India Real Estate News

India’s Property Recovery to Drive Stocks, BofA Merrill Says

2009-12-12T20:06:00.000+02:00

Dec. 11 (Bloomberg) -- A recovery in Indian commercial property and rising home prices in Mumbai and New Delhi will boost asset values and drive real estate stocks next year, BofA Merrill Lynch Global Research said.

The brokerage was reinstating coverage of the nation’s property industry with a “bullish” stance and has a “buy” recommendation for Indiabulls Real Estate Ltd., DLF Ltd. and Housing Development & Infrastructure Ltd., BofA Merrill Lynch analysts Unmesh Sharma and Gagan Agarwal said in report today. They have a “neutral” recommendation for Unitech Ltd., the second-biggest developer.

“Real estate stocks have experienced a sharp rally since March 2009 on the back of capital raising and increased sales volume in the residential segment,” the analysts wrote. “We expect commercial property and pricing to surprise positively, leading to the next round of significant net asset value upgrades.”

Housing Development, the nation’s third-largest developer by value, has more than doubled in Mumbai trading this year, leading gains among the largest property stocks. The benchmark Sensitive Index, also known as the Sensex, has risen 80 percent, poised for its best annual performance since 1991.

‘Overly Concerned’

Real-estate sector leads in black money, finds FinMin

2009-12-08T09:01:00.001+02:00

The investigation department of the ministry of finance has unearthed black money to the tune of over Rs 4,500 crore during the last financial year, with the quantum of such unaccounted money highest in the real estate sector at around Rs 2,000 crore.

This was followed by the manufacturing sector, which saw a growth of 215.15 per cent in black money during 2008-09, a source from the intelligence department of the ministry told The Indian Express.

The source said the investigation directorate, which constantly keeps track of the growth of black money in different sectors and accordingly shifts its focus, conducted the highest number of search operations — 123 — in the real estate sector. It also conducted searches in sectors like manufacturing (79), jewellery (33), professional, financial, and education.

How India Avoided a Crisis

2008-12-21T16:46:00.001+02:00

“In India, we never had anything close to the subprime loan,” said Chandra Kochhar, the chief financial officer of India’s largest private bank, Icici. (A few days after I spoke to her, Ms. Kochhar was named the bank’s new chief executive, in a move that had long been anticipated.) “All lending to individuals is based on their income. That is a big difference between your banking system and ours.” She continued: “Indian banks are not levered like American banks. Capital ratios are 12 and 13 percent, instead of 7 or 8 percent. All those exotic structures like C.D.O. and securitizations are a very tiny part of our banking system. So a lot of the temptations didn’t exist.”

And when I went to see Deepak Parekh, the chief executive of HDFC, which was founded in 1977 as the country’s first specialized mortgage bank, practically the first words out of his mouth were these: “We don’t do interest-only or subprime loans. When the bubble was going on, we did not change any of our policies. We did not change any of our systems. We did not change our thought process. We never gave more money to a borrower because the value of the house had gone up. Citibank has a few home equity loans, but most banks in India don’t make those kinds of loans. Our nonperforming loans are less than 1 percent.”

Real Estate Bank India (REBI), is planning to set up 3,000 franchisees across the country

2008-09-02T10:24:00.000+03:00

Across the eastern region, REBI would open 200 stores, said Hemant Sikaria, regional head of REBI, on the occasion of launch of two-day expo, Franchise Expo 2008-09.

This would be a platform for entrepreneurs and business houses to explore business opportunities in real estate.

REBI was present in places like Bangalore, Bhubaneshwar, Chennai, Coimbatore, Delhi, Hyderabad, Jabalpur, Jaipur, Lucknow, Ludhiana, Mysore, Surat, Trichy, Truvandrum and Varanasi.

“India’s realty segment is the only industry with a track record of 30-35 per cent growth per year in terms of investment. With the realty sector booming in east, we are confident that to be able to provide solutions to all real estate requirements of the people here,” Sikaria said.

Indian real estate goes abroad

2008-08-15T21:16:00.000+03:00

state, Cento International Investments, U K based real estate consultants have organised 'Invest India Tour London 2008.'

