Indias real estate developers are focusing on mid-income residential developments amid calls for liquidity and finance at lower rates, according to a survey.
Research conducted by Cityscape intelligence establishes that lower interest rates are key to affordable housing. The survey also revealed that many of Indias top real estate developers are beginning to change their business strategy away from luxury or high-end projects.
It has been said many times before the demand for low cost affordable housing in India is undeniable. However prices need to be realistic to begin with and mortgages affordable as well. Sentiment could be the only stumbling block, which if removed could energise Indias entire real estate sector, said Graham Wood, Exhibition Director, Cityscape India. Meanwhile, The Cityscape India 2008 Real Estate event takes place in Mumbai on December 8 to 10. The event launched in 2007 provides the countrys real estate sector, with a networking platform where domestic developers can source international investment contacts, according to a Press release.
More : khaleejtimes.com
Real estate giant HDIL to sell off 4.5 million square feet
In a sign of the times, the countrys third largest real-estate player, Housing Development and Infrastructure Limited (HDIL), has offered to sell off three of its plots totalling about 4.5 million square feet. Analysts say the rare move shows the extent of liquidity crunch in the realty market where no developer normally takes the extreme step of off-loading valuable land stock.
The plots along with their potential Floor Space Index amounts to 1.5 million sq ft saleable land at Andheri, 2.5 million sq ft at Kurla and 63,000 sq ft at Carmichael Road in the upmarket Malabar hill area. At present, the Carmichael Road plot houses a bungalow.
The Kurla plot is a portion of the 53 acres acquired by HDIL to rehabilitate 20,000 of the 85,000 slum-dwellers families, in Phase I of the massive Mumbai Airport Slum Rehabilitation project.
More : indianexpress.com
Kamat Hotels acquires property in Orissa
Kamat Hotels India announced that the company has acquired a Hotel property situated at Bhubaneswar, Dist. Khurda, Odisha (Orissa) thus keeping with the companies growth plans.
The company said that the purchase marks its presence in the Odisha State and is likely to enhance the operations of the company.
The company operates the five-star hotel The Orchid with 245 rooms; the four-star Lotus Suites with 190 rooms, Vital Kamats Restaurant, Rambhau Mhalgi Prabodini, and Catering Institute in and around Mumbai; the Kamat Hotels (Q, N,C,F)* Siddharth in Nasik with 32 rooms; and the recently opened The Orchid Heritage in Pune with 40 rooms.
Shares of the company declined Rs 0.1, or 0.21%, to settle at Rs 49. The total volume of shares traded was 600 at the BSE (Wednesday).
Source : myiris.com
StanChart buys Rs 750-cr property
At a time when commercial property prices are declining and developers struggling to raise funds, multinational bank Standard Chartered has bought close to 2.5 lakh sq ft of office space in Mumbais Bandra-Kurla Complex (BKC) for Rs 750 crore. StanChart purchased the property from first-time developer PD Developers at around Rs 30,000 a sq ft.
Though the deal is one of the largest in recent times, the rate is at least 33% less than the previous transaction in the same area. Around eight months ago, British Council had bought commercial property from Naman Developers for around Rs 45,000 per sq ft in BKC, indicating that at the right price, there is still scope for property transactions.
When contacted, a StanChart spokesperson said: The bank purchased nearly 1,47,000 net sq ft, spread over 4.5 floors in a new building called Crescenzo in BKC. This office will house the global markets dealing room and the majority of the wholesale bank. We expect to occupy the building by the fourth quarter of 2009.
More : economictimes.indiatimes.com
Real estate giant to sell off 4.5mn sq ft
In a sign of the times, the countrys third largest real estate player, Housing Development and Infrastructure Limited (HDIL), has offered to sell off three of its plots totalling about 4.5 million square feet.
Analysts say the rare move shows the extent of liquidity crunch in the realty market where no developer normally takes the extreme step of off-loading valuable land stock.
The plots along with their potential Floor Space Index amounts to 1.5 million sq ft saleable land at Andheri, 2.5 million sq ft at Kurla and 63,000 sq ft at Carmichael Road in the upmarket Malabar hill area. At present, the Carmichael Road plot houses a bungalow.
More : expressindia.com
Luxury duplex apartments in Mumbai left without buyers
Duplex apartments in a posh Mumbai neighbourhood that could cost Rs100 crore and offer stunning views of the Arabian Sea have failed to find a single buyer in eight months, reflecting the telling impact of a realty slowdown.
Morarka Bungalow on 29, Nepean Sea Road, in south Mumbai, not far from Altamount Road—recently tagged the worlds 10th most expensive street by Wealth Bulletin published by News Corp.—is being rebuilt from a palatial colonial bungalow into a high-rise. At Rs80,000 per sq. ft, each of the 12,000 sq. ft duplexes in the building would cost some Rs100 crore.
