Anuj Puri, Chairman, ANAROCK Property Consultants

I had the honour of being featured on the cover of Construction Week magazine this month. It was an incredibly interesting interview with the magazine’s dynamic editor, Jayashree Kini-Mendez.

Here are some excerpts:

What the Indian real estate sector requires today

In my opinion, only disruption can save the day for the Indian real estate sector. Both because of the groundbreaking policy reforms now in place and the changing mindset of real estate consumers, the old ways of doing business simply cannot prevail any longer.

What is required are new ideas, new ways of conducting business, and a far greater focus on accountability and transparency than has been evidenced by the industry so far. ANAROCK Property Consultants is a new benchmark for impeccable values, corporate governance and customer-focus in the Indian real estate space.

On my entrepreneurial streak

If one has it, the entrepreneurial streak is not something that will be denied for very long. I had to fulfil my obligations to my previous firm in the manner which the role required of me,

ANAROCK Property Consultants are exclusive marketing partners

  • 5 typologies of apartments from 1BHK to 3 BHK, only four flats per floor

  • Attractive prices starting from Rs 18 lakh (inclusive of stamp duty, registration and other taxes)

Peninsula Land Limited, a leading corporate real estate developer which is part of the Ashok Piramal Group, today announced its foray into the affordable housing segment with the launch of its new project `addressOne` at a press conference.

Located at Gahunje, Pune, addressOne is spread across 50 acres and is strategically located on the Mumbai-Pune expressway, next to the MCA cricket stadium.

addressOne will be exclusively marketed by ANAROCK Property Consultants, who also launched an exclusive report on Gahunje’s growth from fringe area to growth precinct.

Download the report here: https://bit.ly/2Hbyqes

addressOne‘s strategic location just off the Mumbai Pune Expressway connects the project to Hinjawadi, which is less than 10 km away. In its first phase,

But is it enough? ANAROCK’S latest real estate research report provides critical data and insights

 Anuj Puri, Chairman – ANAROCK Property Consultants

Although sustainable real estate is still in a nascent stage in the country, India is actually one of the leading counties when it comes to green buildings development.

In fact, India ranks only second after the U.S. in terms of the number of green technology projects and built-up area.

As of September 2017, more than 4,300 projects utilizing green technology, accounting for approximately 4.7 billion sq.ft. of built-up area, are registered in India as per data shared by IGBC.

True, this is only 5% of the total buildings in India. However, the country’s market for green buildings is expected to double in the next few years and may reach up to 10 billion sq.ft. by as early as 2022 – at a valuation of between US$ 35 billion to US$ 50 billion.

Why India needs green buildings

ANAROCK’s latest real estate research report, Go Green – The Mantra for Sustainable Living,

Press Release

ANAROCK Launches Strategic Channel Partner Business Vertical

Bappaditya Basu appointed as Head – CP Business; new vertical to boost sales reach by 40%

Mumbai, April 2, 2018: India’s leading real estate services firm ANAROCK Property Consultants today announced the appointment of real estate industry veteran Bappaditya Basu as Head of its Channel Partner business.

As the first of its kind in the industry, the Firm’s Channel Partner vertical will focus on forging strategic international and domestic alliances within the residential consultancy space to create India’s largest real estate services network.

Bappaditya Basu, who was formerly National Director of Retail Services at international property consultancy JLL India, has over 15 years of hands-on experience in the real estate business and has operated across India, Sri Lanka and several South Asian countries.

He will be based out of ANAROCK’s Mumbai office and lead a team of seasoned operatives who are highly trained and experienced in channel partner management.

“This is an important appointment, given ANAROCK’s unique business services model and our rapid growth plans,”

Anuj Puri, Chairman – ANAROCK Property Consultants 

Since Mumbai is the commercial and financial capital of India, almost all major Indian corporates, as well as leading Indian PSUs and MNCs, have their offices set up in the city.

Traditionally, Nariman Point in South Mumbai (the traditional Central Business District) was the preferred location for high-grade office occupiers, and therefore commercial office space investors.

However, today Bandra-Kurla Complex (BKC) has emerged as an alternative location to the traditional CBD. It has become more acceptable to MNCs as it offers a better-built environment. The Suburban Business District (SBD) in the North of Mumbai is also a major commercial office market.

Geographically, this micro-market contains all areas in Andheri, Jogeshwari and Juhu. However, a lot of the Grade A office buildings are to be found in the Andheri East area.

In the past, Andheri was known as a ‘suburban district’ which was absorbed by Mumbai city as Greater Bombay. It emerged as one of the prime residential and commercial real estate destinations.

Andheri East is a mixed land use precinct with some of the most prominent hospitality and industrial developments in its vicinity.

