Tag: Residential Real Estate In India

GST on Real Estate Maintains Status Quo

by Anuj Puri

Anuj Puri, Chairman – ANAROCK Property Consultants

  • Benefits aside, a cut could have been a major setback to the affordable housing segment
  • GST rate cut, clarity on / abolition of ITC – boosted demand vs. actual sales

After much anticipation, the GST Council has failed to deliver a final verdict on GST applicable on real estate – but how much would it really have mattered?

Here’s a Utopian vision – the government would announce a GST rate cut, homebuyers would cheer up since prices would reduce marginally, and the market revives. Really?

The biggest paradox in Indian real estate is that numbers suggest a massive burden of unsold housing stock in the midst of a chronic shortage of housing. As long as prices don’t reduce significantly, the housing shortage will only widen regardless of tax sops.

What we have today is a nation of aspiring homebuyers, many of which are perpetually on the fence, waiting for a slew of minor policy windfalls to cumulatively make a home purchase feasible and attractive.

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Sohna – From Tourist Destination To Real Estate Hotspot

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.

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

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.

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Why 2017 Was The Year Of The Home Buyer In India

by Anuj Puri

Anuj Puri, Chairman – ANAROCK Property Consultants

2017 was an unprecedentedly rough one for the Indian real estate sector with the implementation of RERA, GST, demonetization and several other reforms and initiatives.

The residential market was beset by more policy changes in this single year than in the two preceding decades. The resulting distress signals that this notoriously change-averse sector sent out were loud, though not necessarily clear. However, there were also positive vibrations.

Tuning Into Residential Real Estate’s Distress Signals In 2017

In 2017, the residential property sector saw:

  • The lowest rate of new project launches in last five years:

2017 witnessed a significant fall in new launches across top 7 cities, which declined by around 45-50% compared to the previous year. While in 2016 the top 7 cities added around 2.4 lakh units, new launches shrunk to only 1.25 lakh units in 2017.

  • Property prices either stagnating or correcting:

In 2017, due to a massive burden of unsold stock and low demand,

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Massive Investment Boost To Indian Residential Sector In 2017

by Anuj Puri

Investments in Indian realty at $1990 million 1H2017; residential accounted for 54% ($1075 million) of total investments

Anuj Puri, Chairman – ANAROCK Property Consultants

In Indian real estate today, the untrained eye may see a dichotomy in the massive investments pouring into the Indian residential sector and the actual on-ground demand for housing.

A similar question mark was, in the past, also attached to the fact that developers kept churning out projects despite the visibly reduced uptake over the last couple of years. The fact is, there are always at least two storylines unfolding – the first and most obvious is the short-term story.

Currently, residential demand is still subdued due to the uncertainty brought on by many regulatory upheavals – all of which were necessary to make Indian real estate a better marketplace.

To begin with, the Government’s unexpected demonetization move late last year put a severe dampener on the resale market and also impacted the primary market to some extent.

Even as the markets were recovering, RERA and GST – both of which were predicted and expected –

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How Millennials Have Redefined The Indian Residential Market

by Anuj Puri

Anuj Puri, Chairman – ANAROCK Property Consultants

By now, it has become quite clear that as a generation, Millennials have a very different take on home ownership than their parents and grandparents did.

This trend has been studied extensively in the West, but it has made itself quite obvious in India too. How do Millennials view home purchase differently in general, and in India in particular?

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