New home launches in NCR decline 39% in January-March

The property market of the National Capital Region (NCR) saw a 39 per cent fall in the new launches of apartments to about 7,600 units during January-March period compared with the previous quarter, global realty consultant Cushman & Wakefield said today.

In the top eight cities of the country, Cushman & Wakefield (C&W) said that an estimated 38,000 residential units were launched in the first quarter of 2013, registering a marginal fall of about 2 per cent over the previous quarter.

These major eight cities are -- NCR, Chennai, Kolkata, Bengaluru, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Pune and Ahmedabad.

"National Capital Region (NCR) witnessed the launch of approximately 7,600 units, a decline of 39 per cent compared to the previous quarter," C&W said in a statement.

The new launches were concentrated in the suburban locations of Gurgaon (66 per cent) and Noida (34 per cent) with over 80 per cent of units catering to the mid-range segment.

"Due to the subdued demand, Noida witnessed a steep decline in new launches at close to 70 per cent and ended up being the primary contributor for the overall decline in number of launches in the NCR," the consultant said.

Chennai, Mumbai, Hyderabad and Ahmedabad also witnessed decline in new launches of residential units by 39 per cent, 3 per cent, 89 per cent and 62 per cent, respectively.

"New residential units launched more than doubled in Bengaluru and Pune in the last quarter, increasing by 144 per cent and 109 per cent, respectively," C&W said. Kolkata saw a modest increase of three per cent.

On prices, the report said that most locations in Delhi witnessed stable capital values in both mid and high-end segments.

However, capital values in high-end segment in South Central Delhi witnessed 15 per cent appreciation over last year due to limited supply and high demand.

Among the suburban locations, Gurgaon saw higher appreciation due to the high demand from both end-users, the workforce working in the various companies located here and investors, coupled with the limited project completions.

Gurgaon saw a change in the capital values in the luxury/high-end and mid-end residential segment at 29 per cent and 18 per cent respectively over last year, C&W said.

"The country's residential market witnessed some vibrant launch activity during the quarter despite the sluggish economic environment. Funding will remain a major challenge for developers while executing these projects," C&W executive managing director (South Asia) Shveta Jain said.

"Capital values have largely remained stable across most micro markets except for some key locations in NCR, Chennai and Bengaluru. Prices are expected to remain largely stable in the coming months as developers will be looking mainly to boost sale and increase cash flows in projects being currently executed," Ms. Jain added.

source:- http://profit.ndtv.com/news/industries/article-new-home-launches-in-ncr-decline-39-in-january-march-322962

Bestech Grand Spa in NH 8 Sector 81 Gurgaon - SREIndia.in

Bestech Grand Spa

Bestech groups has grown to be one of the most admired names in real estate over the last two decades. Spearheading every project with the aim to achieve quality and customer satisfaction, the group enjoys impeccable goodwill and leadership in its operating sector. It is this drive that has enabled Bestech to consolidate and diversify into newer vistas. Bestech Grand Spa in NH 8 Sector 81 Gurgaon a new venture of the Bestech groups presents homes that are so immaculate and beautifully decorated that you will have a sense of pride every time you walk in.  Visit:- http://www.sreindia.in/featured_deals.php?propname=Bestech-Grand-Spa

World’s Largest Porsche Store in Gurgaon

Porsche announced the launch of their flagship store in Gurgaon at one of the most sought after commercial building coming up on prime location in Gurgaon, The Golf Course Road. The Building calledSEQUIOA (Pronounced as Se-Ko-Ya), Golf Course Road Gurgaon will host not only one of the largest Porsche store in India, but The Largest Porsche Store in the World.

Announced at a stylishly hosted launch party held on 6th of April at Leela Palace, Chanakya Puri, Delhi, this store is likely to be in an area of 22,000 sq.ft. on Ground Level with great visibility from the main Golf Course Road. Sources revealed that the store is likely to be one of the best ever luxury cars store in the country.

SEQUIOA is being developed by one of the leading architect along with a large developer organization and is very strategically located right on the main Golf Course Road. With Porsche signing up, SEQUIOA is likely to attract only good quality brands in the building. The developers are very selective about the kind of brands that they want to sign up for this exclusive development of Retail and Office Space on the Golf Course Road. Sources also revealed that there could be a possibility of a Super Luxury Boutique Hotel coming as part of this exclusive development.

While most of the common people are not yet aware of this development, you could benefit from buying prime Office/Retail Space in SEQUIOA at pre-launch prices.