Anuj Puri, Chairman – ANAROCK Property Consultants

Gurugram is home to around 1,500 start-ups and is the 4th largest start-up hub in India. As the city hosts the behemoths of the start-up industry, it makes sense to delve a little deeper into this fascinating new office space sector in Millennium City.

Emerging commercial office locations in Gurugram, as also in Bangalore, Navi Mumbai and Hyderabad, have benefited significantly from the Indian start-up euphoria. This trend is likely to continue for some time given the availability of large talent pool and availability of real estate spaces.

The start-up eco-system in India has been a key contributor to the rise in investments and job creation. Many start-ups that commenced operations in later part of the previous decade have already become medium-sized or large companies, particularly if we look at some of the popular e-commerce companies in India today.

From zero contribution to office space take-up, the e-commerce sector today contributes over 3% of the total office space absorption on an annual basis. We expect the growth in this sector to increase over time.

The government initiatives,

Anuj Puri, Chairman – ANAROCK Property Consultants

A quick look at the numbers of the first month of 2018 reveals that the market is changing for good. With new launch sales of 500 units across the top 7 cities of India in January 2018, new launch sales have doubled from December 2017.

This uptick is a major motivational boost to stakeholders who had been grappling with subdued demand for the past few years. Although a couple of months into 2018 are not a major indicator of how the markets will behave during the ensuing months of the year, they surely provide guiding cues.

As ANAROCK’s Annual Residential Report 2017 illustrates, there are certain teething troubles in the sector that is adjusting to the new ways of doing business, and a few trends are likely to stick around in 2018:

A continuing buyers’ market

With the crackdown on black money and benami transactions, stringent norms and compliances under the RERA regime, investors – and, more importantly, speculators – have been pushed out of the market.

The Indian real estate sector was extremely buyer-friendly in 2017 and presented an opportune time to ‘seal the deal.’ This trend is likely to continue in 2018 as well and may,

PRESS RELEASE

Chennai Saw Highest Housing Sales Dip In 2017, Bengaluru Lowest – ANAROCK Report

Unsold inventory decreased by 10% from 8.04 lakh units in Q4 2016 to 7.27 lakh units by Q4 2017

Mumbai, 22 March 2018: Fewer launches, subdued sales and muted property prices defined 2017 for the Indian residential real estate sector, according to a detailed report by ANAROCK Property Consultants.

With an annual decline of almost 50% in new launches and 15% decline in sales across top 7 cities in India, the sector was effectively shattered in 2017.

“A spate of policy reforms and structural changes literally crippled the sector,” says Anuj Puri, Chairman – ANAROCK Property Consultants. “Simultaneously and consequentially, it transitioned rapidly into a transparent and buyer-friendly one. With only end-users left to drive the market and investors more or less evaporating completely, developers throttled back severely on new launches to allow the market more scope to absorb the already staggering unsold inventory.”

2017’s Depressed New Launch Readings

  • The top 7 cities recorded new unit launches of around 26 lakh in 2017 as opposed to 2.50 lakh in 2016.

Speculator-driven NCR & MMR saw sales drop by 68% and 27% since 2013-14

Anuj Puri, Chairman – ANAROCK Property Consultants

From observing residential market trends over the past five years, it clearly emerges that 2013-14 was the last year where things still looked vibrant for the sector. Housing sales began plummeting after that, and there is no clear revival in sight as yet.

A quick trends assessment for the past 5 years reveals that during 2013-2014, an average of 3.3 lakh units was sold annually. Thereafter, with too many project launches facing off with decreasing demand, unsold inventory began piling up across the top 7 cities of India.

Housing sales dropped significantly in the 2015-2016 period. On an average, only 2.7 lakh units were sold across top 7 cities of India during 2015-16, recording a significant drop of 17% from the average sales of 2013-14.

When demonetization hit the nation during the 4th quarter of 2016, the situation turned from grave to savage. Immediately after the demonetization impact, the real estate sector was battered with RERA and GST which severely shook up the sector.

Anuj Puri, Chairman – ANAROCK Property Consultants 

Ready Reckoner (RR) rates indicate the value of land or residential and commercial properties of an area determined by the state government and are published annually.

RR rates vary as per the area under consideration and the available infrastructure facilities. They have an impact on the stamp duty on property transactions, and concurrently on the revenue mop-up of the state government.

They also directly impact the market value of the properties. Change in the RR rates also influences the real estate construction cost and additional charges towards any transaction.

Pune’s RR Rates

The RR rates of Pune are proposed to be hiked by 3% this year, and the final announcement is expected to come by April 1, 2018.

The proposed hike is marginal compared to the previous years – the rates were increased by 13% in 2010, in 2011 by 27%, in 2012 by 17%, in 2013 by 12%, in 2014 by 13%, in 2015 by 15% and in 2016-17 by 7%.

As per the governing authority, the hike was based on detailed surveys undertaken by the town planning department.