Anuj Puri, Chairman – Anarock Property Consultants

As India’s urbanization picks up speed, the traditionally-preferred property investment locations in most of the main cities are getting saturated and increasingly expensive.

This is having a roll-on effect on many other residential sub-markets across leading Indian cities. Even as more and more locations go out of the reach of a certain cross-segment of buyers that preferred it in the preceding years, other emerging areas come to the rescue.

Moreover, with the expansion of business districts and different office space occupier categories preferring newer business precincts to older ones, certain residential sub-markets in the primary cities have been finding favour from an increasing number of buyers – and, consequently, property investors.

Such sub-markets tend to offer a marked price advantage vis-à-vis the more established locations – and the residential projects coming up there are compliant with the latest development laws and tend to have more contemporary amenities.

All these ‘pull factors’ lead to such locations seeing good sales traction independent of the rate at which sales are taking place at the city level.

The hottest locations currently witnessing such trends across India’s key cities include

  • Malad (Mumbai)
  • Kharghar (Navi Mumbai)
  • Ghodbunder Road and  Pokhran Road (both in Thane)
  • Hinjewadi and  Kharadi (both in Pune)
  • Sarjapur Road,

Investments in Indian realty at $1990 million 1H2017; residential accounted for 54% ($1075 million) of total investments

Anuj Puri, Chairman – ANAROCK Property Consultants

In Indian real estate today, the untrained eye may see a dichotomy in the massive investments pouring into the Indian residential sector and the actual on-ground demand for housing.

A similar question mark was, in the past, also attached to the fact that developers kept churning out projects despite the visibly reduced uptake over the last couple of years. The fact is, there are always at least two storylines unfolding – the first and most obvious is the short-term story.

Currently, residential demand is still subdued due to the uncertainty brought on by many regulatory upheavals – all of which were necessary to make Indian real estate a better marketplace.

To begin with, the Government’s unexpected demonetization move late last year put a severe dampener on the resale market and also impacted the primary market to some extent.

Even as the markets were recovering, RERA and GST – both of which were predicted and expected –

Anuj Puri, Chairman – ANAROCK Property Consultants

By now, it has become quite clear that as a generation, Millennials have a very different take on home ownership than their parents and grandparents did.

This trend has been studied extensively in the West, but it has made itself quite obvious in India too. How do Millennials view home purchase differently in general, and in India in particular?

PRESS RELEASE

Anuj Puri Launches ANAROCK Property Consultants Residential Brokerage, Fund & Investment Platform

Fund will invest INR 300 crore in, Residential projects, targets USD 500 mn by 2020

Mumbai, 26 June 2017Anuj Puri, former Chairman & Country Head of international property consultancy JLL India, today announced the launch of ANAROCK Property Consultants Pvt. Ltd., essentially rebranding JLL’s erstwhile residential brokerage business which he acquired earlier this year.

Simultaneously, Puri announced the Firm’s real estate investment and fund platform, which will invest INR 300 crore in Residential real estate projects.

“We have chosen the brand ANAROCK with the motto ‘Values Over Value’ to reflect a business model and philosophy founded on the bedrock of Trust and Reliability,” says Anuj Puri, Chairman – ANAROCK Property Consultants Pvt. Ltd. “ANAROCK is the Group Brand, which will house multiple real estate services verticals. We will provide our regular residential advisory services which charges zero brokerage from our customers. Additionally, the Firm will operate a revolutionary business model of bulk-purchasing residential apartment inventory through a proprietary investment fundANAROCK will also provide debt, equity and mezzanine funding to residential developers. And this is just the beginning.” 

Anuj Puri, Chairman – ANAROCK Property Consultants Pvt. Ltd.

The suburb of Gurgaon has been an essential contributor to the urban sprawl that comprises of prime Delhi NCR. The region has become synonymous with a viral-like growth in the past decade and has assumed a homogeneous nature being a well-established business, housing and leisure hub.

The new residential growth comprising of multistoried apartments initially started along its major arterial roads of MG Road, Golf Course Road and later spread down along the main highway connecting it to Delhi–NH-8.

Further along the way as the city started to grow its wings, newer areas were opened up along the Golf Course Extension Road and newer sectors opened up along the proposed Dwarka-Gurgaon Expressway and both sides of the NH-8, beyond the second toll plaza.

Each of these residential precincts has their own set of specifications, price points, and target segments. Gurgaon boasts of one of the highest white-collar workforces and with its homogeneous industry mix, it caters to all categories of home buyers – from affordable to ultra-luxury.

The city now has its own default CBD comprising DLF Cybercity and prime roads of MG Road and Golf Course Road.

Anuj Puri, Chairman – ANAROCK Property Consultants Pvt. Ltd.

Luxury housing in India is the proverbial sitting duck for target practice in the shooting gallery that is the Indian residential property sector.

Market pundits and the media never get tired of taking potshots at it, and claiming that this segment has got run out – even though Indian luxury housing is actually something of a newbie on the pitch and still has very long innings ahead of it.

Maybe the fact that there are a lot of wealthy people in a country with so much poverty strikes some as an aberration, rather than a reason for pride.

Anuj Puri, Chairman – ANAROCK Property Consultants Pvt. Ltd.

Real estate development remains a highly lucrative business line, which is why most builders retain skin in the game even in the face of strong market headwinds.

However, real estate development also remains a highly capital intensive business, and among the many new market truths that RERA has brought to the fore, the fact that only well-capitalized players will endure going forward stands out.

The ‘time-honoured’ practice of raising funds from the market via ‘pre-launches’ has now become untenable.

Anuj Puri, Chairman – ANAROCK Property Consultants Pvt. Ltd.

The formation of Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) will help in the expansion of the quality real estate universe in India, besides giving developers another instrument to exit their projects.

REITs would own real estate, and most of them are expected to have their shares listed on the stock market. These listings will provide retail investors a good and an entirely new opportunity to participate in real estate’s growth story in India.

However, would an industry that has not been able to exploit its full investment potential so far be able to attract droves of retail investors? With REITs, the answer is yes.

This instrument has the potential to attract institutional and retail investors alike because of its inherent nature to provide regular dividends at relatively low-risk levels.

And why is that? One, because REITs in India will prefer to invest in commercial developments — specifically in the highest quality or Grade A properties — due to the higher rental yields in this asset class.

Two, because only 20% of an Indian REIT’s monies can be invested in development,

Anuj Puri, Chairman – ANAROCK Property Consultants Pvt. Ltd.

Did demonetisation erase black money in real estate?

Just a couple of months ago, demonetisation appeared to have taken all the remaining steam of our Indian real estate’s sails.

Sales in the significantly cash-driven resale homes market nosedived and prices in this segment declined by as much as 20-25%. They were already trailing primary sales prices by 25-30% in the investor-driven residential corridors before demonetisation.

Anuj Puri, Chairman – ANAROCK Property Consultants Pvt. Ltd.

The real estate market in many countries offers very lucrative investment prospects, with various offers and options.

Apart from that, Indian citizens buying property abroad can often avail of citizenship in the host country. This factor has considerable aspirational value with many.

The aspiration factor aside, property in more and more locations within Indian metros has become enormously expensive. Moreover, interest rates for bank loans are already proving to be a stumbling block and may rise further with the future revision of RBI norms.

In comparison, an Indian citizen wishing to buy a property in New York, London or Singapore can avail of the considerably lower interest rates of local banks in those countries.

Also, many foreign property markets are more transparent than our own, so investors can get ‘clean’ deals much faster and easier.

Investment in property abroad makes sense for those who are employed or have business interests in the country of choice. Indians who have settled or are planning to settle abroad permanently are, of course, prime candidates.