Santhosh Kumar, Author at Anuj Puri

Top Property Investment Hotspots 2018 – West And North India

Santhosh Kumar, Vice Chairman – ANAROCK Property Consultants

Real estate is a dynamic industry where things can change from year to year and even from quarter to quarter. The Indian real estate market has certainly been in flux after the recent policy upheavals. As such, investment decisions must necessarily move with the times.

Here are 2018’s top-ranking real estate investment hotspots in West and North India.

West India

Beyond a doubt, the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR) and Pune have remained West India’s most favourable cities for real estate investment in 2018. The MMR realty market has regained a lot of momentum over the last few quarters, with both sales and new supply increasing q-o-q.

MMR: As per ANAROCK data, out of the total new supply of approximately 50,100 units across the top 7 cities (NCR, MMR, Chennai, Bengaluru, Pune, Kolkata and Hyderabad) in Q2 2018, MMR saw maximum new launches with nearly 13,600 new units entering the market. There was a 59% increase in this new supply as against Q1 2018. On the sales front too,

by Santhosh Kumar

Santhosh Kumar, Vice Chairman – ANAROCK Property Consultants

10-12% increase in the number of buyers in the secondary real estate since DeMo
Property values in secondary market reduced by as much as 5-10% over primary market

The issue of transparency in secondary or resale real estate transactions has indeed been on everyone’s minds ever since RERA stepped in to rescue the primary or first sale-by-developer market.

The question that looms large is – have the Government’s moves to clean up the sector benefited the resale (or secondary sales) market as well?

Overall, the Central Government has put in tremendous efforts towards creating a healthier and regulated real estate market environment.

Implementation of policies like DeMo, RERA, GST, REITs, the Benami Transactions (Prohibition) Amendment Act, 2016 and the Pradhan Mantri Awaas Yojana (PMAY), among others, have brought fresh hope.

At the same time, the Indian real estate market has also witnessed other interesting new trends – a prominent one being the increased demand for ready-to-move-in properties. Various factors were responsible for this rise.

by Santhosh Kumar

Santhosh Kumar, Vice Chairman – ANAROCK Property Consultants

For a very long time, real estate developers and investors focused almost exclusively on the metros and tier 1 cities, as these were considered the safest bets for sales and returns on investment. After all, these cities were generating the most employment and therefore inward migration.

As a result, the metros and tier 1 cities across India are currently experiencing the immense pressure of overpopulation due to urban migration in search of better livelihood and enhanced quality of life, thus resulting in an inadequate infrastructure for the citizens.

The Smart Cities Mission, launched in 2015, aims to tackle the escalating problems being faced in urban areas with regards to transportation, energy supply, governance, basic urban infrastructure services and overall quality of life.

Although the mission is trying to address these issues to a certain extent, the challenges of remodelling India’s tier 1 cities into smart cities are considerable, as many of them have reached their saturation point.

Tier 2/3 cities stage a comeback

As a result, more and more real estate demand and supply are now drifting down towards tier 2 and tier 3 cities of the country.

by Santhosh Kumar

Santhosh Kumar, Vice Chairman – ANAROCK Property Consultants

Gurugram Residential Real Estate

The Millennium City of Gurugram has a very prominent place on India’s residential real estate map and is considered a bellwether of the state of the market for NCR.

If we study what happened in the city’s housing market in the first quarter of 2018 against the same period in 2017, some interesting changes emerge.

Pricing

Q1 2018– The weighted average price for housing properties launched between January to May in 2018 is INR 4580/sq.ft.
Q1 2017– The weighted average price for housing properties launched between January to May in 2017 was INR 4,300/sq.ft.

In other words, we are seeing an uptick in pricing for newly-launched housing projects in Gurugram, in line with the returning end-user demand as a result of improving market transparency.

Launches

In Q1 2018, approximately 4,100 new units have been launched in Gurugram,

by Santhosh Kumar

Santhosh Kumar, Vice Chairman – ANAROCK Property Consultants

Despite being hit by the overall slowdown in the real estate market and seeing price corrections up to 10% in most areas, Delhi-NCR continues to be attractive to end-users and investors. Being the national capital, Delhi attracts migrants from all across the country.

In fact, as per the Economic Survey of 2017, Delhi, Noida, Greater Noida and Gurugram saw the maximum influx of migrants between 2001 and 2011. Obviously, there is a dire need to fulfil the housing needs of these migrants.

As per ANAROCK data, the housing supply in Delhi over the last two years has been fairly low as compared to its counterparts – Gurugram and Noida. This is essentially due to demand-supply mismatch; there is massive demand for affordable housing in the city, while property prices in most pockets of the city have skyrocketed.

Consequently, the pockets that offer affordable or mid-segment projects have been performing relatively better than the expensive ones – such as Greater Kailash II, Panchsheel Park and South Extension II, to name a few.

In 2018 as well,

by Santhosh Kumar

Santhosh Kumar, Vice Chairman – ANAROCK Property Consultants

You read of it in advertisements and on hoardings, and hear of it in radio jingles and TV commercials – the ideal home, or ‘dream home’.

