared to 3-4% in residential projects,” said Farook Mahmood, chairman of Bangalore-based advisory Silverline Group Inc.
For example, a Hyderabad investor with Rs300 crore is scouting for commercial properties in Bangalore, said Mahmood, without elaborating.
There is huge demand from HNIs for buying office properties, said a Unitech spokesman. “We are in contact with a group of HNIs with a portfolio of Rs1,000 crore each, who are looking at lucrative deals,” he said.
Unitech, also cash-starved, has been selling office properties and hotels the past two quarters in and around New Delhi and Mumbai. Domestic property-focused funds, which earlier targeted residential projects, too, are looking at commercial properties now. Red Fort Capital Advisors Pvt. Ltd, for example, has invested Rs400 crore in three commercial properties in New Delhi and Mumbai and is looking for more.
“In the current scenario, most developers are looking to sell their commercial properties. There are many such distressed assets and the pressure of liquidity is still there on them. For us, it’s a good deal because property rates have dipped,” said Subhash Bedi, director of Red Fort Capital.
Research and rating firm Crisil Ltd, the Indian arm of Standard and Poor’s, said in a June report that while the overhang of commercial property was enormous, demand was still slow.
In the first three months of 2009, there was a fresh supply of 11.5 million sq. ft of space, outstripping absorption of 5.78 million sq. ft, according to property advisory Cushman and Wakefield’s report in April, based on a survey of eight major cities.
The combination of over supply, poor demand and a liquidity crunch pushed many developers to focus on selling commercial properties.
Developers such as DLF and Unitech, which adopted the build-and-lease model the past two-three years when rental costs had skyrocketed and technology firms were expanding, now prefer to sell their stock.
“We are only keen on selling office space now. The focus will also be on developing non-IT space like pharma and telecom, where demand still exists,” Unitech’s spokesman said. Unitech has about 4 million sq. ft of commercial space under development. Its spokesman didn’t disclose how much of this would be up for sale.
Investors are also keen on buying pre-leased properties from developers who are in a hurry to sell, said Kaustuv Roy, head of tenant strategies and solutions, Cushman and Wakefield. “It’s much easier to sell pre-leased properties. There are more takers for them and they fetch better rates.”
“Going forward, most developers will adopt a mixed model where 80% would be sold and 20% will be leased out,” said a senior official of Maker group, who can’t be named as he is not authorized to speak to the media.
In April, the group sold 4,300 sq. ft of space at Maker Chamber VI, an office building in Nariman Point, Mumbai, to a pharma company for Rs12.5 crore at Rs30,000 per sq. ft. The price was Rs40,000-45,000 per sq.ft. in 2008, said S.G. Maheshwari, a property consultant in Mumbai.
“The thing to look out for in the coming quarters will be if there is a revival of interest among corporates for commercial space,” said Anirudh Wahal, national director, business development, Jones Lang LaSalle Meghraj, a property consultancy.

Source : http://www.livemint.com/2009/07/01234720/Office-retail-space-is-hot-pr.html?h=B

25% Upswing in India’s Housing Market

Activity levels are gaining traction in the near moribund housing market as a flurry of interest rate cuts, price drops and the building industry’s focus on affordable housing start to lure buyers back into the market. A cross section of banks, property developers and real estate consultancies that SundayET spoke to confirmed that the rise in activity levels since the start of the year had picked up momentum in the last three months, with some in the sector saying that sales were up by as much as 25-30% since April, after witnessing a growth of 10-15% during the first quarter of 2009. India’s property market started showing signs of serious trouble nearly a year ago with first the American sub-prime crisis and later the Lehman bankruptcy playing havoc. The overpriced projects by builders found few takers which was worsened with the IT industry facing a major setback.

Builders were stuck with high-end apartments which had no takers. There was a severe drop in sales with people wanting to conserve resources. As a result, property prices too fell 30-45% since peak of 2007, according to industry estimates. But today the scenario is different, with builders getting a mix of mid end and affordable housing into their portfolio. Raminder Grover, CEO—Homebay Residential, Jones Lang LaSalle Meghraj, says the revival in sales has been, conservatively speaking, to the tune of around 25% across the mid-to-high income segments, according to his company’s sales records. Rohtas Goel, CMD of Delhi-based Omaxe too says there has been a 30% increase in sales thanks to factors such as a reversal in general economic sentiment after the elections and more options available in affordable housing.

Statistics too would appear to bear this out. India’s largest real estate developer DLF says it has sold almost 1,500 flats in various cities since April, notably some 400 flats in its mainstay market Gurgaon, 700 in Bangalore, 100 plots in Indore, 200 flats in Hyderabad and 50 in Cochin. Rival Unitech has managed to sell more than 4,000 units in the last two and a half months in the National Capital Region, Chennai and Mumbai. Omaxe has also sold almost 500 apartments in its Omaxe Eternity project in Vrindavan. Niranjan Hiranandani, MD of Hiranandani Developers says there had been a sale of 7,000 apartments across the industry, mainly in Mumbai suburbs, over the last 60 days. Despite indications of improving demand, builders don’t seem to be in a hurry to raise prices. They are conscious that demand was up due to price cuts and the affordable housing strategy. Builders are loathe to do anything that could incipient recovery.

