Anuj PuriAnuj Puri, Chairman – ANAROCK Property Consultants

  • Among the top 7 cities, MMR saw most new  launches – nearly 13,600 units & highest sales at 15,200 units in Q2 2018
  • 17,220 promoters and 15,550 agents under MahaRERA – highest RERA registration Pan India
  • Stamp duty increase may be a slight dampener in the short-term

On the back of critical policy reforms like DeMo, RERA and GST, 2018 is seeing both sales and new supply picking up across cities. Interestingly, the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR) leads this trend.

ANAROCK data indicates that out of the total new housing supply of around 50,100 units in Q2 2018 across the top 7 cities, MMR saw the highest number of new launches with nearly 13,600 new units – a 59% increase against the preceding quarter.

In terms of sales too, MMR clocked the maximum housing sales with approximately 15,200 units being sold in Q2 2018 – an increase of 26% against Q1 2018.

MMR’s top 3 micro markets across budget ranges 2017 – Q2 2018: 

Affordable Segment (<

Anuj PuriAnuj Puri, Chairman – ANAROCK Property   Consultants

  • Maharashtra has the most RERA-registered projects with 17,353, UP with 3,950 projects
  • Serious developer-favouring dilutions impacting demand in many states

More than a year after RERA was formally implemented, we are beginning to see some real impact on the ground. However, the results are still far from scintillating.

Progress so far

Out of all the states and Union Territories in India, Maharashtra takes the first place when it comes to proactive RERA adoption, implementation and integration, followed by Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Karnataka.

As per the latest registration updates, more than 32,306 projects and 23,111 real estate agents have been registered under RERA across states.

  • Maharashtra has the highest share of registered projects under RERA, accounting for 17,353
  • Uttar Pradesh has 3,950 projects registered
  • Gujarat with 3,300 projects registered
  • Karnataka has 1,982 projects registered
  • Madhya Pradesh has 1,901 projects registered.

Anuj PuriAnuj Puri, Chairman – ANAROCK Property Consultants

  • Seasonal swelling, eroded mangroves a major cause of flooding
  • Cleanup was supposed to start in June ’18

Despite the repeated claims of the Mithi River Development and Protection Authority (MRDPA) to make the river risk and stench-free within the next two years, the progress has been far from satisfactory.

The river continues to be the sewage disposal stream for Mumbaikars, and the clean-up act – promised to start from June 2018 onward – has yet to see the light of the day.

In what could be called a saving grace, the authorities have been successful in preventing 2005-like floods in the city, or else this laxity in the river clean-up would have been embarrassingly highlighted.

The authorities continue to pat themselves on the back for the deepening and widening of the river over the last decade at the cost of a whopping ₹1200 crore, which they claim has helped make the river ‘almost completely safe.’

The fact that it continues to be a toxic cesspool puts a big question mark on the ‘safety’

Independence Day

Anuj PuriAnuj Puri, Chairman – ANAROCK Property Consultants

When we reflect on India’s 71 year-long independence in context with real estate, one thought overshadows all others – affordable housing. No nation can call itself truly self-sufficient until there is a roof over every head.

We can talk about increased transparency and efficiency, but this has true relevance only if it is not just the industry that benefits but also the common man.

Embodying this very basic but profound premise, the Modi Government’s election manifesto of providing Housing for all by 2022 definitely rang all the right bells.

Obviously, it boils down to unleashing a massive number of affordable homes, and the Government has certainly gone the extra mile to make that happen. Unfortunately, what we have seen so far is more marketing hype than genuinely affordable housing.

Many developers have climbed on the ‘affordable housing’ bandwagon, but actually the term ‘affordable’ is in most cases just being misused to ostensibly show alignment to the ‘Housing for All’ mission.

Of course, builders have been generously applying terms like ‘affordable’ and ‘luxurious’

Independence day

Anuj PuriAnuj Puri, Chairman – ANAROCK Property Consultants

In the 71 years since India gained independence, the country’s real estate market has changed tremendously.

While it has not always been consumer-favouring throughout this period, it is certainly so today. The country’s cities have expanded, new economic drivers have come in and jobs are being created at all levels.

Likewise, appropriate housing is now being created for all income levels. The current Government has taken the needs of the people to heart and deployed various policy initiatives to ensure that homeownership becomes affordable and desirable.

Like the real estate market itself, the market for housing loans has become very competitive, giving consumers the edge of choice. Moreover, property prices have also rationalized across the country after the Government’s demonetization move late last year.

While it was initially expected that only the resale homes and land markets would be affected, it quickly became evident that the lowered sentiment had percolated in primary sales as well.

Many of the most important changes to positively impact home buyers in India so far have been at the policy level,

Prashant ThakurPrashant Thakur, Head – Research, ANAROCK Property Consultants 

Ambernath, a well-developed industrial micro market of Thane district, is famous for the wealth of medium-to-large scale industries in its purview.

