Experts ask real estate to realise social responsibility

Ahmedabad In a brainstorming session on ‘Opportunities and Challenges in Finance and Banking for Real Estate Sector’ on Wednesday, banking experts told real estate developers to realise their social responsibility of providing affordable housing to the masses.

Held under the aegis of the Gujarat Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GCCI) and Gujarat Institute of Housing and Estate Developers (GIHED) at Hotel Grand Bhagwati, stress was also laid on providing cost-effective housing for the low income groups, as this had remained largely unexplored.

According to GIHED vice-president Suresh Patel, a developer, this was because in the boom period of the last four years, majority of big players had worked towards meeting the needs of only top 12 per cent of the market. He felt affordable housing at lowest rate was possible.

He wondered how ‘board room analysis’ by bankers born in the 1980s could decide the fate of a 50-year-old sector. The good repayment figures shown by these bankers to prove their banking prowess could not be taken at face value because of limited exposure, he said.

Vijay Shah, a prominent real estate developer, lamented that banks were reluctant in extending project loans to developers. He said developers also felt difficulty in sourcing down payment of loans lately. Shah pointed out that banks had reduced valuation of assets for credit from 80 per cent to 60 per cent.

S Srinivasan, chief executive officer of Kotak Real Estate Fund, was optimistic about the real estate scene of Ahmedabad. He said it was much better than other cities like Mumbai and Bangalore. He said nowhere else was any developer able to offer a price of Rs 1,500 per square feet, but in Ahmedabad. He said if a buyer called a price of Rs 2,000 as unaffordable, it was a matter of mindset.

According to him, developers had capital in the past and yet had the luxury of saying no to new investment in the last one year. That was time of excessive commitments and it would take time to correct that situation in the real estate sector. Srinivasan wondered over the abysmally small number of developers who could declare business size in excess of Rs 150 crore.

“Most developers have not built their balance sheets over the years, though they borrowed a huge amount of Rs 72,000 crore from banks… this calls for hard thinking. For, you have no choice but to prepare your balance sheet if you want to build your business in the long run and if you do not want to confine yourself to relationship banking,” he said.

Srinivasan said the Reserve Bank of India was often cursed for enforcing restrictions on banks’ lending parameters, but it should be remembered that this cautious approach was in the developers’ interest. He felt that banks must first be able to build confidence in the lending activity to build up stable banking operations.

He also advised developers to work closely with the planning authorities, especially when planning shopping complex after complex in a close range. “There is a disaster waiting to happen in terms of viability and lessons must be drawn from what happened in places like Gurgaon,” he said. HDFC general manager Irfan Kureishi also spoke on the occasion.

Source: expressindia.com

NRIs in wait-n-watch mode - Ahmedabad

It's homecoming season for NRIs. But this time around, they are not dashing to their neigbourhood realtor to book a flashy second home or retirement villa. 'Caution' has become the catchword. Global real estate consultants and experts feel that the 'only real catalyst' that could pep up the NRI spirit during this lean period is a significant price cut, which is expected to happen in the next 3-4 months.

Only reduced property rates can prompt NRI participation in today's these market conditions, feels global real estate consultant Jones Lang LaSalle Meghraj (JLLM). The Indian real estate market has sparked off a new wave of interest among NRI residential property buyers but they are awaiting a further fall in property rates. Once this happens in the next 3-4 months, we will see increased NRI participation in real terms," JLLM CEO (Business) Sanjay Dutt told ET.

"The promise of a correction in the key metros and tier-II cities has revived NRI interest in the residential market. We expect a number of scheduled transaction to happen by the end of the first quarter of 2009," Mr Dutt said while stating that NRIs will steer clear of investments in retail projects and other property segments in "unfamiliar and historically over-speculative tier-II and tier-III cities".

Source: economictimes.indiatimes.com

Ahmedabad: Construction in full swing at 'Sahara City Homes'

The construction at ‘Sahara City Homes’ Ahmedabad, the flagship project of Sahara Prime City Limited, the real estate company of Sahara India Pariwar is in full swing. The township has obtained approvals from government authorities for construction of residential units. Development work is underway with the construction of Quality Control Lab, Main Gate, model house and sales office is complete and landscaping, laying of road is in progress. The construction of independent residential units have already commenced at the township. Sahara City Homes, Ahmedabad a 104.19 acres quality township is a part of Sahara City Homes, a chain of townships proposed to be developed in 217 cities across the country.