Details on the SEQUIOA Towers is available at THIS LINK

Anant Raj Estate in Sector 63 A Gurgaon - Anant Raj Estate Sector 63 A Gurgaon - SREIndia.in

Anant Raj Estate Sector 63 A Gurgaon

Anant Raj Estate Sector 63 A Gurgaon

Anant Raj Estate in Sector 63 A Gurgaon brings you the joy of living in a plush bungalow while you reside in a multistoried apartment. The estate presents you with the choicest 2BHK and 3 BHK option, with multiple car-parks on stilt level, and a lush landscaped front lawn and back yard. We put special emphasis on security to ensure safety of children, women and senior citizens.

Our homes are spacious, yet give you optimum utilization of space, they are state-of-the-art facilities, yet ensure warmth and coziness, they are modern yet have the elements of classicism.

In the estate, no matter what floor you live on, you will reside in an ambience that lets you cherish your life with your loved ones.

source:- http://www.sreindia.in/featured_deals.php?propname=Anant-Raj-Estate

The new south Delhi | Business Standard

The new south Delhi

Gurgaon is the new South Delhi | Business Standard

Gurgaon is the new South Delhi | Business Standard

Gurgaon is the new South Delhi

Gurgaon, arguably India's most expensive suburb with glitzy high-rises and neon-flashing malls, could be on the road to emerging as the new equivalent to South Delhi locations. A look at the rise in property prices over the past three-four years shows why.

Apartments in Gurgaon/ New Gurgaon, which were priced at Rs 1,825 a sq ft in 2009, now have a price tag of about Rs 4,983 a sq ft, an increase of 173 per cent. In South Peripheral Road, Gurgaon, a high-growth area in the region, apartment prices have risen from Rs 2,550 a sq ft in 2009 to Rs 6,145 a sq ft, a rise of about 141 per cent, according to data provided by PropEquity, a realty research firm.

Let's compare the rise in realty prices in Gurgaon with that in Vasant Vihar, one of the most expensive locations in South Delhi, housing many of the city's rich and famous. In 2009, apartments in Vasant Vihar - not too far from Gurgaon - were priced at Rs 28,000-31,000 a sq ft; now, these cost Rs 35,000-50,000 a sq ft, a rise of only 61 per cent, if one considers the higher end of the price bands, according to data from international consultancy CBRE.

In South Delhi, Golf Links, Jor Bagh, and Sunder Nagar are among the areas that have seen the steepest rise in apartment prices---from Rs 44,000-48,000 in 2009 to Rs 85,000-95,000 last year, an increase of 97.9 per cent, many notches below the escalation in property prices in Gurgaon.

While the price differential between Gurgaon and the most expensive areas in South Delhi is stark (1,446 per cent if one compares Golf Links with South Peripheral Road in Gurgaon), there's little doubt that Gurgaon, the biggest investor-driven real estate market, is fast catching up with the prime locations in the capital. In fact, property prices in the Golf Course Extension in Gurgaon, which is not seeing any new launches, are close to those in some South Delhi localities.

Gurgaon, which started being developed as an industrial and information technology hub about 30 years ago, is now seen as the dream destination for investors looking for extraordinary property returns. (Click for graphs)

Although average property prices in South Delhi are three to six times more than in Gurgaon, depending on the location, the gap is expected to narrow to two to three times in five years, says Sanjay Sharma, managing director, Qubrex, a real estate research and brokerage company.

However, experts throw in a caveat. The gap between prices in Gurgaon and South Delhi would narrow further, provided the infrastructure around the Dwarka Expressway is developed soon, says Sharma. The Dwarka Expressway, where a series of housing projects have been launched in recent months, looks promising and is expected to come up fast. However, it has been marred by litigation, delaying the progress of nearby areas.

Shweta Jain, executive director, Cushman & Wakefield, says despite the fact that the gap between property prices in South Delhi and Gurgaon has narrowed, it remains significant. She adds that on an average, the gap would remain at the same level. Only locations such as East of Kailash, Lajpat Nagar and Kailash Colony, where prices stand at Rs 22,000 a sq ft, can be compared to some areas in Gurgaon such as Golf Course Extension, she says.

"Private developers in Gurgaon are giving competition, in terms of prices, to some locations in South Delhi because of lack of infrastructure in the capital. And with Gurgaon becoming a commercial hub, people are compromising on address and preferring better facilities and amenities over a South Delhi address," she adds.

Experts also agree that Gurgaon prices are not comparable to that of South Delhi because there have been neither new launches nor many high rise apartments in the latter.

