Next 30 days Good Time to Buy Real Estate

Nearly 60 per cent of Indians think that next one month would be a good time to buy real estate with improvement in consumer sentiments following formation of a stable government, according to a survey by global research firm Ipsos.

"Almost six in ten (57 per cent) Indians think the next 30 days will be a good time to buy real estate, such as a house, vacation property or investment property," Ipsos said in a statement.

Founded in France in 1975, Ipsos is an independent market research company controlled and managed by research professionals.

"With the formation of a new stable government at the Centre, the consumer sentiment which was low in the last 2 years has improved significantly. The stock market has already reacted in a positive manner reflecting this change, the real estate prices are expected to go northwards by the end of the year," said Bhasker Canagaradjou, Associate Director, Ipsos Business Consulting.

The realtors reeling under large scale of debt are offering discounts to reduce their inventory levels taking advantage of the new found optimism in the market.

The residential real estate market may see an uptick in the demand and increase in the number of transactions in the near future, he added.

Majority (65 per cent) of people in Russia think next 30 days would be a good time to buy property followed by India (57 per cent), Indonesia (55 per cent), Ireland (51 per cent), Great Britain (47 per cent), Mexico (44 per cent), Australia (42 per cent), Hungary (42 per cent).

"Those rounding out the middle of the pack are from the United States (41 per cent), Germany (40 per cent), Canada (39 per cent), Italy (38 per cent), Argentina (37 per cent), South Africa (37 per cent), Sweden (37 per cent), Poland (35 per cent) and Spain (34 per cent).

The survey was conducted in 26 countries with a total sample of 20,144 adults age 18-64 in the US and Canada, and age 16-64 in all other countries.

Source: NDTV Profit

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Modi regime might fuel FDI rush into real estate

With a clear mandate for a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led government at the Centre, developers and experts are expecting a revival and an increased inflow of foreign investments into the realty sector.

According to the department of industrial policy and promotion) data, foreign direct investment (FDI) into the construction sector - townships, housing, built-up infrastructure - declined to about $1 billion in April 2013-February 2014 from $3.1 billion in April 2011-March 2012.

From April 2000 to February 2014, cumulative FDI of $23.1 billion has come into the realty sector, 11 per cent of total inflows.

Currently, 100 per cent FDI is permitted through the automatic route in the sector, which cover townships, housing, commercial premises, hotels, resorts, hospitals, educational institutions, recreational facilities, city and regional-level built-up infrastructure.

Recently, DIPP had moved a Cabinet note, seeking relaxation of riders on FDI in the sector but no decision was taken on it by the outgoing government.

Anuj Puri, chairman and country head, JLL India, a real estate consultancy, said, "An improvement can definitely be expected in the near-term investment sentiment."

According to Puri, domestic money is in search of good investment options and investors are eager to strike a deal at attractive valuations.

Also, foreign money has been waiting in the wings and awaiting political stability before entering India. "In that respect, a clear majority is the best possible scenario."

Currently, at least $1.8 billion worth of funds were in the process of getting raised, he said, adding, with the BJP now in the driver's seat, we expect the space to see a lot more traction and many investors to enter the country.

However, property prices are not likely to show any sharp upward movement immediately.

Sanjay Dutt, executive managing director, South Asia, Cushman and Wakefield, also said, "A stable government will lift the sentiments of the investor community, which will impact housing and office space sales. Hence, both end-users and investors are expected to increase their investments in the sector and contribute to its growth."

Apart from this, the sector is expecting the new government to take up issues regarding the sector, which includes a fast-track approval process, a policy for affordable housing, giving infrastructure status to real estate and setting up of a sector regulator.

Over a couple of years, the sector has been battling declining sales and high inventory, along with cash crunch and piled-up debt. Both buyers and investors have been waiting for a positive outcome from the Lok Sabha election.

Experts believe with a stable government, things will start improving but the impact might be visible only after six to 12 months.

"Positive sentiments will bring back demand in the sector," an expert said.

Anshul Jain, chief executive officer, DTZ India, expects a demand of 10 million sq ft in office space by the end of 2015.

"The demand is expected to pick up in the latter half of this year. The next five-six quarters will be game-changers. Availability of funds will ease and interest rates are expected to come down as inflation cools. This will have a direct impact on the supply side of real estate."

With demand improving, the current stock of office space might not be sufficient to cater to the demand and hence, rentals could be under upward pressure, he said.

Source: Business Standard

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Sikka Group - On-going and Up-coming Residential & Commercial Project Updates

Sikka Group is one of the largest real estate builders and promoters in Delhi NCR, which has been revolutionized the real estate industry over 3 decades with their extraordinary building structures and timely project delivery. Let’s talk about on-going and up-coming project’s updates:

On-Going Project Updates

Sikka Karmic Greens

The project has been designed by one of India’s leading architects and planners, C.P.  Kukreja Associates, who are ranked amongst the top 100 architects in the world. Construction of Ramp towards Parking area has been started. Once the construction work reaches an advanced stage, there would be a number of things to keep track of. Work inspection of the towers is being done. Internal flooring in the gallery and lobby and external wall painting has been started.

