Anuj Puri – Page 46 – Indian Real Estate Redefined

Kolkata Real Estate – A Real-Time Update

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,

by Santhosh Kumar

Santhosh Kumar, Vice Chairman – ANAROCK Property Consultants

The Golf Course Extension Road has emerged as one of the most sought-after residential corridors of Gurugram.

While not being priced as high as the neighbouring Golf Course Road, it offers multiple apartment options for the upper-mid segment moving up the value chain to luxury housing options as well.

This residential corridor has seen more than 8,500 residential apartment units launched overall, and many of them are in advanced stages of construction. Around 2,500 residential units have been delivered here with another 2,600 slated for completion by 2019-end.

This residential market has a good mix of end-user as well as the investor segment who have in the past achieved healthy capital appreciation across their investment/purchases. The healthy completions pipeline had also resulted in a robust secondary sales market in this corridor.

The consistent price appreciation on Golf Course Extension Road caused sales to dampen slightly, and the overall slow market for high-ticket sized apartments has also impacted the sales velocity in this corridor.

by Prashant Thakur

Prashant Thakur, Head – Research, ANAROCK Property Consultants

Nestled in the foothills of Aravalli – one of the oldest range of folded mountains in India – Sohna was for long a major tourist attraction due to its lakes, hot springs, temples and many places of historical importance.

Located in the southern part of Gurugram, Sohna is also popularly known as ‘South Gurugram’. In the last few decades, Gurugram’s unprecedented economic growth has led to accelerated urbanization and rapid growth in migrant population flocking the city for employment.

Over time, the fast-paced growth in key areas such as MG Road, Udyog Vihar and Cyber City has created a ripple effect and pushed developments towards the western and southern parts of the city. This led to the emergence of new areas such as Golf Course Road, Golf Course Extension Road, Southern Peripheral Road (SPR) and Sohna Road – leading right up to Sohna town.

With proximity to various business centres and industrial clusters, good overall accessibility, affordable prices and planned infrastructure upgrades, Sohna is evolving as a key real estate destination for the working population of Gurugaram and surrounding regions.

by Anuj Puri

Anuj Puri, Chairman – ANAROCK Property Consultants

With the advent of e-commerce in India, shopping converged into mobile devices in the form of websites and/or apps.

At the click of a button, one could buy groceries, apparel, electronics and almost everything else. For a while, it appeared that ‘couch potato shopping’ was a real threat to physical retail, and that shopping malls will run out of business.

That has not happened – in fact, shopping malls are witnessing a visible resurgence in India.

A clear measure of increasing focus on the retail sector is that private equity (PE) players invested more than $700 million into Indian retail in Q1-Q3 2017 itself – around 90% of the investments that came in during the past two years (2015 and 2016).

Shopping malls in India have come a long way indeed, from less than 5 malls in 2001-02 to more than 500 in 2017. Over the last few years, as the overall economy struggled, there was a drift of negativity about Indian shopping malls being able to sustain and were ‘going to be out of fashion’.

by Sukhdeep Aurora

Sukhdeep Aurora, Chief People Officer – ANAROCK Property Consultants

The importance of gender diversity in the workplace is a pretty well-accepted fact now.

While more and more companies are addressing the need to bridge the gender gap in their respective businesses, there are many instances where gender diversity has remained a ‘buzzword’ with only nominal lip-service paid to the urgent and current need for a diversified workforce.

India Inc, at certain functions and levels, still remains less than accepting of women at the workplace.

Successful women are still an exception rather than the norm as they continue to struggle with the chauvinist thinking that has moved out of Indian homes and society and into our workplaces.

To say this may be politically incorrect but if the ugly truth is not bared, there cannot be progress. That is not to say that some positively seminal progress has not been made.

Many India-based MNCs adopting their global entity’s gender diversity norms, as well as quite a few leading consultancies and technology firms, are actually the flagbearers of gender diversity in Indian workplaces.

by Anuj Puri

Anuj Puri, Chairman, ANAROCK Property Consultants

Green shoots of improvement in new launches; 100% month-on-month rise in new launch absorption levels

2017 has been an action-packed year, not just for the real estate sector but for the entire nation.

While the structural changes and policy reforms (demonetization, RERA and GST) shook up the economy, it imbibed financial discipline, accountability and transparency across various sectors.

As per the statistics released by Economic Survey, the Indian economy is expected to grow at 7 to 7.5% in 2018-19, eclipsing China to become the fastest growing economy.

In 2017, the performance of Indian residential real estate was lacklustre due to the sector’s transition from an unorganized to an organized one, amidst changing regulatory environment.