“We will not be looking at a price increase,” says DLF’s group executive director Rajeev Talwar. The company says it has cut prices by up to 30% from peak levels of 2007. Others point out that the demand is coming from the low-end housing segment comprising houses prices under Rs 25 lakh. “Buyers have come out of the waiting mode…By December, the situation is expected to become much better,” said Mr. Goel of Omaxe. Mr. Hiranandani of Hiranandani Developers also agreed that affordable housing was selling the most right now, saying that while the overall market had improved, this particular segment was doing really well as buyers realised that the market has bottomed out. Bank officials SundayET spoke to also confirmed the trend of rising demand, and noted an increasing demand for home loans.

“Largely the demand is coming from the sub Rs 30-40 lakh category. Resale market is also showing high growth. However, there is lesser demand for new projects as well as in yet to be completed ones,” said Kamlesh Rao, senior vice president at Kotak Mahindra Bank. “While during January-March, there was a growth of 10-15%, now it is around 15-20%.” He is not alone. Officials at UCO Bank, Axis Bank and the country’s top mortgage lender HDFC too agree that an improving sentiment had helped drive housing sales. “We are witnessing an increased interest from our clients. The condition has definitely improved over the last 3-4 months,” says Sujan Sinha, senior VP and head of retail assets at Axis Bank. An HDFC spokesperson felt the growth is up month on month mainly due to decline in interest rate and the growth of affordable housing. “We are confident that we will achieve the 20% annual target growth,” he said.

Source : http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Indian-Realty-News/~3/r71BjpVplMg/25-upswing-in-indias-housing-market.html

Premium demand outstrips middle-class wants

The National Capital Region is witnessing frenzied activity again. This time round, it is across segments and in all categories including plots,  floors and apartments. The elections were a big driver. Affordable housing has caught the fancy of private developers in Delhi, and large developer groups from the NCR, such as DLF have launched affordable housing in Moti Nagar.

Values have gone up by 8-10 per cent across the board in established areas of Delhi and another 5-7 per cent hike is expected in capital values after the budget. The buyer profile includes end users, investors , builders and High Net Worth individuals .

In premium residential areas such as Defence Colony, Vasant Vihar and Greater Kailash there has been a significant number of transactions. As a result there is very little stock waiting to be sold in the market. Only those sellers who are asking for unreasonably high values are left with stock. According to a real estate consultant , “In a rising market the expectation of the owners rises faster than the market. In a falling market, on the other hand, their expectations fall slower than the rest of the market.”

In the less premium market such as Saket, Hauz Khas and Green Park the rate of transactions has been low with values falling 15-20 per cent from peak values. In middle class areas such as Moti Nagar and Vikas Puri values have registered a steep fall of almost 30 per cent.

Mayur Vihar and much of East Delhi is riding the crest of the Commonwealth Games and the advent of the Metro. Areas which had previously recorded very low capital and rental values have already witnessed a 100 per cent rise. The reason for shifting of population from expensive Noida to the more affordable Mayur Vihar has been the rental values and the steadily rising demand for rental housing. The advent of the Metro will enhance these values further.
The demand for builder floors saw a drop of 37-50 percent across Delhi in the last few weeks. With active trading in plots across South and West Delhi, the builder floors market is expected to rebound .

Rental values of builder flats and apartments did not undergo any major change in Q3-Q 4 2008-2009 . They are more or less stable with just a marginal change of 5-15 per cent in the prices depending on the location and deal. As per the local real estate agents in Delhi, people living on rent are the end users and hence there is always a demand for rental homes in Delhi.

Delhi retail market has been slow with a mere 10 per cent transactions happening in the last few months. Retail malls are fetching rental values of Rs 225-250 per sq ft on lower floors and Rs 100-125 per sq ft for the upper floors. On high streets rental values ranged between Rs 700-800 per sq ft, down from Rs 1100 per sq ft an year ago.

In neighbourhood markets, such as Lajpat Nagar and Sarojini Nagar small format units were available at Rs 350-400 per sq ft. However, these come without any power back-up or maintenance. Super to carpet area ratio in small format stores is a mere 10 per cent compared to the 40-50 per cent loading in large format store and malls.

Delhi market has been witnessing a weakening sentiment because of the global economic slow down and consequent job losses. Today the active buyer segments are traders and businessmen. According to experts there is money with potential buyers but they are holding back, either waiting for market to bottom-out or because they are waiting for the economic scenario to improve. For serious end user buyers this is probably the right time to buy. After this once the Metro advances from across Delhi to the NCR, values are bound to rise. Today it is possible to negotiate with sellers but after a few months this may not be possible.

