Real Estate Industry Celebrates Together !

The Realty Plus Conclave Awards 2010 opened on an optimistic note as Indian real estate shows robust signs of recovery. As Indian economy clambers out of a debilitating slowdown, the cream of the real estate industry turned out in full force.

The much coveted realty awards saw 19 developers and industry leaders lined up to the event.

Let’s take a look at some of the award winners:

• The Award for Environmental Project of the Year was presented to Biodiversity Conservation of India Pvt. Ltd. for T-Zed.
• Upcoming Integrated Township of the Year Award was given to the Jaypee Group.
• The winners for Architect of the Year Award were Venkataramanan Associates and RK Associates.
• The award for Emerging Developer of the Year was picked by debutant Asset Homes.
• The winners under Regional Developers category Awards were Ambuja Realty, Amrapali, Brigade Group and Kumar Builders.
• The Lifetime Achiever’s Award for Outstanding Contribution to the Industry was presented to Niranjan Hiranandani.
• Luxury Project of the Year was a toe between Lodha Developers and Panchshil Realty.
• The Popular Choice Award for the Developer of the Year Award- Commercial, Retail and Residential sectors went to DLF, Star City/ Phoenix and Prestige Developers respectively.
• Broker of the Year Award was scooped by Agni Properties.
• The Pathfinders Award went to Brotin Banerjee, MD of Tata Housing.
• The Developer of the Year-Commercial was bagged by the 3C Company, Residential by Orbit and Retail by K Raheja Corp.

Buoyancy and new confidence has been found in all three sectors of Indian realty-residential, commercial and retail. The real estate majors and the Who’s Who of the sector gathered to discuss, deliberate and introspect on the issues affecting the industry. The event was a huge success and hoped for a more rapid growth of the realty sector in coming years.

Invest Wisely in Real Estate

Real estate is the hottest industry in India today that is progressing by leaps and bounds. And inflation is hovering all over the world, not to forget the recent economic global slowdown. The common man needs to battle inflation by making wise investments for a future that promises expensive living and minimal savings.

Your investments must earn double-digit returns merely to ensure that your savings retain their value. Some of the best investment options are equities, fixed deposits, commodities, real estate, gold and precious metals. Several analysts are of the opinion that investing in real estate in India is strong bet against inflation. Property is a real asset that when financed with loan is even better as the principal component does not increase but its real value declines due to inflation.

Property experts believe that buyers and investors should take the advantage of the current low interest rates to buy real estate. This will ensure a long term investment that is sure to reap multifold benefits. Some fear that growing property prices may burst as a bubble but since Indian economy is intact and the GDP is expected to grow at 8.5%, inflationary pressures would drive up house costs in coming times.

There are three types of inflation-mild inflation, hyper inflation and deflation. India seems to be going through the phase of mild inflation where prices grow slowly, not more than 5% every year. This phase of inflation is associated with a low level of unemployment and generally occurs during the upswing phase of a trade cycle. Such inflation has beneficial effects on a developing economy as it is a sign of a buoyant economy or an expanding economy that implies generation of jobs, output and growth. Therefore, investments in Indian real estate are bound to reap huge benefits.

Good times ahead the real estate sector

In the recent days, one must have noticed the growth in demand of the small housing properties, due to decease in the family size. Husband and wife, these days, prefer having small families, which again adds to the demand of short houses. This practise has been followed by the people, also because of the increasing cost of the products to be used on daily basis. I can surely say, the demand of bungalows has decreased to a lot, due to the people preferences shifting from the big bungalows to two- three bedroom flats. But with the fading away of the recession and the times of slowdown, purchase of commercial property is again boosting up in the real estate market.

The real estate market is growing with the buyers preferences changing towards the commercial property and people planning to invest more in the commercial real sector. It’s no doubt, that investing in real estate is the best investment a person does for his amazing future. People buy small houses, according to their family needs and try and invest the rest of the money in the production of surplus benefits, by converting the raw cash into assets like property and gold.