Cento along with Baron Group International, a U K based property investment company and E 18, the marketing division of Network 18 have organised this tour which they say will provide a platform for real estate developers from India to interact with foreign investors and help promote the country as a lucrative investment hub.

The United Kingdom (UK) with a population of 15 million has an untapped market of investors for the real estate in India, Baron Group MD Nayan Bavishi said.

India rises in real estate transparency index

2008-07-04T20:24:00.000+03:00

The domestic real estate market, which is grappling with slowdown in demand and a tight liquidity situation, may have some reason to cheer. When it comes to the level of transparency in commercial real estate within Asia Pacific, both India and China have improved their position — moving up from low transparency to semi-transparency, according to Jones Lang LaSalle.

“Five markets moved from Tier 4 (low transparency) to Tier 3 (semi-transparent): China, Dubai, India, Romania, and Ukraine. Vietnam, moved from Tier 5 (opaque) to Tier 4. Although Venezuela’s score declined, it did not move to a lower tier,” the Global Real Estate Transparency Index 2008, said.

The transparency has been measured on parameters such as availability of data on real estate market, data on real estate performance indices, accounting standards and regulations, governance, clarity in taxes, planning codes, land registry, ease of transaction (sale or lease), professional standard for agents, amongst others; hence an improvement in a market’s

Real estate helps in hedging against inflation

2008-06-25T11:39:00.000+03:00

Mumbai, June 24: Real estate industry though hit hard by high interest rates, Niranjan Hiranandani feels that high rate of inflation might be a blessing in disguise as historically it has always attracted more investment into the sector.

“Historically, if you see, people used to invest either in real estate or gold to hedge inflation. Only in recent times people are investing in shares, but real estate is a long-term investment and so it is the best bet for investment when inflation is higher,” Hiranandani Construction’s Managing Director Niranjan Hiranandani said.

The higher the inflation, the more the depreciation of rupee and the costlier the properties. Thus when inflation is inching up, people should invest in real estates, the prices of which are certain to go up further, he said.

India’s ERMS application for the real estate industry

2008-06-11T10:30:00.000+03:00

Bangalore: Bangalore-based In4velocity Systems, India's leading real estate and property development software firm, announced that Mumbai-based Kanakia Spaces, a renowned name in the real estate industry, has successfully implemented its market leading ERMS application, In4Suite, across its various construction projects over the period of 6 months. The overall deal value is expected to be above US $ 100,000.

In4velocity’s unique Enterprise Resource Management System (ERMS) application, In4Suite, is India’s largest selling and the only integrated end-to-end solution for real estate and property development firms. One can automate the business processes right from land acquisition to engineering, from purchase to sales and from rental to property management.

Slowdown in Chennai property transactions

2008-05-27T23:35:00.000+03:00

The number of property transactions in Chennai and its immediate neighbouring districts has come down by 10 to 15 per cent in 2007-08.

In 2006-07, the three zones within the city registered about 3.7 lakh documents and netted about Rs.1,384 crore in terms of registration charges and stamp duty. Of these transactions, about 80 per cent was property related. The second half of 2007-08 witnessed a slowdown. Without exception, transactions in all the three zones of city – North, South and Central and the neighbouring Kancheepuram and Chengalpattu districts have come down. South Chennai was the worst hit, a drop exceeding 15 per cent. Chengalpattu followed this with more than 10 per cent. In 2006, these two districts along with Kancheepuram registered high growth in property transactions across the State.

Pranab hails Dubai firms' 'tailor-made' India projects

2008-05-14T12:14:00.000+03:00

The projects being designed by various Dubai-based companies as part of their investment plans in India are tailor-made for Indian requirements, according to External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee.

The minister said this after going through a presentation on 'Dubai's growth and plans for the future and planned investments by leading Dubai companies in India' organized by the Dubai Executive Council, a Dubai government entity that formulates and implements federal regulations and local laws and prepares annual budgets along with development plans.

