Monday 5 March 2012

Bangalore emerges as safest property market


During the year 2011 when almost all other matured property market witnessed dip in transaction and price correction was on everyone’s lip, Bangalore registered both healthy transaction as well as upward price movement. While the home loan interest rate hikes are dampening the property market in other parts of the country, sales are steady in Bangalore because there has been substantial wage inflation too.
Bangalore typically has first home-buyers in the 27-35 years of age. “Younger home-buyers are willing to take the rate hike,” says Archana S. Bhargava, Executive Director, Canara Bank.
Some property analysts believe Bangalore is possibly the safest location for investments in the world. Prices do not skyrocket or get hyped here and they do not go downwards too like they have in many other prominent locations in India. This is because Bangalore is a market where most of the property purchases are by end users and not speculators. Speculators treat it as a pure investment for financial gains.
A leading real estate company conducted a study on the pattern of first purchases (purchase straight from developer) by end-users. The study found a surprising and comforting factor that 81.2 percent of first purchases in Bangalore were by end-users and not speculators or investors who look for just financial returns. This figure in locations such as Mumbai could be as low as 40 percent.
The advantage of end-users buying more is prices do not appreciate or depreciate at abnormal percentage across the city. This is comforting factor for a homebuyer since the prices would be stable and would move upwards or downwards within a small band. Even during the recession, the salability in Bangalore property was quite visible. Also, the market here is not driven by economic sentiment in some other parts of world but by the actual demand and supply situation in the particular location where the project is located.
Bangalore real estate has, of late, seen a spate of transactions where high networth investors (HNIs) have scooped up fixed rental income assets. Traditional business families from Kolkata and Uttar Pradesh, who in the past financed developers in cities like Chennai, have moved their capital in Bangalore in recent years. A Kolkata-based investor has acquired 2.17 lakh sft of commercial space from Embassy Property Developments for Rs 141 crore. The office space at Embassy Paragon in Bangalore’s IT suburb Brookefields is occupied by tech giant Intel.
The Silicon Valley of India is also witness to more and more land being dedicated to the establishment of tech parks and commercial real estate Grade-A office space. According to global workplace solutions provider Vestian CEO (Asia Pacific) Shrinivas Rao, “In the last five years, around 50 million sq ft of commercial real estate Grade-A office space has been absorbed, out of which more than 75 per cent has been taken by IT/ITeS.”
Bangalore has also seen an escalation in rents of residential apartments during Q2’11 (April-May-Jun-2011) over Q2’10, according to the real estate portal 99acres.com. The rate of appreciation differs in each micro market but most localities have witnessed double digit growth.
“The commercial property prices in Bangalore are more affordable compared to those in NCR and Mumbai. Tenants here are more stable and pedigreed, given the dominance of the IT industry. And these are huge positives for HNI investors,” says Anuj Nautiyal, Executive Director, Redwoods Capital, a real estate brokerage and asset management firm.
He reckons that Bangalore may now be the top metro in terms of HNI transactions by volume even though Mumbai and NCR would outstrip it by value. Standard Chartered Bank, Kotak Mahindra and ICICI Securities are pushing Bangalore’s commercial real estate story to their private banking clients and often syndicating deals on their behalf for 10-12% annualized return. The city’s realty is seen as more competitive and open, which often enables investors to wrest better deals.
Now that metro rail has zoomed across Bangalore, the real estate industry in the city is also seeing property prices zoom. From Old Madras Road to Byappanahalli, realty has zoomed up by the sq ft – from Rs 3,000 to Rs 6,000 per sqft. Developers as expected are now rushing to start projects along the first phase of metro. What is getting property developers really excited is the second phase of Bangalore metro which will be launched in December 2012. This phase will connect most suburbs to the commercial hubs of the city. Property prices in these areas are increasing by 10 to 15 per cent in anticipation of the metro.