However, Harinder Singh, managing director of Realistic Realtors, feels Gurgaon is a better version of South Delhi. The comfort level of living is much higher in Gurgaon, which has better infrastructure than in South Delhi. Plus, there are added amenities such as clubs, swimming pools, and security -- all in a gated community, which makes the price comparison impossible, says Singh.

Like Gurgaon, residential property prices at Whitefield - the industrial suburb that has come up on the outskirts of Bangalore - are three-four times lower than the city.

In Whitefield, the prices have appreciated by as much as 86.15 per cent to up to Rs 3,537 a sq ft in 2012 against Rs 1,900 a sq ft in 2009, estimates show.

At Navi Mumbai in Vashi, on the outskirts of Mumbai, the prices have appreciated by 187.3 per cent at Rs 11,780 a sq ft in 2012 against just Rs 4,100 a sq ft in 2009.

In terms of development, Bangalore's Whitefield would be comparable to Gurgaon as both have commercial as well as residential development, experts point out. However, in Navi Mumbai, the commercial development has not taken place at a similar level as Gurgaon.

Unlike in prime localities of Delhi, the prices in Central Bangalore have not shown as much of an increase though. Prices in Central Bangalore were in the range of Rs 18,000-28,000 a sq ft in January 2013, up from Rs 14,000-18,000 a sq ft in 2009.

In South Mumbai, the prices rose to Rs 46,000-78,000 a sq ft in January this year against Rs 43,000-62,000 a sq ft in January 2009, according to Cushman data.

With hardly any space left in the metros for real estate development, increasing project launches on the periphery are bound to stretch the boundaries of big cities even more. That, along with enablers such as infrastructure, could change the complexion of the property market like never before, to the advantage of the likes of Gurgaon.

source:- http://www.business-standard.com/article/economy-policy/gurgaon-is-the-new-south-delhi-113042800547_1.html

Housing prices dip in Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore as slowdown takes its toll

NEW DELHI: The rising interest rates, liquidity tightening in the banking system and slowing down of economy have badly affected the real estate sector. As the demand for residential real estate has softened, its prices across the markets in India have started showing a declining trend.

According to National Housing Bank residential index, the prices have shown a declining trend in 22 out of 26 cities in the April-June 2013 quarter compared to the January-March quarter. Real estate prices have softened in major cities like Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Chennai, Hyderabad, Kolkata and Pune.

R V Verma, CMD of NHB, said rising interest rates have adversely affected the demand from end-users, which led to rise in the inventory of unsold property. As builders have to meet the loan repayment liability as well as complete the already started projects, they find it more prudent to cut prices to sell the units and generate cash.

Sanjay Dutt, joint MD at Cushman and Wakefield, a property consultancy, said the decline in prices is not sufficient enough to attract the buyers. But, the good thing is that a beginning has happened. He felt if the economic conditions do not change, the trend will continue and it will provide a good opportunity to the end-users to buy a house. Dutt said as the sentiment is subdued the investors are also absent from the market.

Verma too argued that the declining trend in the real estate prices is good for both builders as well as endusers. As the cost of money has gone up and the chances of making money in the short-term are not very bright, the investors are absent. This will be a positive for end-users to buy house.

He added that if prices come down, transactions will increase , which would improve the cash flow in the sector. In 2008 and 2009, when the entire country was reeling under the global financial crisis, real estate came out of it unscathed mainly because of its strategy to cut prices and increase turnover.

source:- http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/markets/real-estate/news/housing-prices-dip-in-delhi-mumbai-bangalore-as-slowdown-takes-its-toll/articleshow/22117001.cms?intenttarget=no

Real estate market: How to build India's future cities

The main reason that the Indian real estate market finds itself in trouble today is that prices have become unaffordable, even for most professionals. The underlying reason for this is an artificial scarcity of land in our cities.

There are several reasons for this: states have zoning restrictions, land-use rules and so on. This need not be a bad thing, but these rules are administered by inefficient and corrupt bodies. Clearances and permits follow a labyrinthine process and involve the greasing of many palms.

The resultant shortage of land where apartments, offices and shops can be built inflates prices. Today, as demand starts to weaken across property markets countrywide, we need to think of ways to build really affordable real estate.

First, the government must identify tracts of land to build new urban projects. Once identified, the change of land use from farm or fallow land to commercial or residential must be automatic, involving no bureaucratic meddling. With conversion becoming automatic, middlemen and touts will disappear.

The price of farmland will then reflect the real value of residential or commercial property. That will be a huge incentive to sellers, who will realise much higher rates than unconverted farmland. Once land sellers buy into this model, much of India's current worries with land acquisition and construction will go. Property prices, too, are likely to come down to reasonable levels as the "scarcity of land" argument disappears.