Philippines real estate firm enters India

2008-05-06T11:50:00.000+03:00

Mumbai: Ayala Corporation of Philippines and its affiliate, Arch Capital Management, plan to invest $100 million in the Indian property market in the next two years.

Ayala is one of the largest real estate brands in Philippines and the private equity fund is currently evaluating property in Chennai, Hyderabad, the national capital region, Mumbai, Pune and Bangalore.

Sources say it will subsequently consider smaller cities as there is more room for development. Sources also say residential projects are top on arch capital management's priority list as it is easier to exit them. The fund is also considering investing in retail and IT projects.

Lehman to launch India real estate fund

2008-04-20T13:52:00.000+03:00

MUMBAI, April 16 (Reuters) - Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. sees opportunities in India despite volatile markets, and will launch its first dedicated India fund this year for real estate, the investment bank's country head said in an interview published on Wednesday.

"We are now starting to see some excellent investing opportunities, at both the project level and company level," Tarun Jotwani, chairman and chief executive of Lehman Brothers India, told the Mint paper.

India Has Real Estate TV

2008-04-12T10:58:00.000+03:00

powerful new force in real estate marketing has emerged with the news that India has its first 24x7 channel dedicated to the world of real estate. The channel is now available in all metros and major cities across the country. The new TV channel will provide viewers up to date information on all aspects of the property market.

Among the major distribution platforms, Real Estate Television has signed agreements with Hathway and Amogh in Bangalore, Hathway and SCV in Chennai, InCable and Seven Star in Mumbai and InCable in Delhi. It is also available across leading cable networks in Tier 2 cities.

Real Estate TV has been put together by media personality Sashi Kumar, and its COO, TK Vibhaker. The Network’s state-of-the art studios in Bangalore, Mumbai, Delhi-NCR, Chennai and Hyderabad continually feed news related to real estate and infrastructure from their respective regions to its hourly Realty Check bulletins.

The property market in India may continue to experience growth in 2008

2008-04-02T11:43:00.000+03:00

That is according to Jaideep Singh, head of the India desk at Knight Frank, the independent global residential and commercial property consultancy, who maintained that the Indian economy was currently "quite robust".

He said that people in India now had greater spending power and that the country had seen the emergence of a mortgage system.

Mr Singh commented: "The Indian economy is much better. The middle classes have made some money now so they can spend money.

Real Estate Authors from India

2008-03-24T01:41:00.003+02:00

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I need real estate authors from India to help me coverage the areas of Bangalore, Delhi and Goa.

Please send email if you like to participated in this effort. Thanks !

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US realty slump to turn attention towards India

2008-03-22T18:01:00.000+02:00

MUMBAI: Cushman & Wakefield, one of the world’s largest property consultancy firms, said the real estate downturn in the US could continue and that India, China and the Middle-East will become even more attractive as these markets offer huge opportunities for investment.

The US-based property consultant also said that more financial institutions in the US and Europe are likely to face financial problems in the coming weeks.

In an interview with ET, John C Cushman III, chairman of the board, Cushman & Wakefield said, “More bad news could come. We are facing new challenges everyday. Though there is a debate on whether this is a recession or not, in the coming months more bad things are waiting to happen.”

Mumbai is set to break its record for land prices

2008-03-18T22:31:00.000+02:00

The Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority will offer plots for office space at a reserve price of 300,000 rupees a square meter ($690 a square foot), anticipating the buyer will convert the former marshland at Bandra-Kurla Complex into India's version of Canary Wharf, the financial development built in London's disused docklands.

``It will definitely exceed the reserve price as the city offers a lot of opportunities and doesn't have sufficient surplus land,'' said Anuj Puri, the India head for Jones Lang LaSalle Meghraj in Mumbai. ``BKC will emerge as what Canary Wharf is to London.''

INDIA: Alok forms real estate venture

2008-03-15T06:30:00.000+02:00

Indian textile firm Textile Alok_Industries Ltd has taken a 50% stake in Ashford Infotech, a part of the Ashford Group, for the joint development of real estate projects.

It has acquired the stake through wholly owned subsidiary Alok Infrastructure, it told the Bombay Stock Exchange.