The retail market will take more time to stabilise. Neighbourhood markets and Local Shopping Complexes have scored over shopping malls which have seen a drop in footfalls.

Source : http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/News-by-Industry/Premium-demand-outstrips-middle-class-wants/articleshow/4709403.cms

DLF Seeks GOVT Approval to Build Apartments & Commercial Complexes in SEZs

Realty major DLF has sought government approval for building service apartments and commercial complexes in four special economic zones, of which two are located in Gurgaon. The Board of Approval (BoA) in the Commerce Ministry will consider requests from the developers for building apartments and commercial space in the non-processing areas of the four IT/ITeS SEZs at Gurgaon, Chennai and Hyderabad, an official said. The non-processing area includes non-core activities.

The BoA is meeting here on June 17 to take up the request, along with other agenda. DLF has informed the ministry that it wants to build service apartments on 15,000 square metre and commercial space on 12,000 sq m at one of its Gurgaon SEZ. The total notified area for SEZ is 10.73 hectares (1,07,300 sq m). At the height of the SEZ ontroversy, it was alleged that the land was being acquired for real estate gains by the developers. However, the Commerce Ministry has denied these claims stating the commercial activities would be restricted to non-core areas. The SEZ developers have been demanding that they should be granted an infrastructure status for availing the bank finance. However, the Reserve Bank has not acceded to the demand taking a view that it is a real estate activity.

Source : http://www.indianrealtynews.com/sezs-india/dlf-seeks-govt-approval-to-build-apartments-commercial-complexes-in-sezs.html

Slowdown in SEZs

When the Board of Approval for special economic zones (SEZs) meets on Friday, liaison and corporate affairs executives will jostle for space in the narrow corridors on the ground floor of Udyog Bhavan, which houses the commerce department. In stark contrast to last year, however, few of them will be pushing proposals for new zones. Demand dynamics brought on by the global slowdown and persistent land acquisition problems are forcing developers to alter their plans.

As a result, almost half the proposals that the inter-ministerial panel headed by Commerce Secretary Rahul Khullar will consider have to do with extensions to acquire land or cancellations of these tax-free enclaves that were supposed to catapult India’s exports into the big league. Of the 58 SEZ proposals on the agenda, only two are for setting up new zones; 23 zones are applying for an extension of the validity period and two — from K Rajeha Universal — are seeking de-notification on the grounds that the economic downturn has resulted in lower demand. Then there is Mansarovar Industrial Development Corporation that has decided to expand the focus of its zone from handicrafts to information technology-enabled services (ITES), and to split the 131 hectare-zone.

“The developer has requested that due to the present downturn in the economy, the additional sectors (ITES) may kindly be permitted to be included in the SEZ,” the commerce ministry said in its note for the BoA meeting. Similarly, financial constraints have forced Diamond Software Developers, which was setting up an SEZ focused on information technology (IT) and ITES in Noida, to drop its plans. Meanwhile, companies such as Parasvnath SEZ have had to move the proposed 10.11 hectare Biotech SEZ from Ranga Reddy district in Andhra Pradesh to Medak in the southern state owing to legal hurdles in land acquisition.

Similarly, with only 63 per cent of the land acquired, Rajasthan Explosives and Chemicals has sought more time for developing a multi-product zone. Plagued by insufficient demand for space, land acquisition problems and the liquidity crunch in the first half of 2009, nearly 27 developers with all approvals in place had already sought more time to operationalise SEZs. Ministry officials said the number could go up to 50 at Friday’s BoA meeting and much more at subsequent meetings. According to the norms, an SEZ has to be up and running within three years of receiving the formal approval, which is only given after land is in the developer’s possession. When the economy was growing at 9 per cent, there was a rush to set up SEZs. Between February 2006 and May 2009, the government gave formal approvals to 568 proposals, nearly 60 per cent for IT. Of these, 315 have been notified, which means they can claim tax and duty benefits.

But work has been completed and exports are taking place in only 90 zones. So, only 16 per cent of the formally approved proposals are contributing to India’s exports. Exports from these 90 operational SEZs are projected to grow 38 per cent to over Rs 1,25,000 crore in 2009-10, as against Rs 90,000 crore last year. This will, however, be just a quarter of the Rs 5,00,000 crore projected if all the formally approved zones were to become operational. Government officials, however, said this was only to be expected. “When we started giving approvals, we expected at least one-third of the approved SEZs to fall by the wayside. But the slowdown and restrictions on state governments acquiring land could see more projects not seeing the light of the day,” said an official who was associated with SEZ policies and approvals for over five years.

