All housing projects executed by the West Bengal Housing Board, from now on, will have to go through a scanning process to be conducted by a nine-member team headed by HRBC vice chairman Sadhan Banerjee, reports Times of India.
The team will conduct a six-phase inspection during the construction stage of all housing projects being carried out by the housing board. The department is also looking at three housing board projects where several irregularities have been found.
Minister of state (independent charge) of housing Aroop Biswas said that the team will henceforth inspect all housing board projects during different stages of construction, from soil testing to building pillars till the final stages. The engineers will inspect all the six stages of construction and the final report will be placed before the minister for his approval.
The committee has to check whether the land on which buildings are to be built is encroachment free and under the department's possession, before any construction begins on a particular project. Biswas said that they have found three government housing complexes, one each at Rajarhat, Nimta and Mahestala that are in a dilapidated condition, the report said.
The housing department has come up with big plans to set up many LIG and MIG housing projects across the state. In the budget speech in the assembly, Biswas said that the housing department will take up construction of 20,000 flats for the minority people and 10,000 houses for fishermen.
Special stress has been given to look into the housing problems of distressed people in Jangalmahal, the hills and the Aila affected areas of Sunderbans as well as for minorities and SC, ST and OBC communities.
ASK Property Investment Advisors, part of the diversified financial services firm, ASK Group, is charting its first exit since it started deploying money in 2010. The real estate-focused private equity (PE) fund will get returns of about 2.5 times on the Rs 50 crore it invested in a residential de ...
ASK Property Investment Advisors, part of the diversified financial services firm, ASK Group, is charting its first exit since it started deploying money in 2010. The real estate-focused private equity (PE) fund will get returns of about 2.5 times on the Rs 50 crore it invested in a residential development project in Noida by ATS Infrastructure Ltd, said Sunil Rohokale, Chief Executive, ASK Property.
According to analysts, several PE exits are expected in fiscal 2013, particularly on investments made in realty projects in 2007. Investors in PE firms typically seek returns on their investments in three-five years. “We have made seven investments in residential projects from our first fund, and we expect IRRs (internal rate of returns) of 30% from them,” said Rohokale.
The Noida project, which is 14.5 acre, 12 towers venture, will be completed in a few months. ASK will probably exit theproject a few months before schedule, helped by the strong sales for it, added Rohokale.
ASK Property, which invested in the ATS project from its Rs.326 crore first fund, ASK Real Estate Special Opportunities Portfolio-1, is raising a second domestic fund of about Rs.1,000 crore. It has so far raised Rs.850 crore for it.
The remaining process will be completed once the Securities and Exchange Board of India finalizes the regulations for alternative investment funds
With the state government proposing a hike, both residential and non-residential purchasers would have to pay a five per cent stamp duty on the market value of the property or an additional Rs 17,400 per transaction.
The government has deleted Article 25 (d) of the Bombay Stamp Act, 1958, which ...
With the state government proposing a hike, both residential and non-residential purchasers would have to pay a five per cent stamp duty on the market value of the property or an additional Rs 17,400 per transaction.
The government has deleted Article 25 (d) of the Bombay Stamp Act, 1958, which was essentially for residential premises. With this, residential and non-residential transactions have been brought at par. Earlier, the stamp duty in Mumbai was charged at Rs 7,600 but it has now increased to Rs 25,000 per transaction or a 3.48 per cent extra for transactions up to Rs 5 lakh.
On average, around 2,00,000 such transactions take place annually in Mumbai alone; this translates that the government would get an extra Rs 350 crore.
Realty experts, however, observe that the move may not have an immediate impact and would not turn a sure-shot homebuyer into a fence-sitter . Says Subhankar Mitra, Head - Strategic Consulting (West) Jones Lang LaSalle India, "On an immediate basis, there would not be any significant change in demand. However, more and more tenants in cities like Mumbai and Pune would begin showing a preference for owned rather than leased properties, as this would make more financial sense. This dynamic would be more evident in Mumbai, as this city sees a higher incidence of property leasing on the account of the high cost of ownership. Less expensive cities like Pune would show a lower and slower impact."
