Real Estate – Page 19

General Elections: The Real Estate Connection

Anuj Puri, Chairman – ANAROCK Property Consultants

A new Government with a clear majority raised optimism in 2014
Nearly 5.45 lakh units launched in the year and nearly 3.43 lakh units sold – the previous year saw the launch of approx. 4.6 lakh units and lower sales
Long-term benefits of recent reforms will accrue only with the continuity of their enforcement by this or the next Government

During an impending general election, real estate stakeholders conjecture about their likely impact on the real estate market.

Conventionally, the period between the announcement of the election date until the final result day is a period marked by caution and hesitancy in the overall real estate market.

While investors generally refrain from making market plays in this waiting period, buyers may also adopt a wait-and-watch stance.

The reasons can vary from anticipation that a newly-elected Government may offer more sops to homebuyers to the hope that a re-elected Government may reward voters with such sops.

In this period, developers understandably prefer to focus on selling their unsold stock rather than launching new projects.

by Anuj Puri

Anuj Puri, Chairman – ANAROCK Property Consultants

The doomsayers are having a field day with predicting that Brexit will cause the UK real estate market to dry up and blow away. In India, we are quite used to gleeful prophecies of doom regarding real estate and take them with a healthy pinch of salt.

No doubt, every change involves disruption and confusion in the beginning. In the case of Brexit, the magnitude of change is undoubtedly massive considering the sheer size and also the diversity of the involved countries.

It is not only their economies which will be affected – like in every death or divorce, there will also be grief. Grief is an emotion, and for that reason, it will affect market sentiments for a while.

If we apply to the process of the Five Stages of Grief outlined by Elisabeth Kubler-Ross, we can see that the involved countries have already moved from denial and anger to bargaining and depression.

What inevitably follows is acceptance – and with acceptance comes the restoration of normalcy, stability and even growth.

Brexit is currently the source of a lot of uncertainty,

by Santhosh Kumar

Santhosh Kumar, Vice Chairman – ANAROCK Property Consultants

Just 63,000 ready units currently benefit out of total 6.73 lakh units across top 7 cities
Nearly 22,000 ready unsold units completed before 2017 don’t benefit from new rule
33% of 5.88 lakh unsold under-construction units in the luxury segment – 49% in MMR – will not benefit immediately

Just when the real estate industry was preparing to give the budget a complete thumbs down, the finance minister sprung a surprise ‘bonanza’ for the sector in the last 10 minutes of his speech. Or so it seemed.

Without a doubt, affordable housing gained amidst what was essentially a mass-appeal budget. However, it was the extension of tax relaxation on notional rent for unsold inventory for another year that cheered developers.

However, under closer scrutiny, it is unlikely to benefit a majority of them as on date.

Anti-climax for developers

Basically,

by Arun Chitnis

PRESS RELEASE

Chennai Overtakes Bengaluru, Unsold Inventory Less Than 50% Of IT Capital – ANAROCK Report

Chennai’s current unsold housing stock at 30,800 units against 73,300 units in Bangalore
Avg. property prices lowest in 4 years at INR 4,900 per sq. ft.
72% new supply in last 6 years in under INR 80 lakh budget range
PE investment increased by 15% in 2018 against 2017

Chennai, 4th February 2019: Bucking all odds including political uncertainty and a major natural calamity, Chennai has trumped southern counterpart Bengaluru in terms of upbeat residential real estate activity.

ANAROCK‘s report ‘Chennai: From Resilience to Growth‘ confirms that the city is only behind Hyderabad in unsold stock numbers, and has the second-lowest unsold housing inventory of India’s top 7 cities in India.

As the event’s knowledge partner, ANAROCK released the report at RECON, an initiative by Tamil Nadu Real Estate Consultants Association, in Chennai today.

Anuj Puri, Chairman –

by Anuj Puri

Anuj Puri, Chairman – ANAROCK Property Consultants

The interim budget was more or less a vote bank-facing exercise – an electoral pitch that drew attention to past achievements.

Vote-bank directed announcements included benefits to 12-crore small farmers via credit of INR 6k/year directly into their bank accounts, and also to 10 crore labourers by way of direct pension bonanza.

Direct and indirect positives for the real estate sector

Boost to Affordable Homes:

People earning up to 5 lakhs will get a full tax rebate. However, if one invests in specified Government saving schemes then the tax exemption extends to Rs. 6.5 lakhs. This can have good implications for affordable housing, but not really on the mid-income housing.

The Government also extended the benefit of tax exemption for developers by 1 more year, up to 2020 now. This, too, will give a push to the affordable housing segment.

Electricity for all by 2019 could have positive implications by making more far-flung areas liveable and therefore more viable for affordable housing.