Also with the commencement of Olympics in India, this time, real estate sector is expected to take a major jump, towards the growth and demand of the property. Also, the whole structure and look of the capital is getting changed, adding to the demand of the managers and dealers of the real estate market. According to the reports by a real estate consultancy firm, the business of shopping malls and shops at the prime locations of the city and NCR like CP, South- Ex market, Karol Bagh, Noida, Gurgaon, will surely experience the best of the earning times. So, I can say that all people in the real estate sector should make themselves ready for the encashment of the losses faced during the slowdown.

Different types of projects - reason for real estate development

The real estate market in the country is growing at a faster rate, with the commencement of a variety of housing and commercial projects coming. These projects are different from each other in shape, designs and the facilities provided in them. Real estate sector has fulfilled the demands of the citizens from lower to middle class to upper class, to higher upper class people. The difference in the demands and requirements of people, is leading to the building up of various styles of housing and commercial projects in the country. Other than normal and traditional markets, metros states of the country have been instilled with various new projects which have shopping malls and multi storied complexes near to the residential areas, in the reach of the common masses.

The increasing demands and priorities of the people can also be counted as one of the primary reasons for the developments and growth of the real estate sector in India. Most of the projects and designs are influenced by the developments in the western part of the world. Projects like, integrated commercial and housing complexes, have surely increased the standards of the citizens of India. The availability of almost all the facilities at one place, like in case of shopping malls, is an achievement for the real estate sector in India, and its success has given a rise to such projects. People of the country, have got used to such developments and to be very frank, today, even I don’t prefer going shopping to a place less than a multiplex shopping mall or a complex.

In fact technology has a major role to play in the betterment and beautification of these complexes. Decoration of the malls with different types of lights and technological instruments makes the place look more elegant and sophisticated. What more would one want, the presence of five star hotels, retail shops, offices, all at one place, life is no more same as earlier, or I should say, it is no more boring as the previous decades, its much interesting and happening!

Retail Rentals to Spiral Up Finally

A turnaround of realty trends may have been seen from last quarter onwards. But, it was only a revival of real estate prices not their rental values. Real estate consultants and analysts believe that if retail spaces show sustained growth for a considerable span, it may soon witness upward movement.

Leading retail stores have confirmed that they have not received any request to re-negotiate rentals at their existing properties though new properties will command higher rentals. The hike in rent would depend on various factors including the capital value of the property as realtors now-a-days are using serious scientific methods to get the right mix of retailers in their malls.

From property developers to mall owners to retailers, everyone is adopting a cautious approach to avoid hassles in future. They prefer the revenue-sharing model so that both developers and tenants remain committed to the property and its upkeep. Cushman and Wakefield (C & W), a leading real estate broker and consultant said that retail segment has just started picking up. So, retail segment needs to witness a sustained growth consistently for months before mall developers decide to re-negotiate the rentals. Mall developing biggies like DLF have now decided to bring the upcoming and existing retailers to the same level by gradually withdrawing the discounts extended to old occupants during recession.

Retail market has revived and even retailers seem ready to pay higher rents and are open to negotiations. Rajeev Talwar, DLF Executive Director explained that they are now looking forward to negotiate rents as they had earlier taken a soft stand during economic meltdown. Some experts feel that rentals may remain flat in the short term but will recover in the long run. With the growing supply of rentals, it is difficult to achieve the rental levels of peak times.

RBI may come up with two Real Estate Indexes

RBI (Reserve Bank of India) is planning to launch two real estate indices to reflect movements in residential and commercial property prices in the country. The report on asset price monitoring system suggests revision of the indices every quarter.

These indices could prove handy for financial markets as well as the central bank that decides the monetary policy. Various developed countries like US, Canada, France and Hong Kong already rely on their respective property indexes to gauge the asset price movement in their countries.

The report emphasized the challenges for keeping track of real estate price dynamics and their relationship with financial stability and monetary policy.

They are:

-lack of transparency in the residential realty market transaction,

-absence of a single centralized regulator in a huge country like India and

-limited availability of property price information

It has further recommended that the RBI may compile real estate price index on quarterly intervals and begin with Delhi and Mumbai. Subsequently, it could add 11 other cities such as Chennai, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad, Lucknow, Bhopal, Kolkata, Pune, Jaipur, Greater Chandigarh and Bhubaneswar.