Similarly, developers point out that though it is an amendment that should not have been ideally announced at this stage when homebuyers are waiting in the wings, the amendment increases the cost by not a very huge amount, though. Shailesh Sanghvi, Director, Sanghvi Group of Companies, says: "The move will certainly make it difficult for homebuyers , since this will be an addition to the existing VAT and several other taxes incurred. With such polices/ laws amended from time to time, decision-making becomes a challenge leaving the homebuyer in a pool of complication . Ideally, this amendment should have been announced once and for all in January along with the Ready Reckoner."
Similarly, Manoj John, Vice-President , Corporate Planning & Strategy at RNA Corp, points out that the proposed hike is not going to affect the sentiment of an urbanhomebuyer . "Prima facie, it won't affect a buyer within the city limits, while the realty market beyond in gram panchayats would witness some affect, though" he says. Additionally , Vyomesh Shah, MD, Hubtown Limited, feels that the proposed increase is insignificant and will not make any difference to the market sentiment in general.
Incidentally, the Stamp and Registration department is a major revenue generator for the state government. Last year, the department had collected approximately Rs. 14,000 crore from all over Maharashtra. With the state government announcing an increase in the stamp duty rate by a minimum of 10 and a maximum of 30 per cent, as a result there could be a slowdown in property transactions in the city, points out Manoj Asrani - DGM Marketing, Soham World.
Overall, developers observe that customers should not let this small amendment change their decision of buying a home. On a positive note, with the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) reducing the home loan interest rates, a homebuyer will be able to offset the rise in stamp duty. Ideally, they should make a calculated decision and not let the slight increase impact their decision.
Given the continuing uncertainty over the fate of housing projects in Noida Extension, in a first-ever instance a prominent builder has scrapped one of its housing projects leaving a large number of homebuyers in disarray. Investors have now become wary that scrapping of the project might open a flo ...
Given the continuing uncertainty over the fate of housing projects in Noida Extension, in a first-ever instance a prominent builder has scrapped one of its housing projects leaving a large number of homebuyers in disarray. Investors have now become wary that scrapping of the project might open a floodgate, wherein other builders might choose to back out if the stalemate continues.
A total of 76 villas - planned in three categories of 80, 100 and 120 square yards - in the Le Garden project of Ajnara Developers in Sector 16 of Greater Noida stand cancelled due to the continuing imbroglio. Around 75 of these villas had been booked by homebuyers. The average cost of a villa was around Rs 50 lakh.
"I had paid 10% of the total amount as booking charges and the developer asked me to stop further payments till the court cases were resolved," said Rakesh Pandey, a businessman who stays in Vikaspuri in Delhi. "I was recently asked by the builder to take back my booking amount as they had scrapped the project," added Pandey.
Most homebuyers in the project, who belong to middle-income families and have been left distraught with the decision, have been running from pillar to post in the last week, meeting officials of the construction company to figure out the next course of action.
"Construction on four 100 sq yard sample villas was in progress the last time we had visited the site. The dug up area had been filled up with rainwater and the builder had assured us that villas would be delivered within 18 months," said K K Tripathi, a resident of Indirapuram, who had paid around Rs 8 lakh as booking amount. "The builder now says that it is in full right to cancel the project as per the terms and conditions of the builder-buyer agreement. The builder is pressuring me to take refunds, but has not issued an official letter of cancellation or termination yet," he added.
Officials of Ajnara Developers have confirmed that the villas have been scrapped. A senior official said that the company was doing so because it had become economically unviable for it to continue with the project. "Any issue related to a construction project that lingers on for a long time without any signs of getting resolved becomes financially unviable in the long run," said vice-president of Ajnara Developers, Vineet Sharma. "We have decided to scrap the project given this factor. However, we have offered certain options to the homebuyers to either take back the booking amount with a reasonable interest rate or to shift to any of our other projects," said Sharma.