“The number of approved zones is already high. The serious players are here to stay and our focus will be to facilitate SEZ-related matters,” added another official. Experts said with prospective clients putting their expansion plans on hold, developers do not want to take risk and build zones. This is because, unlike the real estate business model, SEZs require a long gestation period before developers see any financial gains. “Scrapping unviable zones is a systemic correction. When the business cycle is on an upturn, the zones will bounce back,” said Aradhana Agarwal, senior fellow at ICRIER and reader at Delhi University’s Department of Business Economics. PricewaterhouseCoopers Executive Director Vivek Mehra, who is advising many developers, said the downturn had lowered demand for space in the IT zones. Besides, the extension of the Software Technology Park scheme also meant that the rush for SEZs has come down.

“There are pressures on timeline and builders, who have put in more than the requisite 25 acres, are looking at other options. Even if you de-notify now, you have the option to seek a re-notification later or a set up a zone with a smaller land area,” he said. Developers seeking extensions include fraud-hit Satyam (three zones), Infosys (two zones), NIIT, and ONGC-promoted Kakinada SEZ in Andhra Pradesh. The former commerce ministry official said the manufacturing sector-related SEZs, which have not shelved their plans, could stage a comeback over the next eight to 10 months if production shifted to low cost destinations. For the moment, the absence of demand and liquidity crunch has also forced real estate major DLF to get conditional approval to scrap four of its notified zones, while its plea to get another of its Delhi-based zone has already been accepted.

Gitanjali Gems, which has permission to set up nine SEZs, has also applied the brakes on its plans. Although the company has decided against going ahead with a proposed zone in Nanded, the development of six zones in Gujarat and Maharashtra is yet to pick up. Only one SEZ in Hyderabad is expected to be operational, but that is one-and-a-half years away. In pharmaceuticals, chemicals and biotech, most of the 16 notified SEZs have been non-starters. Apart from the projects of Divi’s Laboratories, Biocon and Serum Institute of India – the first among the notified SEZs in 2006 – the others are still under implementation. Issues such as land acquisition, delays in developing physical infrastructure, setting up of plants and regulatory approvals from the US and Europe are delaying the projects, sources said.

“The development of a pharmaceutical SEZ may take three-seven years as pharmaceutical plants need quality water, effluent treatment plants and good physical infrastructure,” said Hitesh Gajaria, head – pharmaceuticals and executive director, KPMG India. Even government-promoted projects such as development of Kandla Port Trust’s Rs 7,000 crore port-based SEZ is in pause mode. “A majority of the developers want to see how the situation evolves in the coming days. So, they do not want to scrap their plans for the zones as of now. But there is an oversupply issue in zones,” said Abhishek Goenka, partner at consulting firm BMR & Associates.

Source : http://www.indianrealtynews.com/sezs-india/slowdown-in-sezs.html

DLF seeks nod for apartments, commercial complexes in SEZs

New Delhi (PTI): Realty major DLF has sought government approval for building service apartments and commercial complexes in four special economic zones, of which two are located in Gurgaon.

The Board of Approval (BoA) in the Commerce Ministry will consider requests from the developers for building apartments and commercial space in the non-processing areas of the four IT/ITeS SEZs at Gurgaon, Chennai and Hyderabad, an official said. The non-processing area includes non-core activities.

The BoA is meeting here on June 17 to take up the request, along with other agenda.

DLF has informed the ministry that it wants to build service apartments on 15,000 square metre and commercial space on 12,000 sq m at one of its Gurgaon SEZ. The total notified area for SEZ is 10.73 hectares (1,07,300 sq m).

At the height of the SEZ controversy, it was alleged that the land was being acquired for real estate gains by the developers. However, the Commerce Ministry has denied these claims stating the commercial activities would be restricted to non-core areas.

The SEZ developers have been demanding that they should be granted an infrastructure status for availing the bank finance. However, the Reserve Bank has not acceded to the demand taking a view that it is a real estate activity.

Source : http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/holnus/006200906141012.htm

Developers build on low margins, high volumes

Does low-cost housing make economic sense? It seems to. Developers believe the loss in margins (20 per cent in affordable housing, against 50-300 per cent in case of premium housing) can be made up somewhat by the sheer volumes of sales. Rajeev Talwar, group executive director of DLF, says: “Every group has to chart out its strategy. We have decided to take on the market by pricing our products 30 per cent lower than others, even if it means less margins.”

In any case, as Rashesh Shah, chairman of brokerage firm Edelweiss points out, the days of making a killing are over. “Sales weren’t happening anyway and developers have finally realised that they would survive only if they brought prices down,” Shah says. That realisation has prompted developers to tweak their strategies and reduce apartment sizes to attract home buyers. For instance, Unitech has stopped giving modular kitchens and is laying vitrified tiles instead of expensive marbles in its affordable housing projects, apart from cutting parking and basement space. It also restricts the total floors in a building to three-four to save on construction costs.

“The average cost of our land is Rs 200 a sq ft and construction cost varies from Rs 900-1,500 a sq ft. In affordable projects, we keep construction cost to the bare minimum. We design our buildings and use materials accordingly,” says a Unitech official.