Sahara City Homes, Ahmedabad plans to house one to five bedrooms residential units in the category of high-rise and mid-rise apartments, independent row houses, penthouses and independent bungalows. The township aims to provide a good community living to the people of Ahmedabad by offering amenities such as club and community center, hospital, shopping mall and multiplex, school, hotel and club, uninterrupted power and water supply, multilevel security, retirement home, local transport and Central park. Playground equipped with floodlights will be the special feature of Sahara City Homes, Ahmedabad.

Every essential service like Convenience Stores, Banking and Postal services etc. will ensure convenience for the residents. A Service Center just a call away will take care of all Plumbing, Electrical Repair and Taxi requirements. A combination of AC and Non-AC buses would provide good commuting facilities.

Sushanto Roy, Head – Sahara Prime City Limited said, “Our mega project Sahara City Homes, Ahmedabad has been planned to provide good community living to its residents. The brand Sahara City Homes intends to provide quality lifestyle with its range of amenities and facilities.”

Sahara City Homes, Ahmedabad is located on Shella, Near Sardar Patel Ring Road, Bopal State High Way. This fully air-conditioned township is designed by the famous architect Hafeez Contractor. For the construction work of Independent houses Ramky Infrastructure Ltd. has been appointed. The total residential built-up area of the project will  be 25.43 Lac sq.ft, while commercial built up area will be 3.57 Lac sq. ft. In Sahara City Homes, Ahmedabad 1827 residential units will be constructed.

Sahara City Homes Ahmedabad gets EIA (Environment Impact Assessment) clearance from MoEF (Ministry of Environment & Forest).

The Layout plan of residential building has been approved by Town planning department, Ahmedabad. As an extra safety measure for maximum protection of life and property from Earthquake, every construction will be designed at 1 level higher than the applicable seismic zone as per the specifications of Bureau of Indian Standards.

The townships have started taking shape with the development and construction in full swing in the cities of Lucknow (200 acres), Nagpur (106 acres), Indore (88 acres) and Gwalior (106 acres). Development work is under progress in the cities of Jaipur, Coimbatore, Aurangabad, Solapur and Jodhpur. 

Source: Moneycontrol.com

Double Whammy for High-End Luxury Realty Market

THE high-end luxury real estate market is facing a double whammy. The demand from domestic buyers has already dried down and now even non-resident Indians (NRIs), who constituted a significant market for luxury real estate developers, are developing cold feet. “With the US property market witnessing a correction due to subprime crisis, the NRIs are expecting the same to happen in India and are holding back on their purchases,” says Delhi based real estate firm Omaxe CMD Rohtas Goel, who recently launched a luxury project in the National Capital Region (NCR).

Three-four years ago, there were only a few big developers into the game of building luxury homes. But the higher margin in the business prompted many others to join.“The developers entered the luxury segment without a proper assessment of the market. Now they are faced with a major supply-demand mismatch. In Punjab, Delhi NCR and Mumbai suburbs, the supply far outstrips demand,” says real estate consultancy firm Jones Lang LaSalle Meghraj India chairman Anuj Puri, adding that the exit of speculators and investors has impacted these markets, where the supply exceeds demand by 25-35%.

Adding to this is the near absence of NRI buyers, who constitute around 20% of the luxury home buyers, according to property consultants estimates, “The price correction in the US has prompted NRIs to evaluate buying properties in their local market, where they can easily control and manage them, unlike in India, where managing property has been an issue with them,” says Cushman & Wakefield Director (residential) Aditi Vijayakar. She also points out that Indian developers carry a wrong notion that every NRI is a billionaire and can afford a Rs 2-3 crore property. Besides a demand problem, the competition among developers has intensified as they are wooing the same segment of NRIs. Says Ansal Properties and Infrastructure, president (marketing) Kunal Banerjee says, “The NRI market is a bit too crowded these days. Therefore, we are looking at attracting PIOs (person of Indian origin).”

PIOs are second or third generation people across the world, whose forefathers had migrated from India during British Raj and settled abroad. There is a good population of PIOs in Africa and Australia. The recent attempts by the Indian government to renew ties with PIOs by hosting Pravasi Bharatiya Divas may also have a positive push to the marketing efforts of developers such as Ansals.

Besides targeting a new segment, developers are also offering freebies to woo NRIs. “Firms are offering free tickets to potential NRI home buyers to visit India and take a look at their property. This is done in association with banks, which maintain a list of high net worth individuals,” says Knight Frank India chairman Pranay Vakil.