The big-picture reforms are making the market buyer-friendly and further attracting global investors to consider India as one of the preferred destinations for real estate investments.

With two months into 2018, ANAROCK Property Consultant’s research report presents some of the trends reflecting the state of residential real estate market across the country’s top seven major metropolitan cities.

by Anuj Puri

Anuj Puri, Chairman – ANAROCK Property Consultants

After a protracted period where interest for real estate investment was concentrated primarily in the larger cities, we are now seeing a resurgence of the Tier 2/Tier 3 cities story in India.

Many of these cities are seeing increasing economic activity and infrastructure growth, to some extent reducing the outward migration to the metros.

This is a welcome dynamic which will eventually result in a more uniform spread of real estate demand across the country, and reduce the pressure on the larger cities.

What lies beneath

The ticket sizes for residential properties in tier 2 and tier 3 cities and towns start from a significantly lower base, owing to cheaper land prices and also the fact that developers active there are more aligned with affordability.

Buyers tend to be more cost-sensitive as economic drivers in the city may not be on par with those in the larger cities. Also, under the incumbent Government, many of these cities are now seeing significant infrastructure deployment. Quite a few have come under the Smart Cities program,

by Anuj Puri

Anuj Puri, Chairman – ANAROCK Property Consultants

Real estate investors need to be an exceptionally canny lot, since various factors can negatively affect the value of one’s real estate assets. Being aware of these – and making suitable provisions and allowances for them – is an inalienable part of successful property investment.

The rising cost of money

Increasing inflation is the first factor that inhibits the profitability of a real estate investment. While investing in any kind of property solely for capital appreciation, one should always consider what the overall earnings would be worth at the point in time one wishes to liquefy them.

If one fails to plan for the inflationary effect, further property purchases may be out of reach – rendering the whole concept of real estate investment an exercise in futility.

A simple method of establishing whether inflation will erode one’s real estate investment is to determine if the interest rate earned on one’s savings is less than or equal to the rate of inflation. If it is, it means that your real estate investment too will suffer because of inflation.

by Sukhdeep Aurora

Sukhdeep Aurora, Chief People Officer – ANAROCK Property Consultants

With the work environment changing at the speed of a social media update, it is relevant to look at how firms are now moving from conventional modes of recruitment.

In fact, many firms now integrate social media platforms into their hiring strategies. This is inevitable and essential in the Digital Age where candidates are also actively leveraging social media platforms to seek newer and better work opportunities.

Linked Into The New Recruitment Wave

With the advent of LinkedIn and especially the very nifty LinkedIn Jobs interface, it is now just a matter of few search strings for an organization’s HR team to be able to compile a list of potential candidates for open positions.

Many firms are now choosing to advertise their openings through this platform and actively encourage applicants to apply through this platform. Candidates and potential job seekers/hoppers who are wired into the social media circuit are very active on LinkedIn.

The mantra is simple – the platform provides a ready list of appropriate job seekers and job providers and creates a considerable saturation of synergies.

by Santhosh Kumar

Santhosh Kumar, Vice Chairman – ANAROCK Property Consultants

When the scion of one of the world’s most iconic real estate brands comes to India to help market yet another luxury homes project – this time in the Millennium City of Gurgaon – the market sits up and takes notice.

By all standards, the upcoming Trump Towers are a sizeable undertaking – the 47-storey towers will put 250 exclusive units on the market, with completion and possession slated for 2023.

As can be expected from such an iconic development by a brand that has already made a strong imprint in Mumbai, Pune and Kolkata, the price tags are astronomic, ranging from INR 55-110 million.

This gives rise to a logical question – at a time when the luxury housing market in India has yet to pull itself out of the doldrums, is there any appetite for such an offering? Let’s examine some facts.

In the Asia Pacific region, India ranks 4th in the list of countries with largest HNI population. The HNI stratum of the Indian population largely remains shielded from the macroeconomic risks,

Kolkata Real Estate – A Real-Time Update

A Quick Look at Golf Course Extension Road, Gurugram

Sohna – From Tourist Destination To Real Estate Hotspot

The Resurgence Of Shopping Malls In India

India Inc’s Progress On Gender Diversity – Good, Bad Or Ugly?

State Of India’s Residential Real Estate Sector – 2 Months Into 2018

Tier 2 And Tier 3 Cities Stage Their Real Estate Comeback In India

3 Factors That Can Negatively Impact Property Investment Profits

The rising cost of money

The Trump Effect On Gurgaon’s Luxury Housing Market