Industry bodies, however, expressed hope that this scrapping will not start a domino effect. "This project was planned on a very small portion of Noida Extension and may not have an impact on other projects," said Ajay Chugh, director of Noida-based real estate consultant, Investors' Clinic.
The Allahabad high court is likely to hear a petition filed by the Greater Noida authority, on Monday, seeking early resumption of the stuck housing projects.
The high court on October 21 last year heard a bunch of petitions filed by farmers and ruled that land would remain with builders a ...
The Allahabad high court is likely to hear a petition filed by the Greater Noida authority, on Monday, seeking early resumption of the stuck housing projects.
The high court on October 21 last year heard a bunch of petitions filed by farmers and ruled that land would remain with builders and farmers would get increased compensation. But the court said construction would not resume till Greater Noida’s master plan was cleared by the NCR Planning Board (NCRPB).
“The court said the authority should ensure that no development by it or by its allottees be undertaken as per the master plan 2021 till the same receives clearance by the NCR board. We have filed a review petition. We don’t need the clearance. The authority is empowered to prepare its plan for land uses within the urbanisable area,” said a senior Greater Noida official.
In a related development, the NCR board in Delhi may meet on May 22 to take up the master plan issue. Noida Extension homebuyers are hoping for relief from the high court and the board.
The Uttar Pradesh government submitted the master plan to the NCRPB on December 15 last year for approval. The NCR board objected to massive acquisition of land despite a low population density in Greater Noida. On March 21, the NCRPB sent its observations and suggestions to the UP government and asked the government toincorporate them and submit a revised plan.
The state government has, after addressing the objections raised by the NCR board, sent the plan back for approval. NCRPB has said that after receiving a revised draft, the same will be placed before the planning committee of the NCRPB for consideration.
On April 3, flat buyers in Noida Extension also moved the Allahabad high court seeking early resumption of the stuck housing projects. On April 10, the high court asked the NCR board to file a reply on the efforts to clear Greater Noida’s master plan-2021.
Global property consultant, CBRE reported that housing demand is likely to remain subdued in short-to-medium term despite cut in key policy rates by RBI.
"While the recent rate cut by the RBI has helped generate positive sentiments in the market, stagnancy in demand will continue in the short ...
Global property consultant, CBRE reported that housing demand is likely to remain subdued in short-to-medium term despite cut in key policy rates by RBI.
"While the recent rate cut by the RBI has helped generate positive sentiments in the market, stagnancy in demand will continue in the short to medium term unless there is an overall improvement in the economic scenario," CBRE South Asia Chairman and Managing Director Anshuman Magazine said.
NCR and Mumbai witnessed steady escalation in housing prices during the revival period from 2009 to first half of 2011 (as high as 40-50% in certain micro-markets), the latter half of the last year brought in stagnation in overall prices, the report found out.
With repeated interest rate hikes, rising prices and prevailing economic conditions, the market saw a dip in sales towards the middle of the year. This resulted in a supply pile-up in the key markets of NCR, Mumbai and Bangalore, leading to capital values remaining flat across various micro-markets in these three leading hubs.
Most micro-markets in Gurgaon remained central to the residential demand curve for the NCR region, with both primary as well as secondary market witnessing significant activity. However, the growth in capital values slowed in the last few months of 2011.
Anand Rathi Financial Services and property consultancy Knight Frank India have plans to launch their second real estate fund by the end of this month, reports VCCircle. Both the companies are looking forward to raise around Rs 500 crore.
The two companies joined hands two years ago with aim to r ...
Anand Rathi Financial Services and property consultancy Knight Frank India have plans to launch their second real estate fund by the end of this month, reports VCCircle. Both the companies are looking forward to raise around Rs 500 crore.
The two companies joined hands two years ago with aim to raise Rs 225 crore rental yield fun, according to sources.
The joint fund rental yield and appreciation portfolio (RYAP) fund will be raised from the domestic market. Like its predecessor, it will invest in commercial assets in tier I cities which include Mumbai, Pune, Bangalore, National Capital Region (NCR) and Chennai.