Souce: indianrealtynews.com

Serviced Apartments emerge as an alternative to hotels in Bangalore

With the rise in Indian and international business traffic to Bangalore, the demand within the hospitality industry has skyrocketed. The new genre of serviced apartments has hence emerged as a cost effective alternative for business travellers and tourists. These serviced-apartments are largely operated by apartment owners or builders and usually offer entire apartments (1, 2 or 3 bedroom) or studio units or shared apartments.

According to real estate services firm Cushman & Wakefield, Bangalore currently has approximately 15 professionally managed serviced apartments including Homestead, Chalet, Sterling Suits, Halcyon among others, which are spread across high interest residential areas like Lavelle Road, Langford Town, Brunton Road, Vittal Mallya Road, Airport road and Indiranagar.

Largely catering to corporates, business travellers, tourists, expatriates and families, the tariffs range between INR 1,500 per day for a 1-bedroom/ studio to INR 6,000 plus per day for a 3-bedroom apartment. These serviced apartments allow the flexibility associated with short-term accommodation avoiding longterm commitments.

Most professionally run centres are not class-comparables to 5-star hotels though some of them offer facilities like guest lounge, swimming pool, spa, restaurant, housekeeping, business centre and other clubhouse facilities. Occupancy levels in these are usually around 90%, indicating the tremendous latent demand in the market.

Apart from these, there is also a large unorganised market in the city, which is driven by mom and pop establishments. These however do not provide the facilities offered by the professionally run centres and their rates vary depending on the duration of stay, location, services provided, ambience etc.

Unlike Mumbai, prominent hospitality brands have not yet entered the serviced apartment sector in Bangalore. The advent of international brands like Oakwood and Ascott which have plans to launch shortly, would lead to an increase in healthy competition and thereby improved services and products.

Cushman & Wakefield expects several more centres to come up in peripheral areas such as Whitefield, Bellary Road and Hebbal.

Courtesy: INRnews

Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation to tag property tax with education cess

The Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) is to levy an education cess on the property tax resulting in an increase of 5%-15% on tax on residential properties and 10% to 30% on tax on commercial properties.

The cess will be applicable based on the amount of property tax paid. AMC will also send separate bills for education cess for the period 2001-02 to 2006-07.

Easing the Transition to Your New Home

Use the right boxes, and pack them carefully

Professional moving companies use only sturdy, reinforced cartons. The boxes you can get at your neighborhood supermarket or liquor store might be free, but they are not nearly as strong or padded, and so can't shield your valuables as well from harm in transit.

Use sheets, blankets, pillows and towels to separate pictures and other fragile objects from each other and the sides of the carton. Pack plates and glass objects vertically, rather than flat and stacked.

Be sure to point out to your mover the boxes in which you've packed fragile items, especially if those items are exceptionally valuable. The mover will advise you whether those valuables need to be repacked in sturdier, more appropriate boxes.

The heavier the item, the smaller the box it should occupy. A good rule of thumb is if you can't lift the carton easily, it's too heavy. Label your boxes, especially the one containing sheets and towels, so you can find everything you need the first night in your new home.

For your family's safety and comfort

Teach your children your new address. Let them practice writing it on packed cartons. You can lighten your load and reduce any storage space you need to rent by hosting a garage or yard sale.

Fill two "OPEN ME FIRST" cartons containing snacks, instant coffee or tea bags, soap, toilet paper, toothpaste and brushes, medicine and toiletry items (make sure caps are tightly secured), flashlight, screwdriver, pliers, can opener, paper plates, cups and utensils, a pan or two, paper towels, and any other items your family can't do without. Ask your van foreman to load one of these boxes, so that it will be unloaded at your new home first. Why the second box? In case the movers are delayed getting to your house on the day of the move.

Keep your pets out of packing boxes and away from all the activity on moving day.

Let all your electrical gadgets return to room temperature before plugging them in.

Since you may need to call old neighbors or businesses from your new home, pack your phone book.

Work hand in hand with your mover

Give the mover's foreman your reach numbers and email addresses so you can stay in contact.

Read the inventory form carefully, and ask the mover to explain anything you don't understand. Make a note of your shipment's registration number, and keep your Bill of Lading handy.

If you're moving long distance, be aware that your property might share a truck with that of several other households. For this reason, your mover might have to warehouse your furniture and belongings for several days. Therefore, ask your mover whether your goods will remain on the truck until delivered. If they have to be stored, ask whether you can check the warehouse for security, organization and cleanliness.

Source: totalrealestatesolutions.com