Anuj Puri – Page 21

Unchanged Repo Rates Astute From All Angles

Anuj Puri, Chairman – ANAROCK Property Consultants

The recent stand-off between the government and the RBI owing to the NBFC crisis and the apex bank’s endeavour to maintain its autonomy and reserves had caused the industry to watch closely whether the repo rate will increase or remain unchanged.

That said, today’s move by the RBI to keep the repo rate unchanged at 6.5% was more or less expected. This was not solely because inflation targets are still under control.

Politically, an upward revision would not have served the current Government well as the 2019 elections are around the corner. From the economic standpoint, a hike in repo rates would have had a direct impact on home loan rates.

High housing loan interest rates are known deterrents to many buyers, especially in the affordable segment where higher interest rates can and do weaken sentiment.

Any move to further discourage customers from availing of bank credit would ultimately exacerbate the liquidity crunch and adversely impact the economy.

From that perspective, the unchanged repo rate will at least keep the demand for housing loans at status quo.

The RBI obviously needs to maintain an adequate buffer for the economy – especially in light of the massive changes that are likely to come about in the next few months in form of REITs and SPVs.

by Anuj Puri

Anuj Puri, Chairman – ANAROCK Property Consultants

It is still too early to provide hard numbers of 2018 festive season’s property sales numbers as it is yet to conclude. Also, sales numbers are usually collated by the end of the fourth quarter.

However, trends in recent years suggest that the entire fourth quarter of the calendar year is seen as an auspicious time wherein housing sales rise. Considering the q-o-q trends in 2018, sales numbers have increased across the major cities.

For instance, housing sales in Q3 2018 increased by 9% as against the preceding quarter. In comparison to Q3 2017, sales increased by 15% in a year across the top 7 cities.

If we go by these numbers and look at the current scenario, we can expect sales to go up by 9-12% in Q4 2018 (the festive season quarter) as against Q3 2018. However, the ongoing liquidity crisis in Indian real estate could, to come extent, play spoilsport for developers this festive season.

While sales numbers have been increasing q-o-q, there is no significant change noted in the number of inquiries seen during this festive season so far.

by Anuj Puri

Anuj Puri, Chairman – ANAROCK Property Consultants

4.25 lakh housing units ready-to-move-in in top & cities
Only 5% buyers will consider under-construction projects

RERA was supposed to save the day for homebuyers, but that doesn’t seem to have happened – at least not yet. In many states RERA, in its present form, is currently either non-existent or a pale shade of what it was intended to be. It is a fact that RERA has been diluted in some states to favour developers while in a few others it hasn’t even been deployed yet.

RERA’s primary area of focus is under-construction properties. After all, this is the area where buyers had been facing the most challenges on account of project delays, project plan deviations and various other issues.

As things stand now, states like Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, Karnataka, Punjab, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan have the benefit of operational RERA, but even in these states, the registration numbers are far from motivating.

While Maharashtra comes out on top with over 18,300 projects registered under it, other states where RERA has been implemented are lagging far behind.

by Anuj Puri

Anuj Puri, Chairman – ANAROCK Property Consultants

Housing sales jumped by nearly 8% in the first 3 quarters of 2018
NBFC crisis hijacks Indian real estate’s growth story, fallout into 2019
General elections will play a role in the sector’s fate in 2019

As we embark on the final lap of this calendar year, it is appropriate to take a quick glimpse of what has happened in the Indian real estate sector during a highly tumultuous 2018.

Given the RBI’s alternating cautious and proactive stance towards managing the overall economy, it remains to be seen if 2018 will bring any further surprises for the real estate sector. If not, we can expect fairly steady sailing until the end of the year.

2018 So Far

Residential Real Estate

The year 2018 brought with it a new ray of hope for the residential sector, with both sales and new supply gradually picking up across the top 7 Indian cities – Bengaluru, National Capital Region (NCR),

by Anuj Puri

Anuj Puri, Chairman – ANAROCK Property Consultants

The festive season is considered auspicious for property purchase and Indians across many states prefer to make informed property buying decisions during this period.

To encash on the increased demand during the festive season, builders, on their part, leave no stone unturned to lure customers with freebies and discounts.

Over the last few years, mounting unsold stock across cities prompted developers to clear their stock and focus more on project completion rather than launch new ones.

Festive Season Offers

This year, launches have increased, and many builders have, in fact, been offering schemes, freebies and discounts all year long to attract home buyers.

Some of the prominent offers include cash discounts, flexi-payment plans, no registration or stamp duty fees, no EMIs till possession, free home appliances or gold coins, etc.

A lot is up for grabs and it is interesting to note the variations in festive discounts. Cash-starved developers are also coming up with some very innovative and attractive schemes.

If we analyse the trends during the year and previous festive season,

by Anuj Puri

Anuj Puri, Chairman – ANAROCK Property Consultants

Technology has disrupted almost every facet of the real estate business today. However, the creation of the core product is and will remain the most important aspect of this business, and advanced technologies are certainly playing a major role there.

By adopting innovative technologies like automation in construction, innovative designs, sustainability, use of prefabricated material and online marketing, developers can value-engineer their product.