Besides, Unitech has reduced the size of its apartments to 800-1,000 sq ft, on an average, from 2,000-2500 sq ft a couple of years ago, even as the price per sq ft has come down to Rs 3,000 from Rs 4,500 a sq ft earlier.

DLF, too, is changing its housing designs in Gurgaon to squeeze in more two-bedroom units. Scores of property developers, such as Akruti City and Parsvnath Developers, use pre-fabricated slabs in their buildings, which help them save 15-20 per cent in costs against manually-laid slabs in their buildings. While others, such as Unitech, Ansal API and Omaxe, import sanitaryware and fittings from countries such as China, Malaysia and others, as these are 10-15 per cent cheaper than Indian products.

Most developers are also focusing on completing their housing projects in 30 months instead of the earlier 36 months, using advanced technology.

Tata Housing, which is building 15,000 low-cost homes in the country, is keeping construction cost to about Rs 700 a sq ft by sharing returns with the land owners, according to Managing Director Brotin Banerjee.

The company is in advanced stages of talks with the Delhi-based Raheja Developers (which owns the land) to initiate a similar low-cost project at Manesar near Gurgaon. The apartment size will range between 283 sq ft and 465 sq ft each. Plans are on the anvil to start similar projects, called Shubh Griha, in Chennai and Kolkata and, subsequently, in other Tier-I and Tier-II cities.

What also helps are the measures announced by the government — special interest rates for sub-Rs 20 lakh home loans. Public sector banks charge a maximum interest rate of 8.5 per cent for loans below Rs 5 lakh and 9.25 per cent for those between Rs 5 lakh and Rs 20 lakh. A marginal part was also played by the lower input costs of steel and cement, which has seen some softening in the last 12-18 months.

All’s not over for premium
Unitech’s GM (Corporate Planning) R Nagaraju could have been exaggerating when he said premium housing had become extinct. The fact is quite a few companies are still operating at different price-points and the real estate market has got segmented,though with a bias towards low-cost projects.

For instance, just seven days after Tata Housing announced its Shubh Griha project, group company Tata Realty announced a high-end residential project in the Chennai special economic zone. At Rs 13,000 a sq ft, the price tag for the smallest apartments would be Rs 2.6 crore and the largest Rs 3.9 crore.

The complex would have about 180-200 apartments and is getting an encouraging response. For Tata Housing, too, Shubh Griha is just one of the eight projects the company is taking up. But, going forward, the company expects low-cost housing to have a 20-25 per cent share in the total mix, while another 25-30 per cent would be accounted by mid-income homes, with high-end products taking up the balance.

Abhishek Lodha, director of the Lodha group, says the company would build premium housing for margins, and mid-income housing for volumes.

The company has launched five mid-income housing projects in Mumbai and an equal number of high-end projects in South Central Mumbai. The Lodha Bellissimo in Mumbai’s Mahalaxmi area, for example, is offering super-luxury apartments spread across 48 floors.

Or, take Emaar MGF, for example. The company recently launched ‘The Terraces’ with an aim to cater to the growing mid-market segment. Phase-I of the project is expected to be completed by 2010, with units priced at Rs 36 lakh onwards. It would house three independent dwelling units, with the ground floor priced at Rs 46 lakh, first floor at Rs 38 lakh and the second floor at Rs 36 lakh — not exactly low-cost, but affordable for the mid-income population. The company, however, is also operating at a much higher price-point too — Commonwealth Village, for example, despite the temporary hiccups.

Many also say it’s just a matter of time before the premium housing market comes alive. Aditi Vijayakar, executive director (residential), Cushman & Wakefield, says: “In the future, as the demand for luxury projects gains momentum, big players will once again change their portfolio to high-end apartments.”

Then there are, of course, recession-proof areas, like Mumbai’s Bandra or Santa Cruz. Prices continue to rule high at Rs 20,000-40,000 a sq ft, mainly because of the demand-supply mismatch and the aspirational value. Real estate developers all over the country must be hoping the tag extends to many other areas as well.

Source : http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/developers-buildlow-margins-high-volumes/360489/

Demand for homes inching up, but recovery likely to take months

Buyers say the ground reality hasn’t changed much, prices still high

Mumbai: Home sales in India are trickling back in some sections of the market, but industry watchers say a rebound is months away as buyers await further price corrections.

Builders have begun new projects after a year-long hiatus, and are also swapping older premium project proposals for cheaper ones to restart sales as they try to beat a severe cash crunch.
“While the market has turned up, I don’t expect it to be back to 2007 or 2008-beginning levels for another six months or eight months,” said Rajesh Goenka, chairman, Axiom Estates, a real estate agency servicing overseas Indians, mostly in the earning bracket of $100,000-300,000 (around Rs47.5 lakh-Rs1.5 crore) a year.