It makes you wonder if you’re living the lifestyle you truly deserve, if your previous home purchase decision was too hasty and if there is a chance you could do better.

The ‘ideal home’ is a ubiquitous marketing concept, and it haunts buyers before and after a property purchase. But is there really such a thing in India?

The ‘Ideal Home’ Paradox

By and large, the concept of an ‘ideal’ home is very relative in this country. While everyone carries a picture of their dream home in their hearts, that image usually cannot translate into reality in this country.

People long to stay close to nature, yet also close to the excitement and opportunities of the city. They long for a home in an environment unpolluted by noise and vehicle emissions, yet depend heavily on public transport and roads to use their personal vehicles for commuting to and from work.

by Santhosh Kumar

Santhosh Kumar, Vice Chairman – ANAROCK Property Consultants

Chennai, the capital of Tamil Nadu, is one of the biggest cultural, economic and educational centres in South India.

Mercer’s Quality of Living Survey noted Chennai as the safest city in India and is exemplified by the fact that it has the third-largest expatriate population in the country.

Also justifiably called the ‘Detroit of India’, Chennai has over one-third of India’s automobile industry operating there.

Chennai has grown significantly in the last few years. Education prospects and employment opportunities, along with a decent lifestyle, are the key drivers that attract people to the city.

With increasing population, the city’s real estate landscape has also grown by leaps & bounds and is now spread across various zones of Chennai.

Whilst the real estate development paused momentarily due to massive floods of 2015, the fundamental demand drivers remain intact and the city is likely to continue on its growth trajectory in the future periods, reinforced by:

Diversified economic base

Chennai’s diversified economic base is anchored by the automobile,

by Santhosh Kumar

Santhosh Kumar, Vice Chairman – ANAROCK Property Consultants

One of the interesting new trends in Kolkata’s residential real estate market has been the entry of new players. The capital values of residential realty have seen a price increase in Q4-2017 ranging from 2 to 3% as compared to Q3-2017.

A number of upscale multi-storied projects were launched in 2017 in the southern part of the city – for e.g. Tata 88 east, Mani Vista, Signum Victoria Vistas, Aspirations Elegance and Onex Privy. The capital values of these projects were in the range of INR 8,000 to 12,000/sf.

Effect of demonetization

As everywhere else in the country, demonetization had some effect on Kolkata’s residential sector. However, since Kolkata’s residential sector is largely end-user driven, the effect of demonetization was not very severe, as the buyers are willing to wait for the market to stabilize.

In the office asset class, there has been no major impact due to demonetization. However, leasing demand has certainly reduced post-demonetization.

Top-selling residential projects

Kolkata’s residential property market is seeing a splurge in supply – which,

by Santhosh Kumar

Santhosh Kumar, Vice Chairman – ANAROCK Property Consultants

The Golf Course Extension Road has emerged as one of the most sought-after residential corridors of Gurugram.

While not being priced as high as the neighbouring Golf Course Road, it offers multiple apartment options for the upper-mid segment moving up the value chain to luxury housing options as well.

This residential corridor has seen more than 8,500 residential apartment units launched overall, and many of them are in advanced stages of construction. Around 2,500 residential units have been delivered here with another 2,600 slated for completion by 2019-end.

This residential market has a good mix of end-user as well as the investor segment who have in the past achieved healthy capital appreciation across their investment/purchases. The healthy completions pipeline had also resulted in a robust secondary sales market in this corridor.

The consistent price appreciation on Golf Course Extension Road caused sales to dampen slightly, and the overall slow market for high-ticket sized apartments has also impacted the sales velocity in this corridor.

by Santhosh Kumar

Santhosh Kumar, Vice Chairman – ANAROCK Property Consultants

When the scion of one of the world’s most iconic real estate brands comes to India to help market yet another luxury homes project – this time in the Millennium City of Gurgaon – the market sits up and takes notice.

By all standards, the upcoming Trump Towers are a sizeable undertaking – the 47-storey towers will put 250 exclusive units on the market, with completion and possession slated for 2023.

As can be expected from such an iconic development by a brand that has already made a strong imprint in Mumbai, Pune and Kolkata, the price tags are astronomic, ranging from INR 55-110 million.

This gives rise to a logical question – at a time when the luxury housing market in India has yet to pull itself out of the doldrums, is there any appetite for such an offering? Let’s examine some facts.

In the Asia Pacific region, India ranks 4th in the list of countries with largest HNI population. The HNI stratum of the Indian population largely remains shielded from the macroeconomic risks,

Top Property Investment Hotspots 2018 – West And North India

How The Resale Property Market Has Benefited From Policy Interventions

Smart City Mission – Tier 2 and Tier 3 Cities Take the Lead

Gurugram Real Estate – Q1 2018 vs Q1 2017

Delhi-NCR Real Estate – The Growth Story Continues

Busting the Myth Of The ‘Ideal Home’

Chennai’s Hottest Property Investment Hotspots

Kolkata Real Estate – A Real-Time Update

A Quick Look at Golf Course Extension Road, Gurugram

The Trump Effect On Gurgaon’s Luxury Housing Market