Let’s look at some of the existing and upcoming technology disruptions in real estate construction.

3D Printing

Among the many new technologies already adopted by the construction sector, 3D Printing (large-scale printing of homes) is anticipated to change the way real estate is built over the next decade.

Though still very nascent, 3D Printing can potentially replace a substantial amount of construction across major segments, including residential, commercial or even retail.

This will be a massive paradigm shift in real estate development. Apart from seriously reducing waste, cost and labour requirements, 3D printing will help builders penetrate the hitherto inaccessible areas of dense urban centres,

by Anuj Puri

Anuj Puri, Chairman – ANAROCK Property Consultants & HVS ANAROCK

There’s a popular saying in India – Athithi Devo Bhava –meaning the guest is God. Backed by this popular belief and the rising business prospects due to the significant growth of the Indian travel industry, homestays have today become a viable option for both travellers and its owners alike.

For the guest, it’s a home away from home that is nicely tucked into the greens or high up in the hills, in the remotest hinterlands. For the property owner, it’s a lucrative income source.

Numbers suggest that India’s travel market is projected to grow at an annual rate of 11-11.5% and will be worth $48 bn by 2020. Homestays are indisputably one of the means to cater to this growing demand. Rising disposable incomes, focused government measures to boost the travel industry and the growing appetite for travel is accelerating this growth.

In fact, India saw a 15.6% annual increase in foreign tourist arrivals in CY 2017 as against the previous year. Business tourism too is expected to grow three-fold by 2030 from $30 bn in 2015.

by Anuj Puri

It’s not exactly raining investments in the Indian real estate sector right now, but the increasing number of large-size investments give a ray of hope

Deals worth over $1.5 billion in H1 2018
‘Housing for All by 2022’ will attract US$ 1.3 trillion into residential by 2025
First REIT listings a sure-fire draw for liquidity infusions into office assets

Anuj Puri, Chairman – ANAROCK Property Consultants

The ancient Chinese curse ‘may you live in interesting times’ certainly has a lot of pertinence to Indian real estate today. These are doubtlessly ‘interesting’ times for the sector, which has transformed significantly over the last decade.

The pace of transformation has been accelerated further by the Central Government’s reformative steps aimed at ushering in ‘Acche Din’ to the realty sector.

Whether or not that has happened to the expected extent is debatable – but certainly, a new regulatory environment is being created with the implementation of several disruptive policies.

The Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act,

by Anuj Puri

Anuj Puri, Chairman – ANAROCK Property Consultants

Hyderabad’s residential demand has witnessed a significant increase due to rising employment opportunities and positive market outlook, which were just marginally affected by policy changes including DeMo, RERA and GST.

ANAROCK Property Consultants’ report ‘Hyderabad: The Bright Spot in Indian Real Estate’ analyzes the city’s major real estate trends and highlights that the city has emerged as one of the most sought-after residential destinations in the country.

The city is experiencing a phenomenal spurt in residential real estate activity with appreciating capital values and increase in retail and office space absorption from 2014 to 2018.

Policy support from local government to strengthen the socio-economic indicators has largely attracted investments post-2014.

Hyderabad Real Estate Supply-Absorption Trends

Absorption in Hyderabad increased by 21% in 2017 as against the previous year due to positive market sentiments coupled with growing IT workforce mainly in the western zone. The absorption in Q1 2018 is at par with the new supply being pumped into the market.
The unsold inventory in the city has been declining gradually since 2017.

by Anuj Puri

Anuj Puri, Chairman – ANAROCK Property Consultants

Technology is disrupting different industries across the world, and real estate cannot be far behind.

Already, real estate consultants have moved beyond the traditional ways of prospecting, with the Internet opening up the market in unprecedented ways and taking a lot of the footwork out of finding property options.

As much as 70% of modern real estate consultancies’ prospects are today acquired through digitally-obtained leads.

As big data and analytics become more integrated with the property brokerage industry, such consultancies are now ‘cracking the code’ by in many innovative ways, including:

Obtaining and feeding deal and bid information into their company’s central repository at the tap of a few buttons
Instantly matching customers’ requirements with the available options
Tracking data on projects’ construction progress and regulatory compliances in real time as and sales figures information

If we look at the larger picture of technology use in the real estate business, various new avenues and means of doing business are going to open up. Let us, for example, take crowdfunding.

Crowdfunding in Real Estate

Crowdfunding could emerge as a new way for real estate consultancies to add value both to developers and their customers.

Unchanged Repo Rates Astute From All Angles

How Real Estate Fared in Festive Season 2018

Ready-to-move Vs. Under-construction – Caveat Emptor!

India Real Estate – The 2018 Story So Far

Residential Real Estate

Should You Buy a Home this Festive Season?

5 Technologies Disrupting the Construction Sector

3D Printing

Homestays – Why More Travellers are Checking In

Real Estate Investment Forecast – Cloudy with Hints of Sunshine

Hyderabad: The Bright Spot in Indian Real Estate

Technology In India Real Estate – From Crowdfunding To Blockchain