Indian realtors have spent months battling a severe cash crunch as high interest rates and a slowdown kept buyers away and funding from investors dried up. But, a spate of interest rate cuts and a sentiment revival have encouraged builders to focus on middle-income buyers by launching new projects or re-marketing older ones as mid-income properties.

Unitech Ltd, Parsvnath Developers Ltd and India’s top listed real estate firm DLF Ltd redesigned projects and cut costs to appeal to a wider consumer base. Demand is swaying towards affordable housing.

In the quarter to March, half of the homes sold were in 114 new projects of the 2,000 available for sale, according to estimates by realty rating and research agency, Leases Foras Real Estate Rating and Research.

Even though builders say new projects are being lapped up, home loans are not picking up as fast, suggesting that the homes were picked up by investors, said Pankaj Kapoor, founder and chief executive, Leases Foras.

Homebuyers say that the ground reality hasn’t changed much. Prices haven’t fallen as anticipated with builders’ standing guard, hoping prices will continue to firm and investors, too, hope for a return in pricing.

Source : http://www.livemint.com/2009/06/10004920/Demand-for-homes-inching-up-b.html?h=B

Developers Resort to Discounts to Sell Commercial Properties

Realty companies are resorting to discounts to sell commercial properties in order to improve cash flows and reduce mounting debts. DLF, the country’s biggest real estate firm by market capitalisation, has recently sold its 66% stake in a special purpose vehicle that owns eight acres at Prabhadevi in Mumbai for Rs 310 crore, which analysts feel was at a discount. It is also eyeing to raise around Rs 2,000 crore by selling two commercial properties in the city. Unlisted firm K Raheja Universal recently sold a plot in Santa Cruz in north Mumbai for around Rs 60 crore.

Mumbai is not the only city witnessing distress deals in the commercial property space. Bangalore-based Sobha Developers is learnt to have put a plot in the country’s IT capital on the block with a ticket size of Rs 100 crore. India’s second-largest firm by market cap Unitech, too, is going all out to sell some of its commercial properties to pay down debt. In the past few months, it has sold its Marriott Courtyard Hotel in Gurgaon for Rs 232 crore and an office property in Saket, New Delhi, for Rs 500 crore. The combined debt of DLF, Sobha and Unitech is estimated to be at Rs 25,000 crore. Vimal Shah, managing director, Akruti City, a city based real estate firm, said: “While the residential space has started looking up, commercial properties do not have buyers. Many big builders all over India are cautious with their commercial complexes.”

In the past three months the commercial property rates in New Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore have witnessed a 30-45% decline in price. Rates could fall further if analysts are to be believed. Anuj Puri, country head, Jones Lang LaSalle Meghraj (JLLM), a property advisory firm, said: “It seems that the commercial property market will take at least a year to revive. Presently only the residential market looks stable and their rates may not fall for some time while commercial property could still see some correction in prices.” “Many big builders have come up with proposals of selling commercial properties in Mumbai and New Delhi,” opined Pravin Doshi, chairman, Acme Group, a Mumbai-based real estate developer.

Source : http://www.indianrealtynews.com/real-estate-india/mumbai/developers-resort-to-discounts-to-sell-commercial-properties.html

Big Malls Make a Comeback

The global financial meltdown and its concomitant effect on India’s real estate industry had forced developers to defer supply of mall space in 2008. However, in what could be seen as early signs of revival of retail real estate, as many as 100 malls, spread over 30 million sq ft, are expected to come up in 2009 and 2010, according to a report. Though this figure is much lower than what was projected a couple of years ago, analysts say this is finally a positive development, realtors are now more keen on matching supply with demand, placing themselves in strategic locations and offering greater differentiation. An additional 31,846,504-sq ft of mall space will be created across India, according to a report, Mall Realities India 2010, released by retail research group Images in association with the Shopping Centres Association of India, Jones Lang LaSalle Meghraj and Cushman & Wakefield (C&W) India.

The north zone would see the development of 14,790,000 sq ft, of which, Delhi NCR alone is expected to account for 7,645,000 sq ft of mall space. This translates into 45 malls expected in the north zone with 24 in Delhi NCR itself. “The NCR region is huge in terms of area, and residential areas give way to markets. Malls nowadays are not just about shopping. They are leisure centres, with cinema halls, restaurants, beauty parlours and other entertainment avenues. Only malls with a multi-faceted role to suit every pocket will survive,” says Rajeev Talwar, group executive director of New Delhi-based real estate firm DLF. West zone is expected to supply 7,438,504 sq ft through 47 malls. South and east zones would account for 29 malls over 5,865,000 sq ft and 13 malls over 3,753,000 sq ft, respectively.