This real estate price index would be a primary index that institutional investors could rely on to sense the performance of the real estate industry. It would record how realty performed as compared to other asset classes like stocks and bonds. Moreover, it would provide a better understanding of the risk and return for commercial real estate. It may be used as a basis for developing diversification strategies like percentage allocation to real estate to minimize risk for a target portfolio return. It would be the first available index to measure the performance of income coming from realty sector.

RBI may take inputs from banks and select home finance companies on sale and resale prices as builders may be apprehensive about sharing property price information due to competition reasons.

Houses in cities other than metropolitan

Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad, are the places, which have no doubt, left every state behind, in terms of development and growth. These are the cities which are counted among the top most developed and metropolitan cities of the country, which have contributed maximum in making the country achieve the tag of a developed nation from an underdeveloped country. In fact days, are not far, when we will also be counted among the citizens of few of the top most developed nations of the world. But, today even, if we talk about huge bungalows, having big rooms, practising lavishing lifestyles, we surely end up discussing about the houses in the cities like Ludhiana, Jalandhar, chandigarh, which provide ample space to its residents to enjoy life king size.

The size of the house, surely matters a lot, it actually defines the royalty that the person possesses. The family status and the livelihood practised by a person, is largely reflected by the house he lives in. Houses in Delhi or other metropolitan cities or beautiful, amazing but the hugeness and the space I am talking about is something, which you would surely not find in these big cities, and if by chance you get to see such houses, then it would make you shed the income worth your whole life’s salary. The real estate sectors is actually touching heights in terms of prices, and owning a big house in the metropolitan city, means you are the bond.

It’s not only about space, but the peace and the comfort level you get in these houses, is mind blowing. The feeling is entirely different and plus it makes you stay away from the polluted environment, which has taken a toll on our health. I think, we all should have a house in such cities, where one can go and relax for a while, having a blast in the holiday period, because, whether its you or me no one can deny the fact, that health is important but wealth is important to maintain that health, which is earned by working and having a good career, which is the most important asset of these metropolitan cities.

Increasing mall culture

Indian audience for the real estate sector is getting more techno prone; we have got quite open minded in adopting and implementing the modern and the western cultures in to our lifestyle. One of the practises adopted by us is the mall culture. Though the traditional markets like, Karol Bagh, Sarojni Nagar, Rajouri Garden, Lajpat Nagar, are still the leading markets of the capital. But, the malls like, Ambience mall, Select City Walk, Shoppers Stop, Lifestyle, Sahara Mall, have also grabbed the attention of the common man.

The best thing in these malls, because of which anyone, you or me, feels comfortable in shopping there is, the presence of all the shopping items at one place. You enter a shopping mall with the list ranging from food products to bathroom sleepers, from clothes to accessories, you would find, anything and everything just under one roof. There are many retail shops also like, Big Bazaar, Vishal, Salasar, Gokul, which provides solutions in all kind of purchasable products. These shops have become popular in a very short span of time, and are directly giving competition to the local grocery or confectionery shops present in our residential areas.

The presence of all the popular brands in the same mall has made it easier for the brand freak people to find all their favourite brands at a single place. This has also lead to the rise in competition among brands, which at the end, results in our profit, with the reduction of prices on our favourite dress or shoes. If you ask me, today if you have to do an investment, then buying a shop in the shopping malls can prove to be a great asset, due to the increasing popularity and demand of the mall country in India. Almost all the metropolitans of the country have adopted this culture, not only this, cities like Ludhiana, Jalandhar, also have implemented mall culture in their cities and is being appreciated a lot. So, other than investing on house and lands, you can also invest on shops in malls, and can earn premium for the rest of your life.

Introduction

Hello All!

We daily come across so many news stories related to the purchase of house, the property rates, the ups and downs in the real estate sector, which directly or indirectly affects the common man of the country. For some, the rise in the property rates is good news, but for the buyers, it’s a bad news, the parameters of happiness and sadness, keeps on varying. But at the end of the day, whatever changes happens in the real estate sector of the country does affect us, so to keep a watch on the real estate sector of India, and discuss about its varying factors, me (Gurleen Kaur) and my friend Deepika are starting a blog on the real estate industry.

To make the blog more informative and interactive, please keep posting your comments and suggestions.