Category: Real Estate Trends

Delhi-NCR Real Estate – The Growth Story Continues

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,

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Returning FDI Equity Scripting India’s Real Estate Revival?

by Shobhit Agarwal

Shobhit Agarwal, MD & CEO – ANAROCK Capital

As India rises to greater prominence on the world map, global corporates are more eager than ever to participate in the country’s growth story.

A GDP growth rate of 7% plus, a population base of over 1.2 billion and an urbanization rate northward of 30% are irresistible investment magnets, and real estate development remains a key focus area.

India opened its doors to FDI way back in the 2000s, and since then not only much-needed capital but also critical expertise has flowed in. No doubt, the subprime crisis of 2008 led to a decline in foreign fund inflows; however, today the situation has turned and certainly looks upbeat.

The real estate sector was among the main beneficiaries of the opening up of FDI into the country and has transformed significantly as a result. In the past few decades, it has metamorphosed from an unorganized, closely-held business to an increasingly organized and a corporatized one.

The recent structural changes including demonetization, the crackdown of Benami transactions, RERA and GST may have had short-term negative impacts, but they also encouraged the inflow of foreign funding which always reacts favourably to signs of increasing transparency,

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Mumbai Salt Pan Lands: Mitigating the Hazards of NDZ to Affordable Housing Bonanza

by Prashant Thakur

Prashant Thakur, Head – Research, ANAROCK Property Consultants

After a year-long delay, the final draft of Greater Mumbai Development Plan (DP) 2034 recently saw the light of day.

The highlights were the amendments in the development control regulations (DCR) in terms of increased FSI and the opening of the salt pan lands for construction of affordable houses, which are now the talk of the town.

DP 2034 visualizes Greater Mumbai as a ‘competitive, inclusive and sustainable city’. It goes without saying that decongesting the city must be a prime focal point in such an agenda.

Accordingly, the Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai (MCGM) has decided to utilize the city’s huge tracts of salt pan lands for affordable housing projects.

A total of 3,355 hectares of salt pan lands are spread across MCGM in Dahisar, Goregaon, Mulund, Bhandup, Kanjur, Nahur, Ghatkopar, Turbhe, Mandale, Chembur, Wadala and Anik.

These lands, which were classified as salt pan lands and no development zones (NDZs) for decades are now open for new development.

According to the final draft of DP, 2,100 hectares of salt pan lands are now demarcated for the construction of 10 lakh affordable housing development,

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The Logical Way of Seeing Real Estate Price Corrections

by Anuj Puri

Anuj Puri, Chairman – ANAROCK Property Consultants

Buying a house is an important milestone and a lifetime decision for most Indians. After years of saving and diligent planning, one decides to purchase a house.

In addition to the increased social stature and financial security implied in home-ownership, a home purchase also helps in big-time tax savings. Also, instead of paying fat rentals, one creates an asset which will appreciate over the long term.

A cursory look at average property prices reveals that overall across the top 7 cities, there isn’t too much variation in 2017 as compared to the previous year.

Also, property prices differ in each city and also vary as per the location and its inherent growth drivers. Generally, developers are not in favour of visibly reducing the prices as it transmits negative sentiments in the market.

However, a deep-dive assessment of the market conditions reveals that a pseudo-price correction has come in the form of freebies, discounts, offers, schemes, etc. Also, buyers who sit across the table in a developer’s office with a token amount cheque, discounts and reduced prices are surely offered.

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Mumbai DP 2034 Receives the Government’s Nod

by Anuj Puri

Anuj Puri, Chairman – ANAROCK Property Consultants

The Government’s approval on the long-pending Mumbai DP 2034 is a welcome move.

The DP is likely to spur real estate activity in the city and also pave the way for the development of much-needed affordable houses in Maximum City.

Let’s look at the major highlights and likely impacts of this Development Plan:

Highlights of DP 2034

  • Overall NDZ is 16,700 hectares of which around 12,900 have now been classified as Natural Area (NA), which includes parts of Sanjay Gandhi National Park, Mangroves, salt pans and parts of Film City and Aarey milk colony, along with a few regions under CRZ.
  • DP 2034 proposes to unlock 3,700 hectares of public and private land currently tagged as No Development Zones (NDZ) – this massive land unlocking will open new avenues for real estate development
  • There is a target to construct 10 lakh affordable homes through unlocking of NDZ – this is a major push for the affordable housing segment, and much needed to accommodate the ever-increasing population in the city
  • The largest additions to the city’s developable land banks in recent history
  • FSI levels in the Island City are raised up to 3,

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Bengaluru Housing Sector Outstrips Hyderabad, Chennai In Q1 2018

by Anuj Puri

Addition of nearly 6,800 new units marks 127% increase over previous quarter 

Emerging as the front-runner in the major South Indian markets in terms of new housing supply infusion, Bengaluru saw significant growth in new housing launches as well as absorption in Q1 2018.