Friday 2 March 2012

DLF sells 350 flats for Rs 500 crore in Gurgaon


DLF, the country’s largest realty firm, has sold 350 flats worth about Rs 500 crore in a luxury housing project at Gurgaon.
The housing project ‘The Primus’, which is part of a 450 acre integrated township – DLF Garden City, was launched yesterday and all the flats were sold on the same day.
According to sources, the company achieved a sales booking of about Rs 500 crore from this project.
When contacted, a company spokesperson said: “We have received overwhelming response for this project. The company got more applications from customers than the number of flats it offered.”
DLF has earmarked an investment of Rs 8,000 crore to develop the integrated township at Gurgaon within 2-3 years.
The proposed township – DLF Garden City – will be spread over sectors 86, 87, 90, 91 and 92 (new Gurgaon), and will comprise of group housing, commercial and plotted development.
The Garden City will have plotted development projects, namely The Primus, Regal Gardens and New Town Heights, besides housing a commercial complex — Galleria 91.
As per plans, the project will offer plots of different sizes ranging from 250 to 502 sq yards.
Besides, the institutional sector will house educational, cultural, religious and healthcare facilities.
DLF is currently constructing 3,200 apartments in about 100 acres of this townships.
The company has total developable potential at 349 million sq ft and currently 45 million sq ft of projects area are under construction.

Thursday 1 March 2012

DLF seeks MCG nod for 3 Multi-level Parking lots


There could be respite from parking woes to commuters, especially for those working in the Cyber City area in the coming days.
DLF has sought approval from the Municipal Corporation of Gurgaon (MCG) to construct three multi-level car parking areas – two in Cyber City and one in DLF City Phase V. At present, there is not a single multi-level parking lot in the city. The MCG has been claiming that it would build one such parking lot in the old city but the plan has remained on paper for the past three years.
DLF, meanwhile, has constructed two such lots in Delhi. While the one at Sarojini Nagar is already operational, the trial runs are on at the other one in Connaught Place.
All the three parking lots will be 18 metres high and the builder has sought the fire safety NOC from the corporation. According to MCG officials, the matter is under consideration and they are verifying if the plan adheres to the building code.
“Since no such structures exist in the city, we are carefully going through the proposal before issuing the no-objection certificate. We are also consulting the urban local bodies department and have sought their comments,” said an official.
DLF authorities meanwhile say that they are awaiting the response of the municipal corporation.
“Multi-level parking is the need of the hour since there are so many vehicles getting added every day and the parking space is decreasing,” said an official. Even though there are a few parking lots in the Cyber City area, commuters get fleeced as the parking operators charge at will. “Parking remains a sore point in this area which boasts several multinational companies. We have clients visiting the area almost every day and it is quite embarrassing when they can’t find a decent place to park their cars,” said Subashish Ghosh, an MNC executive.

Wednesday 29 February 2012

A Metro service for old city soon


The district administration is planning to carry out an aerial survey of old Gurgaon for proposed metro connectivity within a month.
Confirming the move, deputy commissioner P C Meena said, “A proposal has been prepared in this regard as it would help in exploring the possibilities (for the metro connectivity.”
He refused to divulge further details of the project. The deputy commissioner also met members of the old Gurgaon residents forum, Metro Lao Sangharsh Samiti, which is pressing for the metro connectivity in the old city.
The resident forum has a committee comprising mostly RWA members and social workers active in the old city, who have come on a single platform to fight the metro connectivity issue.
“This is the big one chance for all the residents of the old city to fight for bringing metro to this part of the town and we are planning a series of campaign in this direction,” said Amit Arora, Sector 4 RWA secretary. The committee members, Puja Singh, Meenu Singh, Col Ratan Singh and Dr Ashok Taneja, also met the HUDA administrator regarding the metro connectivity issue.
“The demand for the metro connectivity in old Gurgaon is genuine but it is for the state government and metro officials to take a call in the matter,” said Praveen Kumar, HUDA administrator.
The committee members are now planning a series of meeting with officials of Delhi Metro, MCG mayor and also with the chief minister B S Hooda also. The forum has demanded that the area from Rajiv Chowk to railway station, and new Palam Vihar and other HUDA sectors should be added to the metro connectivity.
“At present, the residents are paying Rs 700 for taxi for reaching airport from old Gurgaon. The metro connectivity will immensely help in general commuting inside the old city,” said Puja Singh, a social worker.
At present, the spadework for the metro link between from IFFCO chowk to sector 21 Dwarka has been worked out for which DPR has been submitted with probable routes and coordinates of the routes.