The standard deduction for the salaried class was raised from Rs.

by Anuj Puri

Anuj Puri, Chairman – ANAROCK Property Consultants

Of the total current 6.73 lakh unsold units across top 7 cities, approx. 85,000 are ready-to-move-in
NCR & MMR together account for 54% total unsold RTM homes
Hyderabad has least unsold RTM stock priced below Rs. 80 Lakh with approx. 3,040 units

Indians looking to buy homes in 2019 have a very compelling rationale to opt for ready-to-move (RTM) homes, which – apart from being exempt of the 12% GST ambit – are available plentifully.

As per ANAROCK data, out of the total 6.73 lakh units of unsold housing inventory, nearly 85,000 units are currently ready-to-move-in across the top 7 cities. Interestingly, out of these total unsold ready-to-move options, nearly 60% of units are in the affordable and mid segments priced below Rs. 80 lakh.

RTM quotient of Unsold Stock

Cities	Total Unsold Units Approx.	RTM Units Approx.	RTM % of Total Unsold Units
Bangalore	73,340	12,000	16%
Chennai	30,840	8,800	29%
Pune	87,440	8,600	10%
Kolkata	49,470	5,400	11%
NCR	1,86,710	23,500	13%
MMR	2,19,490	22,300	10%
Hyderabad	25,960	4,400	17%
PAN India	6,73,210	85,000	13%

Source: ANAROCK Research (RTM= Ready-to-move-in)

Currently,

by Anuj Puri

Anuj Puri, Chairman – ANAROCK Property Consultants

This is, without doubt, a very favourable market for homebuyers looking to purchase properties for their own use. One of the obvious reasons is the abundance of options in all categories of housing to pick from.

Also, property rates have reduced considerably across cities. Nevertheless, many fence-sitting buyers still hope for further corrections.

There may still be scope for some marginal rate corrections in certain depressed markets – but as we often say in the industry, timing the market is a game only investors should play. There are no guarantees for when, where and even if corrections will occur.

Certainly, a whole country’s real estate market does not witness synchronized corrections like on the stock market, where everyone is affected simultaneously and to the same extent.

For genuine homebuyers who recognize a good thing when they see it and can call it good enough, it has certainly never been a better time.

The Government has also provided several incentives for first-time homebuyers, especially in the budget homes category, and developers are rolling out year-round attractions in their keenness to close transactions.

by Anuj Puri

Anuj Puri, Chairman – ANAROCK Property Consultants

The interim budget may focus on wooing voters rather than boosting specific industries
PMAY and employment shortfalls must be addressed
Funding announcements without implementation guidelines will not suffice

Before every annual Budget, the real estate sector trots out a highly optimistic (and unrealistic) wish list to the Finance Ministry.

Whether the industry actually expects the upcoming Budget to cure all its woes with a wave of its magic wand is beside the point. Unrealistic expectations – many completely outside the purview of the Finance Ministry – have become the norm.

Single-window clearance, industry status and hiked tax exemptions limits which will miraculously revive demand for properties have become the usual suspects in such wish lists.

Let’s be rational in our expectations from an interim budget which is announced shortly before general elections.

Though the larger ‘acche din’ premise is debated to the present day, the first Union Budget under the Modi Government in 2014 was certainly a harbinger of change for buyers and builders.

by Anuj Puri

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 Arun Chitnis

To expand ANAROCK’s UAE presence with new offices in Oman, Bahrain, Kuwait & Saudi Arabia by 2019 end

Mumbai / Dubai, 5 December 2018: ANAROCK Property Consultants today announced that sales & marketing veteran Shajai Jacob, previously Executive Director & Head – Marketing (West Asia) at international property consultancy JLL India, has been appointed as Chief Executive Officer – GCC (Middle East).

He will be based out of ANAROCK’s Dubai office and will have complete oversight of the Firm’s brokerage operations across the Middle East & North African countries.

Anuj Puri, Chairman – ANAROCK Property Consultants says, “We are excited to have Shajai on board to spearhead our rapidly growing Middle Eastern business. Shajai is perfectly aligned with our vision of becoming the most preferred, one-stop, technology-powered residential real estate services firm in the GCC region. He will expand our presence beyond our existing Dubai operations with 4 new offices in Oman, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait over the next 3 quarters. Having worked closely with him for nearly a decade, I have complete confidence in Shajai’s ability to implement our ambitious plans for the Middle East”.

General Elections: The Real Estate Connection

Brexit: How The Big Divorce Will Impact Indian Investments In UK Real Estate

Only 9% of Current Unsold Housing Stock to Benefit from Tax Relaxation

Chennai Overtakes Bengaluru, Unsold Inventory Less Than 50% Of IT Capital – ANAROCK Report

Interim Budget 2019: Affordable Housing Gains Amidst High Electoral Pitch

Unsold Inventory: 60% Ready-To-Move Homes Priced Below Rs 80 Lakh

Is It The Right Time To Buy A Home In India?

Interim Budget 2019 – Let’s Not Get Too Excited

Unchanged Repo Rates Astute From All Angles

Shajai Jacob Joins ANAROCK As CEO – GCC (Middle East)