The fund would be targeting returns of 10-12% from its investments and expects to stay invested in an asset forfour-five years. “We are waiting for final Alternate Investment Fund (AIF) guidelines as right now there is no clarity on registration of funds and other norms. Once we have clarity on the same which we are expecting by mid-May we will register and start our fund raising process,” a senior executive of the joint venture fund house said.
The two companies had invested Rs 135 crore from the existing fund in two projects including Hubtown Ltd’s commercial project in Mumbai and Cerebrum IT park development by Pune-based Kumar Urban Development Ltd.
Anand Rathi and Knight Frank would join a slew of fund houses on the road to raise realty-focused funds to invest in India. The total pipeline is estimated at close to $5.5 billion at present.
Maharashtra Chief Minister, Prithviraj Chavan, on Tuesday said that his government acknowledges the critical importance of the real estate sector in the economic growth of Maharashtra. The chief minister was addressing a delegation of MCHI-CREDAI, the developer community representative.
Chavan p ...
Maharashtra Chief Minister, Prithviraj Chavan, on Tuesday said that his government acknowledges the critical importance of the real estate sector in the economic growth of Maharashtra. The chief minister was addressing a delegation of MCHI-CREDAI, the developer community representative.
Chavan promised to look into the issues being faced by the developer community. He said that high priority would be given to the issues and that solutions would be found in a time bound manner.
MCHI-CREDAI called for speedy approvals of real estate projects since delays are contributing torising cost of properties. It is also reiterated its suggestion for a single window system of clearances to speed up the process.
“Yes we have briefed the honorable Chief Minister on the urgency in dealing with the various critical issues and sought clarity from the government,” said Boman Irani, Secretary of MCHI-CREDAI.
Besides, MCHI-CREDAI also pitched for affordable housing and said the developers would like to play a meaningful role in creating mass housing to enhance the supply of housing stock which is bound to have a positive impact on the prices for the benefit of the lay man.
The growing real estate sector is a major contributor to the country’s GDP as it helps create many jobs across various verticals. Reports suggest that the Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) investment in the sector is expected to increase to US$ 25 billion in the next 10 years from the existing US$ 1 ...
The growing real estate sector is a major contributor to the country’s GDP as it helps create many jobs across various verticals. Reports suggest that the Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) investment in the sector is expected to increase to US$ 25 billion in the next 10 years from the existing US$ 10 billion.
In this regard, a regulatory mechanism is quite important for the sector with an aim to bring in more transparency and efficiency in the current unorganized real estate sector.
“Real Estate sector needs a regulator which will work as a catalyst for the sector. The regulator will be responsible in forming policies which will benefit not only consumers but also each and every segments of real estate sector,” Paras Gundecha, President, Maharashtra Chamber of Housing Industry(MCHI) said.
Industry insiders feel that now the sector must get its due ‘industry status’ as growth in this sector would directly impact the subsidiary industries like cement and steel as well.
Developers see this new regulation as a competitive move but feel that forming a separate body on the lines of Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) would be of great help.
“We will welcome regulator who can regulate the entire process .Currently, the entire approval or permission process in the sector segregated in different departments which takes lots of time to get which is not very good sign for our industry,” said Dharmesh Jain, Chairman & Managing Director Nirmal Lifestyle.
Further, most of the property transactions that happen in the country are based on certain perceptions and misconceptions, not necessarily on sound business principles. All this leads to greater customer discontent. Not just this, customer assistance procedure is also very slow. All this just creates more problems for both buyers and developers. Also, as the buyers are also not sure of the timely delivery of the house, they don’t risk taking loans from the banks.
Another issue is that many buyers are not even sure of the specifications promised by the developers. The situation worsens, when the house is not ready on time and eventually the customer ends up suffering. This only creates more chaos as usually the customer isn’t aware of the right redressal procedure. Even if some are, they avoid the court routes owing to its tedious and time consuming nature. Thus, this regulatory machinery will help a lot as it places consumers’ interest at its core.