Says Vikas Oberoi, managing director of Oberoi Constructions, “I think any mall above half a million sq ft will be the order of the day in future. On the outskirts of the city, the size could be over one million sq ft. The advantage of big size is that one can have everything under one roof — food, cinema, fashion, home wear and personal care. Customers would get a wider choice and they would consider it to be a destination mall.” In 2008, 54 per cent of expected mall supply was deferred to 2009-10. Of the proposed 74 malls at the beginning of first quarter of 2008-09, only 34 were delivered by the year-end. At 9.7 million sq ft, Delhi NCR had the largest share of this supply. The credit crunch hit the developers hard, forcing them to put their mall development plans on hold.

“Construction was put on hold because of lack of funding, but as long as there is demand for residential units, there will be a demand for malls. It’s all about the location and positioning of the mall,” explains Snehal Mantri, director (marketing) of Banglaore-based Mantri Developers. The country’s retail sector as a whole has been experiencing significant pressures in terms of cash crunch and depressed sentiments. “Lower or negative revenue growth over last year on same store basis and high rental costs of the stores added in 2007-08 have forced brands/retailers to take a re-look at their real estate portfolio. The main challenge for the sector over the past few quarters has been sustainability,” says Tanuja Pradhan, national head (research services), C&W. Malls across the country have seen a drop of 25-30 per cent in footfalls and 10-15 per cent dip in sales. Mall operators and builders are looking at various options to push profits.

Big retail companies are forging revenue sharing arrangements with mall owners and developers. This is expected to be the model of business relationships between organised retail and property owners in the future. Spencer’s of the RPG group, the People Store chain of the Aditya Birla group and independent retailer Vishal have been able to win over developers who have now agreed to lower rents in lieu of a part of store revenues. Others are looking at various marketing ploys to boost revenues. Automobile company Bhasin Group’s real estate arm has announced a theme mall by the end of March 2010 year in Greater Noida (Delhi’s NCR). The mall, The Grand Venezia is to be built at a cost of Rs 500 crore. It recreates the ambience of Venice with Italian gondolas sailing through a canal located in the heart of the mall with each shop having access to it. It will have a 1.5 million sq ft shopping mall, an office tower, 2-lakh sq ft commercial tower, a 5-star luxury hotel, lifestyle clubs, gaming zone, multiplex and an amphitheatre. In Kolkata, Ambuja Housing Development is planning a mall with a 1,000-sq ft butterfly park on the second level, housing 40 species of butterflies.

Besides, there would also be a 4-screen cineplex, entertainment and food courts, banquet halls, 1,500-car parking area and around 200 small and big retail outlets. The mall will also have a 3-4 star budget hotel with 150 rooms to take advantage of the proximity to the airport, although no brands have yet been finalised. The built-up area of City Centre New Town is 6.8 lakh sq ft and the expected date of completion is September 2009. C&W’s Pradhan advises those looking at the retail sector to focus on 5 Ps — positioning for the brand, pricing for the right tenant mix, packaging for design and interiors, product for the perfect merchandise mix and promotion for malls and brands within malls. Dharmesh Jain, managing director of Mumbai-based Nirmal Lifestyle, sums up the future of India’s mall growth, “At least 80 per cent reduction in mall space is because of slowdown and turmoil in real estate. People who want to enter the business will find it difficult to survive, because the existing ones want to grow bigger. However, I think there will be a shortage of mall space from 2011-12. The economies of scale will come in handy for big malls, the reason why people will be looking for big malls,” he says.

Source : http://www.indianrealtynews.com/real-estate-trends/big-malls-make-a-comeback.html

Realty companies resorting to discounts

MUMBAI: Realty companies are resorting to discounts to sell commercial properties in order to improve cash flows and reduce mounting debts.

DLF, the country’s biggest real estate firm by market capitalisation, has recently sold its 66% stake in a special purpose vehicle that owns eight acres at Prabhadevi in Mumbai for Rs 310 crore, which analysts feel was at a discount.

It is also eyeing to raise around Rs 2,000 crore by selling two commercial properties in the city. Unlisted firm K Raheja Universal recently sold a plot in Santa Cruz in north Mumbai for around Rs 60 crore.

Mumbai is not the only city witnessing distress deals in the commercial property space. Bangalore-based Sobha Developers is learnt to have put a plot in the country’s IT capital on the block with a ticket size of Rs 100 crore. India’s second-largest firm by market cap Unitech, too, is going all out to sell some of its commercial properties to pay down debt.

In the past few months, it has sold its Marriott Courtyard Hotel in Gurgaon for Rs 232 crore and an office property in Saket, New Delhi, for Rs 500 crore.

The combined debt of DLF, Sobha and Unitech is estimated to be at Rs 25,000 crore. Vimal Shah, managing director, Akruti City, a city based real estate firm, said: “While the residential space has started looking up, commercial properties do not have buyers. Many big builders all over India are cautious with their commercial complexes.”
In the past three months the commercial property rates in New Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore have witnessed a 30-45% decline in price. Rates could fall further if analysts are to be believed.