The locality is bisected into east and west sections by the central suburb railway line that starts from Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (CSMT) and passes via Thane, Kalyan and ends at Khopoli.

Ambernath’s growth took off when the Government established a large Ordinance factory (OFA) and a Machine Prototype Factory (MPF) here. These industries prompted residential real estate developments and also encouraged other medium-to-large scale industries to establish their manufacturing base in the city.

With the rapid industrialization of Ambernath-Badlapur MIDC area and the excellent central railway line connectivity between Thane, Kalyan and Ulhasnagar, working professionals of these micro markets see Ambernath as an affordable option to meet their housing needs. Thus, Ambernath is transforming into one of the major affordable housing destinations of MMR.

Connectivity

  • Road: Ambernath has an excellent connectivity to Kalyan via Maharashtra SH 80 and Thane via NH 160. It is connected to Pune via Bengaluru –

Artificial Intelligence

Sukhdeep Aurora, Chief People Officer – ANAROCK Property Consultants

India is adopting new-age technology fairly rapidly – and is, in fact, a hotbed for the very creation of such technology. Corporate executives are increasingly using technology to make their day-to-day tasks more efficient and less strenuous.

This trend brings up a loaded and hotly-debated question for India Inc. and in fact corporates globally – will technology eliminate the need for humans when it comes to performing routine tasks?

There is obviously no one-size-fits-all answer to this question. The answer is obviously ‘yes’ when it comes to a number of largely mechanical functions. Countries, where scarce manpower is expensive, will also see a greater thrust towards automation than others.

However, let’s examine the situation closer to home and take the job function of Executive Assistants or personal secretaries as a case in point. This is one role I am asked about fairly often in context with possible erosion by technology.

Will Technology Replace Secretaries?

Today, India is amongst the fastest-growing smartphone markets globally, with around 340 million users tracked by Statistica.com in 2017 alone.

Panoramic_view_of_Greater_Noida

Santhosh KumarSanthosh Kumar, Vice Chairman – ANAROCK Property Consultants

Real estate is a dynamic industry where things can change from year to year and even from quarter to quarter. The Indian real estate market has certainly been in flux after the recent policy upheavals. As such, investment decisions must necessarily move with the times.

Here are 2018’s top-ranking real estate investment hotspots in West and North India.

West India

Beyond a doubt, the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR) and Pune have remained West India’s most favourable cities for real estate investment in 2018. The MMR realty market has regained a lot of momentum over the last few quarters, with both sales and new supply increasing q-o-q.

MMR: As per ANAROCK data, out of the total new supply of approximately 50,100 units across the top 7 cities (NCR, MMR, Chennai, Bengaluru, Pune, Kolkata and Hyderabad) in Q2 2018, MMR saw maximum new launches with nearly 13,600 new units entering the market. There was a 59% increase in this new supply as against Q1 2018. On the sales front too,

By Invitation Only

Anuj PuriAnuj Puri, Chairman – ANAROCK Property Consultants

The concept of ‘by invitation only’ (BIO) housing projects tends to make Indians’ antennae perk up, and not necessarily from a demand perspective. This is one of those ‘grey’ areas of real estate which carry with them very strong emotional markers.

We’re not taking gated communities here – the acquisition of a property in a gated community rarely depends on anything more than a buyer’s net worth. By invitation only projects clearly exclude a certain segment of buyers, often for reasons other than their lack of purchasing power.

What Is The Market Size for BIO Housing?

This is a very ill-defined segment of housing, which means it cannot be ‘tracked’ in the classical sense of the word. The overall ultra-luxury sector represents about 5-6% of India’s real estate pie.

Any luxury project could be marketed as ‘by invitation only’ – either as a sales gimmick or on the basis of actual selection criteria other than purchasing power. However, BIO projects may not necessarily refer to luxury at all – which makes it even harder to track.

Home loans

Anuj Puri, Chairman – ANAROCK Property Consultants

The 25 bps increase in the repo rate announced in today’s third bi-monthly monetary policy was in line with our expectations. Amidst rising inflation, depreciating rupee and other global macroeconomic risks, this increase is fairly justified.

While this may lead to a hike in home loan rates as well, the overall real estate sector now rests on a strong footing and buying decisions may not be altered by these marginal changes.

As per ANAROCK research, nearly 60,800 units were sold in Q2 2018 across the top 7 cities of India, which is a 24% rise over the previous quarter. Amidst a 50% quarterly rise in new launches in Q2 2018 too, unsold inventory reduced by 2% from 7.11 lakh units in Q1 2018 to 7.0 lakh units in Q2 2018.

These numbers clearly indicate that the markets are now recovering from the shocks of structural changes and policy reforms. In fact, genuine home buyers have welcomed these actions which have imbibed the much needed financial discipline, accountability and transparency in the sector.

With lucrative deals on the table,