Tuesday 28 February 2012

Mayfield Gardens residents clueless about fate of property


Residents of Mayfield Gardens are clueless about the fate of their property after the department of town and country planning (DTCP) had announced that it was taking over the township from the builder.
According to the announcement, the DTCP announced that residents paying EMI or buying any property in Mayfield Garden colony must not pay the builder since the entire colony has been taken over by the government for all administrative purposes.
“Now we don’t know about the future of the property owners here. There is no information about what DTCP is doing for taking over the township,” said Cdr (retd) Dharamvir Yadav, RWA member.
The housing projects are in different stages of completion and at present over 15,000 residents are living in plotted houses. Most of the owners are paying EMI for the property but due to the embargo on the builder they are unable to register the property in their names.
After taking over the township, the department has put up public notices in over 23 sites of the colony about the cancellation of the licence and announcement of the takeover of the project for the general public.
The DTCP had cancelled the licence on account of non-payment of dues running into crores of rupees by the builders.
The licences were given for development of residential plotted colony (Mayfield Gardens) in Sectors 47, 50, 51, 52 and 57 in Gurgaon. The senior town planner, Gurgaon, R K Singh, said: “The department is still in the process of getting the bank details and other aspects of the project.”
When asked about how the residents would pay up their EMI for the property owned in the colony, Singh said: “The department is working on the details of the relevant procedures and the property owners will be informed about them,” said Singh.
It is for the first time that the DTCP had taken over a housing project from a builder and will now be controlling the entire progress of the project. The residents, meanwhile, are getting anxious over the uncertainties. “The DTCP must start working to improve the facilities in the township. At least roads can be constructed in the colony,” said a resident.

Monday 27 February 2012

Housing plan for poor hits roadblock


Delhi Government’s plan to make way for transit accommodation for slum-dwellers, who may not be eligible for flats for economically weaker sections, has hit a roadblock. The Union ministry of urban development and poverty alleviation has raised concerns over the size of the project, which seeks to create room for 30,000 people in transit. The Centre also has reservations about the funding proposed by the state.
Delhi State Industrial and Infrastructure Development Corporation’s proposal for a transit accommodation in Kanjhawala and Samaspur in northwest Delhi was sent to Union ministry of urban development and poverty alleviation for approval. But the Centre has reverted to the state with a list of queries. The urgent need for a transit accommodation was also discussed at the Delhi Urban Shelter Improvement Board meeting chaired by chief minister Sheila Dikshit on Thursday. The state has sent its reply to the ministry emphasizing on the urgency for a transit facility.
Delhi government wants the transit facility to be developed under the Centre’s flagship programme – the Rajiv Awaas Yojna – which makes room for rental EWS accommodation. The project is proposed to be developed at Rs 300 crore by 2015.
The state’s proposal asserts the need for transit accommodation citing surveys which show that nearly 50% to 60% of slum-dwellers failed to fulfill the eligibility criteria for being allotted the flats for the economically weaker sections.
Surveys carried out across 33-odd slums selected for the first round of relocation laid out that many did not have documents to fulfill the eligibility criterion.

Sunday 26 February 2012

Mayfield Gardens residents clueless about fate of property


Residents of Mayfield Gardens are clueless about the fate of their property after the department of town and country planning (DTCP) had announced that it was taking over the township from the builder.
According to the announcement, the DTCP announced that residents paying EMI or buying any property in Mayfield Garden colony must not pay the builder since the entire colony has been taken over by the government for all administrative purposes.
“Now we don’t know about the future of the property owners here. There is no information about what DTCP is doing for taking over the township,” said Cdr (retd) Dharamvir Yadav, RWA member.
The housing projects are in different stages of completion and at present over 15,000 residents are living in plotted houses. Most of the owners are paying EMI for the property but due to the embargo on the builder they are unable to register the property in their names.
After taking over the township, the department has put up public notices in over 23 sites of the colony about the cancellation of the licence and announcement of the takeover of the project for the general public.
The DTCP had cancelled the licence on account of non-payment of dues running into crores of rupees by the builders.
The licences were given for development of residential plotted colony (Mayfield Gardens) in Sectors 47, 50, 51, 52 and 57 in Gurgaon. The senior town planner, Gurgaon, R K Singh, said: “The department is still in the process of getting the bank details and other aspects of the project.”
When asked about how the residents would pay up their EMI for the property owned in the colony, Singh said: “The department is working on the details of the relevant procedures and the property owners will be informed about them,” said Singh.
It is for the first time that the DTCP had taken over a housing project from a builder and will now be controlling the entire progress of the project. The residents, meanwhile, are getting anxious over the uncertainties. “The DTCP must start working to improve the facilities in the township. At least roads can be constructed in the colony,” said a resident.