The project, however, currently does not have any takers. The last sale was reported in February, when two duplexes were sold in the building. Sea-facing residences have always been in great demand in the city, more so given their extremely short supply. Most are sold privately by invitation only.
More : livemint.com
GIS-based mapping ready to start soon
After a delay of almost a year, the financial capital is finally set to have Geographical Information System (GIS) enabled maps that will not only record the citys 3 lakh properties but will also mark every road, tree, dustbin and manhole in a locality alongside the vital installations. This will allow Mumbaiites to view these details on a map at the click of a mouse even as the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation is able to keep an eye on property tax defaulters, water leakages and miscreants who regularly encroach on or rupture the citys pipelines.
However, it will be another two years before the facility is finally ready.
Starting with the one of the smallest wards, mostly B Ward in South Mumbai, the pilot project for the GIS map and property mapping is expected to begin in the next four months.
More : expressindia.com
MayFair Group to set up high - end boutique property in South Goa
The MayFair Hotels & Resorts Ltd has very recently taken over a three star property in South Goa called Betul Beach Resort. The take over now provides the MayFair Group with all authority to restructure, manage and operate the property.
Talking to TravelBiz Monitor, Dilip Ray, Chairman, MayFair Hotels & Resorts Ltd. disclosed, We took over the property last week. Considering that it is an existing property, we will completely refurbish the hotel to upgrade it to a high-end boutique hotel in South Goa. We are also awaiting approval for an additional five to six acres of land, which we have identified close to the property; it will sport our villas.
Work on the 32-room Betul Beach Resort will begin from early next month. The project is estimated to be complete by June 2009 so that the Group has the levy of catching the next season. Each 400 sq. ft. room will be redesigned. The property will boast of the Pevonia Spa, as well. Plans are also afoot to build villas with individual swimming pools once the additional land is acquired. Post acquisition of the additional land, the Group plans to build around 20-30 additional rooms, taking the total room inventory to around 60 rooms.
More : hospitalitybizindia.com
Church trust, school battle it out over property rights
The Bombay Diocesan Trust Association (BDTA), custodian of Anglican Church properties in the city, is locked in a tussle with the management of a 95-year-old school in central Mumbai over the right to develop the schools property.
After initially permitting the school to go ahead with its development plan, the BDTA, in a turnaround, has been trying to sell the property TDR to private developers.
In a series of reports last month, DNA had exposed how the various factions in the BDTA were disposing of church property illegally. The lands actually belonged to the central government and its agencies like the defence ministry.
More : dnaindia.com
Gulf buyers to boost Indian real estate market
Indias property investment market could get a major boost from Gulf-based buyers at an upcoming homes exhibition.
Cityscape India, being held in Mumbai from from December 8 to 10, is expected to attract interest from across the globe with a range of talks and stands.
Dubai-based developer Limitless is among companies exhibiting at the event and banking on a long-term recovery of Indias property market.
More : offplanpropertyexchange.com
Molinaro Koger to Sell Le Méridien Piccadilly On behalf of Lehman/Starwood JV
London, England; Starman Hotels, a hotel investment joint venture between affiliates of Lehman Brothers and Starwood Capital Group, has assigned Molinaro Koger to sell the five star Le Méridien hotel on Piccadilly, in central London. The historic Grade II listed 267-room property will be sold subject to a management agreement with Starwood Hotels & Resorts and will continue to operate as a Le Méridien hotel.
Despite the financial uncertainty, there is a great deal of interest in this property, which is in a particularly coveted location, says Eric Kudlak, Managing Director Europe, Molinaro Koger.
While perceived as one of the worlds leading destinations, London presents investors with extremely high barriers to entry. Lack of potential development land limits the opportunity to enter the central London market and conversion opportunities are rare and usually demand major capital improvements.
More : hospitalitynet.org
Kolkatans eye realty overseas
Want to buy a villa on a beach in Spain or Italy? Yes, it is no longer a dream as real estate prices have crashed in Europe, North America and South-East Asia following the global meltdown. So, buying a property in dream destinations is now a reality.
Forget about cash-rich Mumbai, Delhi or neo-rich Bangalore, overseas property dealers are getting a good response from Kolkata, too. Buoyed by that, they have started setting up offices in the city.
Sanjay Buthra (name changed), a steel merchant at Salt Lake, has already contacted overseas property dealers to buy property in the US. An apparel showroom owner from Park Street wants to buy a commercial property in Singapore while Suranjan Chatterjee, a top executive of an IT firm in Salt Lake, wants to buy a luxury villa in Spain.
More : timesofindia.indiatimes.com
Realtors double broker commission
Tony Fernandez (name changed), a property broker in Borivali in suburban Mumbai, recounts this story with some sadness. Two years ago, when he was selling a flat to a retired person, there was a delay in payment because of some paperwork.
As a result, the buyer had to pay some interest amount to the builder. While making the final payment, including the interest component, there was a shortfall of Rs 5,000. When the buyer requested for a month s time to pay that amount, the builder called him a liar.