The best part of having a regulatory body is that developer builders will have to register themselves before launching housing projects, stick to the approved plans and refund money to the buyers if there is a flaw in the promised terms. Additionally, they can’t advertise, invite bookings, or receive advances/ deposits from customers without registering their projects with the regulator.
Real estate regulator is the need of the hour. If we have to develop country and provide housing to our increasing population then every state should have real estate regulator.
A good thought, says P Natarajan a resident and aspirant from Chennai. “This (regulator) must not only cover the property developers and builders ...but should also include the Real Estate Agents and the Financing Institutions. We don’t want to see Fly by night Agents operating from Pan shops. Agents must be certified. In short the regulator must cover the complete life-cycle of property management,” he added.
The Real Estate Regulatory Authority Act (RERA Bill) has been gathering dust for about five years now, the time that the first draft was circulated for public view. The broader objective of the Bill is to establish a sense of responsibility among the developers towards the consumers. The proposal that has been prepared also mandates the regulatory body to keep an eye on land sharks and fly-by-night operators, all aimed to protect the interest of the consumer. The draft also recommends that builders must set up an escrow account for depositing 70% of the funds received from the customers. This is to ensure that the funds are used for a specific project and are not diverted anywhere else without the know-how of the customer. It also mentions that promoters must stick to the approved plans and project specifications. Along with this, the draft also says that customers must be aware of the site design plus structural design to ensure complete transparency in the process. All this assures a win-win situation for the buyers, who will not be left at the mercy of greedy developers.
However, the happy part of the bill, aimed to eliminate discrepancies in the real estate sector, has already been cleared by the Group of Ministers headed by Finance Minister and the Union Cabinet. The only hitch: industrial lobbies, which have also swung into action to oppose the implementation of the bill.
Property consultant Knight Frank, in its market overview revealed that nearly 5,00,000 houses are under construction in the national capital region (NCR) as of March 2012, and half of them are slated to be ready for possession by next year.
NCR, the largest residential market in India, did not witn ...
Property consultant Knight Frank, in its market overview revealed that nearly 5,00,000 houses are under construction in the national capital region (NCR) as of March 2012, and half of them are slated to be ready for possession by next year.
NCR, the largest residential market in India, did not witness a steep decline in launches last fiscal despite global economic slowdown and high mortgage rates in India, said the consultant.
"Nearly 86,000 residential units entered the market in FY 2012. Nearly 40% of the units launched, fall in the Rs 25-50 lakh ticket size," the report said.
Ghaziabad contributed to about 34% of the number of project launched, followed by Gurgaon and Noida. "Developers were able to gauge the pulse of the market and launched more affordable and mid segment projects than premium projects in FY 2012," it added.
Currently, NCR has higher number of units compared to the other five metropolitan cities of Mumbai, Chennai, Bangalore, Kolkata and Hyderabadput together. About 50% of the upcoming supply in the NCR market is expected to be ready for possession by 2013, as a bulk of projects were launched towards the end of 2009 and early 2010, the report mentioned.
Real estate prices in metros such as Mumbai may be at a record high. But, on an average, homes across the country are more affordable than they were five or even ten years ago.
According to an analysis of HDFC data, the average cost of a house purchased by its borrowers was Rs 12 lakh in the year ...
Real estate prices in metros such as Mumbai may be at a record high. But, on an average, homes across the country are more affordable than they were five or even ten years ago.
According to an analysis of HDFC data, the average cost of a house purchased by its borrowers was Rs 12 lakh in the year 2002. Over the years, the average amount paid for a house (by HDFC borrowers) rose to Rs 40 lakh in 2011. But salaries have risen faster. The same period saw the average borrower’s salary rise from Rs 2.45 lakh to Rs 8.3 lakh. As a result, affordability — measured by the home price as a multiple of annual salary — has improved. The borrower, who on an average needed 5.1 times his annual salary to buy a house in 2002, needed only 4.8 times his annual salary in 2011.
The affordability figure is a national average and over the years HDFC’s borrower profile has also changed with more loans being disbursed in smaller cities. However, the long-term trend in affordability holds true for most cities because of high levels of income growth in the first decade of the 21st century. The country’s per capita income has tripled from Rs 19,040 in 2002-03 to Rs 53,331 in 2010-11.