Sikka Karnam Greens

The project’s connectivity and commuter-friendliness are some of the important features which provide long term benefit to the investors. Development of transport facility can be considered as the backbone of evolving metropolis extending from Delhi to Faridabad, Greater Noida, Bulandshahar, Meerut and Ghaziabad. The right mix of construction and monitoring activities ensures quality output. The brick work has been started in all the towers of the project.

Sikka Kaamna Greens

All the projects are earthquake resistant, complying with Earthquake Zone lV regulations. Conventional approach to design of buildings provides strength and inelastic deformation capacity to the structure which are great enough to withstand a given level of earthquake-generated force. Appropriate structural strength has been taken on priority in this project.  The construction work is moving in fast pace and has touched the top floor in some towers. The brick wall work is being carried out.

The Down town:

Strategically located on DND flyover “The Downtown” is connected to Kalindi Kunj (Delhi), Atta Market, Noida Golf Course, Sector 34, Common Wealth Village, Akshardham Temple and the International Airport. The pre-construction activities like design decisions, evaluations, studies, value engineering and analysis are being carried out extensively by our architectural department. The Kapital Grand is the tower consisting smart office space, which has been designed to provide convenience and a distinction and elegance. All architectural planning for the tower has been done in under the expert team guidance.

Sikka Kartavya Greens:

Sikka Kartavya Greens has been designed to provide a modern, comfortable lifestyle to your family far from the congested life of metro. The spacious home has been planned in tandem with the growing needs. The overall planning and analysis of the construction work is being done. In addition to budgeting of different construction phrases, the marketing team is operational from the site office at Meerut.'

Sikka Kimaya Greens:

The location of the project is commuter friendly and will surely return best price appreciation in future. Its proximity to the prime locations of Dehradun makes it a perfect place where one can enjoy the natural beauty and lavishness in life. The detailed design has been carried out to acquire the best advantage of the site. Each corner has been appropriately used to get the best view of the site. First phase of lintel casting of the sample flat has been done and raft casting for second phase of lintel casting is being carried out.

Sikka Krissh Greens:

The project has been planned taking all eco responsive norms into consideration. The fine architectural vision provides spacious and comfort living experience. The project has been planned at Sardhana road in Meerut, a prominent place known for an appropriate mix of educational institutes, schools and market place. Meerut bypass in its close proximity is an added advantage. City Sales & Marketing office is operational and construction process at the sample flat and site office has been started.

Up-Coming Project Updates

Sikka Karma Greens

The project by Sikka Group, offers holistic living concept that involves all livelihood facilities, at a place having exquisite architecture with countryside lifestyle intertwined. The project Shatabdi Nagar is one of the upcoming hubs of Meerut where extensive transport facilities have been planned to connect the place with Delhi.

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NRI's Optimistic about Indian Real Estate after Elections

Investors from the UAE are increasingly looking to put their money in India’s real estate in view of the country’s positive environment and long-term growth potential, a financial services company told Gulf News.

ASK Group, which earlier launched funds that are focused on residential real estate in India, has received encouraging response and is bullish to attract a large interest from investors, especially high networth clients, in the UAE.

The company focuses on institutional investments, such as fund of funds, sovereign funds, endowment funds and family offices, which are advisory firms that serve affluent households. It currently seeks to raise $200 million (Dh735 million) offshore fund to be able to invest in housing developments in India.

“Family offices currently are more proactive in participating in India growth story and we hope the process of institutional investors has begun. [We’ve] got encouraging response from family offices and could able to close more than 50 per cent of the fund from UAE currently,” said Sunil Rohokale, managing director and CEO of ASK Group.

Rohokale said both non-resident Indians and citizens in the UAE, including institutions and ultra high-net worth residents, are looking for diversification and are actively seeking India’s real estate as a “de-risking strategy”.

He said the introduction of real estate investment trusts (REITs) in India and regulations such as the Land Acquisition Bill and Real Estate Regulatory Bill, coupled with a stable currency and “healthy macro-financial numbers”, have helped renewed investor confidence. 

“Of late, we have seen many [Indian] developers coming to Dubai, setting up their offices and doing road shows to which investors have reacted positively because of currency gains. The property prices in India have bottomed out and in the past, many investors have made money in Indian real estate and hence are more comfortable,” Rohokale added.

ASK Group is a diversified financial services company that has been operating in India for over 30 years. Its asset management business covers equity, private equity and real estate private equity. The company considers UAE as a “very strategic market”.

Investors from the UAE are not just focused on real estate funds. Private wealth is spread across a wide range of vehicles, including mutual funds, traditional savings and long-term investment plans, among others.

