Real Estate Tips Archives

Renting Instead of Buying a Home? Here’s How To Get It Right

Santhosh Kumar, Vice Chairman – ANAROCK Property Consultants

Don’t expect all available options to be available online
The ‘hidden’ costs of renting a home
The elements of a sound rental agreement

The Government’s much-touted aim to deliver Housing for All by 2022 may not have met with spectacular success in terms of on-ground deployment, but it was certainly a very effective electoral promise. Housing is a sensitive subject in India, precisely because so many people don’t have it. Such an electoral promise was bound to draw attention – and hope.

Providing a self-owned home to every Indian household in the promised timeline seems unlikely. Building enough dedicated rental housing and backing it with a sound rental housing policy could have brought this electoral promise closer to its goal. However, there has been little progress on this front beyond the discussion stage, either.

While a large number of Indians do hope to live in self-owned homes someday, renting homes is still the default option for many. For some, rental housing is seen as a temporary measure until the dream of homeownership is fulfilled.

by Anuj Puri

Anuj Puri, Chairman – ANAROCK Property Consultants

Home loans are paid in instalments which are commonly known as Equated Monthly Instalments (EMI). These are fixed amount which is expected to be paid by the borrower to the bank every month as a part of loan repayment.

A bank considers a home loan to be in default when the borrower fails to make a payment and is behind by 90 days. In such a case, the borrower would have missed 3 payments of EMI.

When the home loan is in default, banks do not seize the assets of the borrowers immediately. They send a notice to the borrower stating that the EMI payment has been missed and strict action will be taken in this regard.

Banks are ready to understand the various reasons behind non-payment of the EMIs, which might include financial crisis, accident, etc. if the borrower approaches the bank with an explanation.

Once the reason is conveyed by the borrower or is otherwise evident to the lender, the bank restructures the EMI and extends the loan tenure on the request of the borrower.

by Anuj Puri

Anuj Puri, Chairman – ANAROCK Property Consultants

When it comes to Indian real estate, the topic of NRI investments is pretty much an evergreen one. The fact that Indian developers had, in the past, launched and marketed projects with an almost exclusive eye on NRI customers is certainly no secret.

There were many reasons for this, but the primary one was that NRIs – especially NRIs based in the Gulf and the US – were seen as cash cows with more money than sense.

Time has proved this theory erroneous. NRIs are among the savviest property investors on the Indian market today. This is amply demonstrated by how adroitly they have gauged the new investment trends on the Indian real estate market.

For a long time, the returns on investments that NRIs could get on residential assets were extremely rewarding, considering the significant capital appreciation whilst the rental yields have always been low.

However, during the last couple of years, the market slowdown resulted in capital appreciation on residential assets no longer being as per NRI investors’ expectations.

In the current market conditions,

by Anuj Puri

Anuj Puri, Chairman – ANAROCK Property Consultants

Across the globe, 5th June is celebrated as World Environment Day, which is the principal platform of the United Nation to create more awareness and action towards protecting Earth’s environment. This day has a very special significance for the real estate sector

Over the past few decades, fast-paced economic development coupled with rapid population growth and urbanization has led to a rapid depletion of natural resources.

The accelerated rate of resource consumption and rise in greenhouse gases’ emission has resulted in significant environmental degradation. This has, in turn, resulted in climate change, the rise in average temperature and deterioration of air quality.

The building sector is one of the major consumers of natural resources such as water, energy and other raw materials. It generates a large number of wastes and pollutants during the three phases of its life cycle – construction, maintenance and deconstruction.

As per estimates, the construction sector consumes an approximate 25% of water and 35-40% energy, apart from other raw materials. Additionally, it emits 40% of global wastes and 35% of greenhouse gases.

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 Anuj Puri

The 14 spokes of RERA’s protective umbrella

Anuj Puri, Chairman – ANAROCK Property Consultants

The Indian real estate industry, particularly the residential sector, was in the past correctly characterized as being unregulated and unorganized with unreasonable project delays and poor quality of construction being definitive aspects.

The arrival of the Real Estate Regulatory Act (RERA) in March 2016 brought in a paradigm shift in the sector and metamorphosed it into a more mature, systematic and regulated one.

RERA came into force on May 1, 2017, and is meant to be a homebuyer-friendly regime which will address their grievances and promote transparency, efficiency, financial discipline and accountability in the sector.

Indeed, buying a home is not only the most cherished dream for many Indians but also one of the biggest long-term financial commitment in the buyers’ lifetime.

Considering this, there are 14 important guidelines incorporated in the RERA umbrella to prevent unscrupulous players from raining on consumers’ homebuying plans:

1. Enforcing timely delivery of projects

In case of project delays,

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 Prashant Thakur

Prashant Thakur, Head – Research, ANAROCK Property Consultants

Conceptualized as an industrial town, Sector 150 falls in the peripheral area of New Okhla Industrial Development Authority (NOIDA).

During the mid-2000s, Sector 150 evolved as an IT hub and subsequently attracted real estate developments primarily due to effectively-planned layouts.

Situated at the confluence of Yamuna and Hindon rivers along the bustling Noida-Greater Noida Expressway, Sector 150 is now one of the preferred residential destinations of Noida. The key factor which differentiates Sector 150 from other regions is the presence of massive green spaces.

The land use planning of Sector 150 has been undertaken in a pattern that ensures 80% of the 600-acre land parcel remains under greenery and only the remaining 20% is allocated for construction activities. Nearly 42 acres of land are dedicated specifically for parks and recreational facilities.

This micro-market is equipped with good social infrastructure including reputed educational institutions, hospitals and shopping complexes. Sector 150 is currently flourishing with real estate activity, and there is a visible rise in residential developments, integrated townships, commercial spaces and mixed-use developments.

Located strategically,

by Anuj Puri

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,

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,

Renting Instead of Buying a Home? Here’s How To Get It Right

How To Avoid Defaulting On A Home Loan

The Changing NRI Real Estate Investor Landscape

Green Buildings – An Imperative, Not A Choice

Delhi-NCR Real Estate – The Growth Story Continues

How RERA Is Revolutionizing Indian Real Estate

Busting the Myth Of The ‘Ideal Home’

Sector 150, Noida – Infrastructure Development Driving NCR’s Greenest Sector

Gurugram – The Start-up City

Kolkata Real Estate – A Real-Time Update