In fact, Bengaluru saw highest launches among these markets with nearly 6,800 new units supply in comparison to Hyderabad and Chennai, which saw the launch of 2,600 and 2,100 units respectively. Bengaluru also leads on the absorption front, with a total of 11,500 units sold in Q1 2018. 

“Increased commercial activity, positive buyer sentiments, infrastructure upgrades and improved job opportunities in the city have given a major fillip to Bengaluru’s housing market,” says Anuj Puri, Chairman – ANAROCK Property Consultants. “This market is largely driven by the end-users who were in a wait-and-watch mode so far. These buyers have now actively returned to the market on the back of the overall sentiment upsurge resulting from the Bengaluru’s rapidly improving market fundamentals.”

Supply & absorption trends – Bengaluru, Hyderabad & Chennai

Bengaluru realty on an upswing 

“Even at a pan-India level,

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Walk-To-Work Concept Gathers Pace In Mumbai’s Goregaon

by Prashant Thakur

Prashant Thakur, Head – Research, ANAROCK Property Consultants

Goregaon, located on the western lines of the Mumbai suburbs, is one of the oldest and most popular residential areas in MMR.

A vibrant residential hub, Goregaon lies between Bandra and Borivali and has earned its tag as a premium residential hotspot due to its proximity to the entertainment industry in Bandra and Juhu.

In a city where connectivity is everything, other market drivers that make it such an attractive residential hub for HNI buyers and investors are its proximity to:

  • The Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport
  • The commercial hubs of Bandra-Kurla Complex (BKC) and Andheri
  • The Western Express Highway
  • NESCO, Nirlon Knowledge Park and Mindspace
  • The proposed ODC (Oshiwara District Center)

Apart from its thriving commercial office real estate market, the fact that Goregaon is such a uniquely-positioned hub for working professionals also favours its residential property market. Moreover, Goregaon has emerged as one of the front-running property hotspots to advance the vital walk-to-work (w2w) concept in Mumbai.

With several office projects already in place and more constantly mushrooming in and around the locality,

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Now Trending – Commercial Real Estate

by Anuj Puri

Anuj Puri, Chairman – ANAROCK Property Consultants

In the past, the ROI on housing assets had been quite satisfactory and in some cases even spectacular, depending on the aptness of choice in terms of specific location, configuration, amenities and builder’s brand.

While rental yields for residential assets in India have historically been low, capital appreciation alone was a sufficiently dynamic prospect for most real estate investors.

However, the hype around residential property investment has fizzled out over the last 2-3 years, with a prolonged slowdown severely impacting capital appreciation. As of now, investors with the financial wherewithal and requisite understanding of the commercial real estate space find office assets far more attractive, and for good reason.

In the first place, office properties in the right location and project attract quality corporate tenants and can, therefore, yield very good rental returns over prolonged periods.

The average rental yield of a good commercial property falls in the range of 6%-10%, whereas the rental yield of a residential property is dismally low in the range of 1.5% – 3.5%. Simultaneously, capital appreciation can also be more than satisfactory for the right office assets.

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RERA In Real Time – Nowhere Close To The Finish Line

by Anuj Puri

Anuj Puri, Chairman – ANAROCK Property Consultants

Why RERA is still not a nation-wide market force

Many state governments have been lax in implementing RERA. There are various forces at play – the primary one being an aversion to change.

RERA was conceived to change the entire status quo of how real estate is designed, developed and sold in India. It intends to put paid to fly-by-night players – both developers and brokers – who have held the real estate market to ransom all these years.

While the larger organized developers and consultancies have welcomed and embraced RERA for the transparency and regulation it brings to the market, the unorganized segment – players who are not happy with RERA because it seriously impacts their questionable business models – far outnumber the organized one.

In a democracy, the ‘majority vote’, whether spoken out loud or implied by lack of cooperation, wields weight. This majority vote is slowing down the process of RERA’s nation-wide deployment in the shape and to the extent which the Centre intends. Moreover, individual states also have always had the right come up with their own set of rules.

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27% Increase In New Housing Launches In Q1 2018 Over Previous Quarter

by Anuj Puri

Unsold inventory decreased by 2% from 7.27 lakh units in Q4 2017 to 7.11 lakh units by Q1 2018

According to ANAROCK Property Consultants’ latest research, 2018 has started on a positive note with residential unit launches making a comeback and recording a 27% increase in Q1 2018 from the previous quarter across top 7 cities of India.

With policy reforms and structural changes now in place, developers are intent on making up for the lost ground.

In Q1 2018, sales across top 7 cities of India also rose by 12% compared to Q4 2017, indicating that serious homebuyers are back, attracted by the new environment of transparency, accountability and financial discipline.

“The series of policy reforms and structural changes have transformed the way Indian real estate business is conducted. This has been a definite blessing. The sector is by no means out of the woods yet, but we are now seeing some green shoots of recovery,” says Anuj Puri, Chairman – ANAROCK Property Consultants. “The market has turned end-user friendly and 2018 is bringing new launches that match demand.

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