Wherever possible, the government should encourage the building of high-rises, which use all resources, including land, power, water and parking facilities much more efficiently than low-rise construction. As India urbanises, we cannot live with archaic models of land administration that encourage graft and curtail the supply of land.

source:-http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/opinion/editorial/Real-estate-market-How-to-build-Indias-future-cities/articleshow/22241847.cms

Good news for the Indian economy

It may take till the next elections for the govt to act cogently, but the good news is that Parliament has woken up

Charles Dickens may lose his balance under our present conditions and be compelled to say: it is the worst of times, an age of foolishness, the epoch of incredulity, the season of darkness, the summer of despair, we have nothing before us and we are all going direct to hell.

Our economy is currently in a shambles. Several years of misrule and missed opportunities have resulted in slowing growth, a plummeting rupee, increasing indebtedness, and rising inflation and joblessness. It has pushed us Indians into a panic. But, hang on before you buy that one-way ticket. A silver lining is emerging on this very dark cloud.

Speaking specifically of cumulonimbus clouds, we have had a very good monsoon season. According to the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD), India has had cumulative seasonal rainfall of 804mm versus a normal of 742mm, resulting in 8% excess rainfall. The spatial distribution of this rainfall (except for Bihar, Jharkhand and the North East) has been excellent and should support a bumper crop. The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) said that cheaper global food prices last month reflected declines in corn, wheat and edible oil prices. Prospects for a rebound in global cereal supplies to record levels have reversed the price trend this year. The FAO price index, which measures monthly price changes for a food basket, is at its lowest since June 2012 and is expected to decline further.

So, prices make up a bit of the silver lining. How, you may well ask, in the context of generalized inflation can prices be an item of good news? First, as the FAO index suggests agricultural prices are likely to decline because of record global production and a good monsoon (this is net of adjustments for imported items, and the increasing costs of transportation and storage).

Second, at the very time when the prices of ordinary things are going up, asset prices in real terms are beginning to decline, in some cases sharply. In particular, the rental price for commercial real estate has been declining for some time on a real basis. The average current rental yield for commercial space is only 2.5%. As the US Federal Reserve tapers its quantitative easing, real interest rates in India will likely rise. This will cause real estate prices to fall. Commercial rent, which is a critical ingredient in the recovery of the economy, will fall further. Additionally, declining equity and fixed income markets in dollar terms begin to once again attract foreign investors—both foreign direct investment and foreign institutional investors—since return on investments look attractive. Sceptics would say that the decline in asset prices is a necessary but not sufficient condition for economic confidence to return.

To generate sufficient confidence that the country is on the right track, the government needs to act, courts need to adjudicate and Parliament has to legislate. It may well take till the next elections for the government to act cogently, but the good news is that Parliament has woken up. In just this monsoon session, more important Bills have been passed than for the entire second term of this government. To name a few, the companies Bill, the food security Bill, the pensions Bill, the land acquisition Bill, the judicial appointments Bill and the street vendors Bill have all been passed.

Several others, including an insurance law (amendment), are likely to be taken up in this session that was extended by a day and may be extended further. To be fair, some of these legislations may exacerbate the problem (food security and land acquisition, for example). Nevertheless, completed action and removal of uncertainty hold a premium for economic participants. Investors will engage the long-term case making some allowances for the negative perceived effect of these actions.

The long-term case for India is well-known and I seek only to update it in light of recent developments. The most important learning is that it is not inevitable but must be consciously delivered with good policy and action. The reduction in poverty reported recently is real (the controversy over the poverty line is a sideshow) and points to the impact that can be made with strong growth and targeted social assistance. For the median Indian, born twenty-plus years ago, this is the first taste of the cost of inaction and misrule. If this young Indian gleans that good governance and continual action is required for prosperity, then this crisis would have served a very valuable purpose.

Last week, markets surged and the rupee reversed when a young man, the new governor of the Reserve Bank of India, made a speech. In economic terms, the speech was unremarkable. But, he telegraphed from the podium that he was an adult who was in charge and accepted the responsibility. The good news for India is that it may require only a few such (wo)men to put us back on track.
Don’t lose faith in Dickens’ idea of a “beautiful country and a brilliant people rising from this abyss”.
PS: “A living faith will last in the midst of the blackest storm,” said Mahatma Gandhi.

Narayan Ramachandran is chairman, InKlude Labs. Comments are welcome at narayan@livemint.com
To read Narayan Ramachandran’s previous columns, go to www.livemint.com/avisiblehand-