The increase in affordability would mean that housing and housing loans will continue to grow in coming years. Considering that there is a housing shortage of 26 million housing units according to Jones Lang Lasalle, the potential will last for some time.
If affordability has improved for home purchase, it is has jumped for rentals. “Around 2001-02, a one-bedroom apartment in Andheri costing Rs 22 lakh would fetch a rent of Rs 8,000 to Rs 9,000. Today, the market value of the same apartment is over Rs 1 crore, but the rental income is at best Rs 25,000. Rentals have not kept pace with house prices,” says Deepak Mehta, a Mumbai-based real estate broker who specializes in the suburb of Andheri.
Incidentally, the golden period for buying property was the year 2004 when, on an average, the HDFC borrower paid the equivalent of 4.3 years of his prevailing salary for buying a house. It was at this time that borrowers got full benefit of tax breaks because of larger loans and interest rates started dropping.
Internationally, rentals up to 25% of income are considered affordable. However, this would vary depending on how much of the income is left over after providing for basic necessities. “Monthly rentals in Mumbai are in the range of 22 to 25 basis points of the property value,” says Mehta. According to real estate developers, one of the reasons for high prices in Mumbai is the freeze on supply.
All housing projects executed by the West Bengal Housing Board, from now on, will have to go through a scanning process to be conducted by a nine-member team headed by HRBC vice chairman Sadhan Banerjee, reports Times of India.
ASK Property Investment Advisors, part of the diversified financial services firm, ASK Group, is charting its first exit since it started deploying money in 2010. The real estate-focused private equity (PE) fund will get returns of about 2.5 times on the Rs 50 crore it invested in a residential de ... 
With the state government proposing a hike, both residential and non-residential purchasers would have to pay a five per cent stamp duty on the market value of the property or an additional Rs 17,400 per transaction.
The government has deleted Article 25 (d) of the Bombay Stamp Act, 1958, which ... 
Given the continuing uncertainty over the fate of housing projects in Noida Extension, in a first-ever instance a prominent builder has scrapped one of its housing projects leaving a large number of homebuyers in disarray. Investors have now become wary that scrapping of the project might open a flo ... 
The Allahabad high court is likely to hear a petition filed by the Greater Noida authority, on Monday, seeking early resumption of the stuck housing projects.
The high court on October 21 last year heard a bunch of petitions filed by farmers and ruled that land would remain with builders a ... 
Global property consultant, CBRE reported that housing demand is likely to remain subdued in short-to-medium term despite cut in key policy rates by RBI.
"While the recent rate cut by the RBI has helped generate positive sentiments in the market, stagnancy in demand will continue in the short ... 
Anand Rathi Financial Services and property consultancy Knight Frank India have plans to launch their second real estate fund by the end of this month, reports VCCircle. Both the companies are looking forward to raise around Rs 500 crore.
The two companies joined hands two years ago with aim to r ... 
Maharashtra Chief Minister, Prithviraj Chavan, on Tuesday said that his government acknowledges the critical importance of the real estate sector in the economic growth of Maharashtra. The chief minister was addressing a delegation of MCHI-CREDAI, the developer community representative.
Chavan p ... 
The growing real estate sector is a major contributor to the country’s GDP as it helps create many jobs across various verticals. Reports suggest that the Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) investment in the sector is expected to increase to US$ 25 billion in the next 10 years from the existing US$ 1 ... 
Property consultant Knight Frank, in its market overview revealed that nearly 5,00,000 houses are under construction in the national capital region (NCR) as of March 2012, and half of them are slated to be ready for possession by next year.
NCR, the largest residential market in India, did not witn ... 
Real estate prices in metros such as Mumbai may be at a record high. But, on an average, homes across the country are more affordable than they were five or even ten years ago.
According to an analysis of HDFC data, the average cost of a house purchased by its borrowers was Rs 12 lakh in the year ... 
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