Anuj Puri, country head, Jones Lang LaSalle Meghraj (JLLM), a property advisory firm, said: “It seems that the commercial property market will take at least a year to revive. Presently only the residential market looks stable and their rates may not fall for some time while commercial property could still see some correction in prices.”
“Many big builders have come up with proposals of selling commercial properties in Mumbai and New Delhi,” opined Pravin Doshi, chairman, Acme Group, a Mumbai-based real estate developer.

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/Market-News/Realty-cos-resorting-to-discounts/articleshow/4633546.cms

DLF puts Andheri project on the block

MUMBAI: DLF, India’s largest real estate firm by market capitalisation, is learnt to have put its commercial property in Andheri, a Mumbai suburb,  on the block. This project was being developed with Akruti City, and the asking price for the property is said to be at least Rs 500 crore.

The project is spread over 1 million sq ft in the MIDC area of Andheri. Sources familiar with the development said DLF has approached a couple of Mumbai-based property consultants and brokers to execute the transaction.

According to a senior official at a property consultant firm, the decision to sell the asset was taken a week ago. DLF is also believed to have sounded out prominent builders and individual investors. DLF holds 75% in the project with Akruti holding the rest. This is the second big ticket project that DLF has put on the block in the recent past.

Last month, DLF finalised a deal to sell its stake in Hindoostan Mill in Central Mumbai to a Chennai-based investor for Rs 310 crore.

“DLF, which was developing the project with Akruti, is looking to sell the property for Rs 5,000 per sq ft over the actual cost of construction,” said the official. Interestingly, the prevailing market rate in Andheri is around Rs 10,000 per sq ft.

The rationale behind selling the property at half the price is its size. Currently, the project has only a basement and the ground floor. It is divided into two parts by a road with one part covering 7.16 lakh sq ft, with the balance 2.84 lakh square feet on the other side.

An official with DLF confirmed the deal, though the company spokesperson said, “The company would not like to comment on this issue.” It is not clear whether Akruti too would be selling its stake at this point. When contacted, Vimal Shah, MD, Akruti, refused to comment.

DLF had earlier announced that the project would be ready by the end of this year. The company is believed to be selling it to raise capital to repay its debt of around Rs 14,000 crore. A potential buyer will also have to pay for the construction cost that DLF has incurred. DLF officials had earlier announced that they could raise money by selling portions of the land from their existing land banks.

Source : http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/News-by-Industry/DLF-puts-Andheri-project-on-the-block/articleshow/4614791.cms

DLF, Raheja want to surrender SEZs

MUMBAI: Till last year, Special Economic Zones (SEZs) were the flavour of the season. But for some developers, the downturn in the global economy is  now forcing them to surrender their SEZs despite having received formal approvals from the Centre.

On Tuesday, the Board of Approval of the ministry of commerce and industry in Delhi will deliberate on half a dozen proposals by two developers construction giant DLF and the Mumbai-based K Raheja Universal to denotify their SEZs.

Both the developers have cited global slowdown in the IT sector as reasons for scrapping their SEZs. DLF, the country’s largest real estate company, has requested the Board of Approval to denotify four of its approved SEZs 25 acres in Gujarat, 25 acres at Rai, Sonepat in Haryana, 25 acres in Kolkota and another 25 acres in Bhubaneswar in Orissa.

Raheja Universal controlled by Suresh Raheja, the youngest of the Raheja brothers who split about two decades ago, has requested the board to denotify its 50-acre IT/ITES SEZ in Navi Mumbai and also sought part denotification of a portion of its 30 acre SEZ in the same area.

According to sources, Raheja Universal approached the board with a proposal to surrender its SEZ, citing economic recession in the IT industry. The company has been selling of its land bank for the past several months now.

Last month, the realty company sold its Wallace Flour Mills property at Mazgaon for a substantial loss following pressure from a private bank to shore up its hefty loans.

In DLF’s case, the board in its meeting on Tuesday will consider if the realty major had benefitted from the duty free benefits offered to SEZs and whether it should be returned to the government.

In Maharashtra, as many as 109 SEZs have received a formal go-ahead while another 35 have got in-principle approval by the union ministry of commerce and industry so far. Incidentally, Maharashtra has the largest number of SEZs in the country.

The SEZs which have received formal approvals by the board of approvals in Delhi are cases where the developers have got complete possession and ownership of the land to be developed.

Six of the approved SEZs are located in Mumbai itself. They are Hiranandani Builders’ 31 acres proposed information technology (IT) zone at Powai, Royal Palms India’s 24 acres (IT) in the heart of Aarey Milk Colony in Goregaon (east) and another 24 acres for a gems and jewellery SEZ in the same region, Chiplun Infrastructure’s 99 acres (location not given) for a warehousing zone, Bombay Industrial Corporation’s IT SEZ on 30 acres in Mahul and Ferrani Hotels Private Ltd/Ozone Developers 69 acres for a IT zone in Malad.

Source : http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Business/Builders-surrender-SEZs-after-getting-approvals/articleshow/4605865.cms