A new survey commissioned by Standard Life suggested that investment flows from the UAE are likely to increase, with two thirds of NRIs saying they are optimistic that India will be more investor-friendly after the general elections.

Source: Gulf News

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Real Estate: Best Avenue for Investments and Right time to buy Property Now

Amidst the global economic slowdown, India's growth forecasts have been revised downward over the last three quarters of the year 2013. The economic slowdown, inflationary pressures, volatility in foreign exchange and stock markets, together with liquidity crunch and costly debt, took a toll on India's real estate sector in 2013.

A recent survey has found an attention-grabbing fact that Bangalore has contributed more new supply of homes than even primary NCR regions of Noida and Gurgaon, which happen to be more investor driven markets, in the year 2013. While home builders and buyers in Mumbai and NCR were worried, people in Bangalore had a reason to cheer. Bangalore's property market bucked the trend in other metros with many new launches, good demand and resilient prices. Further, the residential market in Bangalore is largely driven by end consumers and is very stout. This implies that people buying homes are more concerned about the real value of a home as opposed to a speculative value of a property that investors would look at. So, Bangalore has more real value that is a sure formula for growth.

Real estate market is booming tremendously in Bangalore. There is a constant increase in the value of homes and properties as people have started investing a huge proportion of money on property than on any other options such as gold, stocks or mutual funds. Since August last year, a good amount of commercial space is being absorbed in Bangalore because of good connectivity and infrastructure, especially in the ORR (outer ring road) region in East Bangalore. This upswing in the commercial segment usually results in an upswing in the residential segment.

In the past, it has been observed that the time gap between a commercial and residential market upturn was about eight or six months to a year. So, the third quarter of this year can see a buying spree in the residential segment. Apart from East and North region, Bangalore appears to be growing in all directions but in each region of the city there are specific areas that are getting attention. In North Bangalore, Yelahanka has always been a preferred site but over the last two years Thanisandra has seen a good growth trajectory. It may be the availability of land parcels at viable prices and the propinquity of the location to the outer ring road that have resulted in this growth. In south Bangalore, Bannergattha, Kanakapura and Sarjapur road and Haralur have seen a good development.

Albeit Bangalore's positive expansion aspect, there are couple of challenges that are very distinct. Real estate is one of the most capital intensive industries in business. Finding sources to generate capital is probably one of the biggest challenges.

Secondly, the approvals process which requires interacting with various agencies drags the project time line considerably. In many projects, the course of approvals takes eighteen months to two years and development is stuck in limbo during this period. The other area of concern is the acute shortage of skilled or even unskilled human resource.

Real estate today is the best available investment option, fetching a minimum return of 10 to 15 percent per annum. There are foreign sectors and a considerable number of NRIs investing in the real estate in Bangalore. On the brighter side, fall in rupee value does not influence the current real estate market but in additional view, the sliding rupee value does not do any good for the real estate market because it drives up the cost of input drastically. The reason is that nowadays most of the interior finishings in any real estate project, the plumbing and sanitary ware, the wooden flooring, marble, certain kinds of paints, the wall finishes etc. come from overseas such as Europe, South East Asia and China and bought in dollars. Since home buyers are usually keen on certain brands and exclusivity for the gaze and ambiance, 15 percent slide of the rupee against the dollar results in a proportionate increase in the cost of production which invariably get passed on to the consumer.

Buying a property called a home, is a big step in one's life. However, when preparing to buy a home, sitting on the fence waiting for the price to fall is not a good strategy. There is always a value decided on a property sooner rather than later. Due diligence is a must and there is no two ways about it. One can use buyers' forums online that can give a fair idea about the property as well as a comprehensive list of documents that need to be verified before booking for a property.

The real estate sector in India as well as in Bangalore is witnessing a rapid growth in the residential segment. Dwellers can make best of this boom and make their dreams come true in reality.

Source: JLL India

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Surge in demand for housing and office space after general elections Expected

Real estate developers are looking forward to a revival in demand for housing and office space after the general elections. Experts, however, rule out an immediate easing of the slowdown and point out that demand can be revived only in the medium term after the economy picks up pace and reforms start to kick in. 

"There is a challenge today because of the slowdown and also (poor) sentiment. The latter will improve if a stable government comes in, which is already being indicated by the stock market and strengthening rupee," said JC Sharma, managing director of Bangalore-based Sobha Developers 

Sharma feels the new government, formed by whichever party or coalition will be bolder and could undertake stronger policy measures. "They will want to show that they mean business. They will bring in a fresh approach that will augur well for the economy," he said. 

Anuj Puri, country head of property advisory firm JLL India feels a stable government will take more and faster policy decisions. "When I say stable government, I refer to a limited number of coalition partners. The fundamentals may take a little longer (more than a year) to shape up, but the sentiment push following the formation of a stable government will start improving the real estate market," he said.

Source: The Times of India

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