Today, the same builder calls up Fernandez every day to enquire if there are buyers for his new building. Even a year ago, builders would not bother to call us up and would give us some paltry sum as brokerage. Today, they are willing to offer up to 2 per cent and another 0.5 per cent, if we can sell more than two flats, says Fernandez.
More : business-standard.com
Dhanarak poised for major role in property development
Dhanarak Asset Development expects to develop 50 billion baht in public property over the next three to five years, according to managing director Surachai Eamvachirasakul. In the future, we expect to become the largest property developer in the country, Mr Surachai said.
With the economy expected to slow sharply due to the global economic crisis, policymakers are already planning to ramp up public spending to help keep the economy moving.
Dhanarak, a state enterprise under the Treasury Department, is already managing one of the largest single property projects in the country, the 19-billion-baht civil service complex on Chaeng Watthana Road. The project, covering 1.1 million square metres, will provide office space to two dozen government agencies and is currently 80% complete.
More : bangkokpost.com
Piramal Sunteck seeks staggered payment option for Mumbai plots
Starlight Systems, a unit of Piramal Sunteck Realty, has sought a four-year staggered payment option to pay Rs 496 crore for two plots it won in the financial district of Mumbai in the last financial year.
Starlight bagged two residential plots at the Bandra Kurla Complex (BKC) from the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) in March.
According to the rules, a winning bidder has to make payments for the plots after the date of allotment, which will be decided by MMRDA. The company received its allotment letter from MMRDA in mid-September, after a delay of almost six months.
More : business-standard.com
Lenders push builders to start selling
Financiers have started talking tough with Indian property firms in trying to salvage the money they had lent. Sell-before-its-too-late is a point that some of the big lenders are driving home, while a few overseas funds which had committed equity investments in tranches have gone into arbitration to wriggle out of the promise.
Most builders were prompt with interest payments till September 30. But lenders now fear that many would default in the December quarter or may be even earlier. A large builder has already failed to pay interest to a foreign fund, which had purchased the structured securities at the peak of the property boom.
Banks and institutions have lent over Rs 75,000 crore to Indian builders. This does not include around Rs 25,000 crore worth of bonds and debt papers which mutual funds had bought. While the total value of land and properties held as collateral is more than the outstanding loan, its still cold comfort. If builders start defaulting in a big way, the lenders will be left holding huge tracts of land amid crashing property prices.
More : economictimes.indiatimes.com
Prices are realistic, says housing body
Three weeks after Deepak Parekh, HDFC chairman, exhorted developers to wake up to the changing property market scenario, the Maharashtra Chamber of Housing and Industry (MCHI) continues to be mulish that the realty prices are at a realistic level and does not warrant correction.
Pravin Doshi, MCHI president, told DNA, on the eve of a property fair beginning on Thursday, that though the demand had gone down, Mumbai market was not grossly overpriced, which is what trends indicate.
Construction costs have gone up from Rs800 to Rs1,800 per sq ft in the past two years. Land prices are high. Sales are affected due to market sentiments of the global property crisis, which will revive in a few months, Doshi said.
More : dnaindia.com
Indian property prices need to fall
International property consultants have called for reduction in residential property prices in Indian, as a consequence of a fall in demand, which is down by up to 40% across some parts of the country during the last three months.
Purchaser demand is reported to have fallen on the back of unaffordable prices, appreciating interest and borrowing rates, as well as a weakening economy, among other factors.
Developers must now be ready to lower their selling prices in order to revive demand. Once this happens, we will see a definite upswing in residential real estate sales again, said Anuj Puri, head of Jones Lang LaSalle Meghraj (JLLM).
More : homesoverseas.co.uk
StanC in talks for mega office space
At a time when the property market faces a slowdown , Standard Chartered Bank is at an advanced stage of negotiations to acquire 1.47 lakh sq ft of office space in an upcoming building called Crescenzo at BKC, it is learnt.
Sources say the bank, which has been scouting for a much larger floor space, has shown interest in buying outright the third, fourth, fifth and six floors of the building being constructed by Parinee Developers Pvt Ltd.
For the past couple of days, the real estate market has been agog with rumours that the bank is shelling out Rs 45,000 a sq ft. However, this rate has been denied by the bank officials as well as the developer.
More : timesofindia.indiatimes.com
Interview-Adlabs exiting film production, opts for services
Adlabs Films Ltd (ADLF.BO: Quote, Profile, Research) is exiting movie production to focus more on post-production services and expand its exhibition business, Anil Arjun, chief executive officer, said on Tuesday.
The business of film services is a lot more standard, stable and balanced portfolio rather than banking on two films in the quarter. I would say its more stable, less capital intensive, he told Reuters in an interview.
Adlabs, which became part of the Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group (ADAG) in 2005, began offering digital intermediate (DI) services such as colour grading and refinement for films in the first quarter, earning about 5 million rupees a film, he said.
More : in.reuters.com