The venture has already purchased the Bhandup land of tyre maker Ceat Ltd, measuring around 6.92 acres for around INR1.30bn (US$30m) as its first property development.

India framing ‘investment law for real estate trusts’

2008-03-10T11:27:00.001+02:00

India is currently in the process of formulating legislation for the introduction of real estate investment trusts which will help individual investors enjoy the benefits of owning an interest in the securitised real estate market, an Indian economist and tax expert has said.

Sanjiv K Chaudhary, executive director of Pricewaterhouse-Coopers (India) said the real estate investment trusts would be regulated by the Government of India as well as the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI).

“The Indian real estate sector is booming. Investors can benefit from this by forming part of the real estate investment trusts which will make investments in the sector through various tools,” Chaudhary said.

European real estate giant enters India

2008-03-04T00:43:00.000+02:00

Global design-focused real estate development company 'Yoo by Starck' has entered India. As its first project, the European company is designing a huge residental condominial worth Rs 1,500 crore with Panchshil Realty in Pune.

Yoo by Starck also plans to expand its presence to Gurgaon, Goa, Bangalore and Mumbai with an investment of approximately Rs 1,800 crore in next four to five years.

Yoo by Starck Chairman John Hitchcox announced this during a press conference on Thursday in Pune. Yoo, a design marketing and branding development firm, has presence in 21 countries. Yoo is presently constructing 41 projects around the globe at Rs 40,000 crore.

India real estate: price correction looms

2008-02-28T12:22:00.000+02:00

Revenue visibility is better. In some markets, office or retail may be safer but mostly housing trumps these, as many US investors, who were earlier focused on office buildings, are now discovering.

We have eighteen on-going developments, across large cities such as the greater Delhi area and Calcutta, to smaller cities such as Tirupur, Meerut and Bhubhaneshwar. We consciously trade off the liquidity characteristics of a large market for the higher margins in smaller city developments. On the whole, the portfolio is going well, though some aspects like licensing can be difficult. I do not believe these problems are unique to India though.

Indian real estate on a roll

2008-02-23T18:29:00.000+02:00

The Indian real estate has gained a lot of traction from both within and outside the country in the past couple of years. A huge pent up demand and access to funds were the key drivers for propelling the Indian real estate market into an overdrive.

The industry received the much-needed first shot of funding in 2005 wherein the foreign direct investment (FDI) route was opened up for Indian real estate. Since then the Indian real estate sector has transformed to reach $57 billion in 2007, and has a potential to reach $90 billion by 2012 according to the Eleventh Five Year Plan.

India's Primary Real Estate plans $500 mln fund

2008-02-20T11:48:00.000+02:00

Foreign investors have taken advantage of such funds to rush into property development in India since it eased rules on inward investment in the construction industry in early 2005, sparking rampant land speculation and a near quadrupling in prices.

But despite signs of a slowdown -- home sales volumes have fallen by one-fifth in Mumbai and 40 percent in Bangalore in the last year -- the head of Primary Real Estate, Ashwin Ramesh, is convinced that North American and European investors will invest.

Foreign and domestic funds poured $6.8 billion in India real estate

2008-02-16T17:44:00.000+02:00

The US-based hospitality and real estate fund Walton Street Capital (WSC) has decided to invest Rs 1,000 crore in the booming Indian real estate market in 2008. It has already tied up with property developers for investing Rs 600 crore at the project level. These investments will be made in special purpose vehicles (SPV) floated specially to implement projects.

The fund is in talks with three Indian developers for the remaining investments, which is expected in a couple of months, said WSC managing director Sourav Goswami.

India still reluctant on real estate trusts

2008-02-14T08:19:00.000+02:00

Overbuilding in some areas worries investors. For example, around 50 malls are being built in the New Delhi suburb of Gurgaon. With the information technology industry thriving, about 100 million square feet, or 9.3 million square meters, of office space is to be built over three years, equal to all the office blocks in Washington.

An economy growing at about 9 percent a year has helped push up Mumbai office rents by a fifth in 12 months, but as new developments pop up in India's main cities, old areas can also quickly go out of fashion.