Jones Lang LaSalle India, in its quarterly report Asia Pacific Property Digest, stated that the foreign retailers are likely to extend their decision to enter India by starting up various stores in India. According to the report, India will have to wait one or two more years for their entrance in to the subcontinent.

The developers’ expectations to fill the vacant malls have to be put on a pause for a couple of years more. The foreign retailers have now decided to enter India after the union election which is to be taken place next year.

JLL India says that the foreign retailers are cautious to enter India due to the higher realty cost. The upcoming election is another factor which forces them to postpone their entry in the Indian soil.

India has higher rentals that account for around 9 to 15 percent of the total revenue of the retailers. The rentals and the realty cost in India are far higher than the global average that falls between 4 to 10 percent. This prevents the foreign retailers who are highly cost-sensitive.

However this is not the sole reason. They are also conscious of the upcoming elections in India. India is to undergo union elections in 2014. This also makes them slightly reluctant as they are not sure of the next government’s policy.

The current government has accepted more foreign direct investment in retail, giving veto power to the states to take the final decision on the FDI bill. The central government has left the final decision on to the state government.

Given the veto power, some of the states have already banned the foreign retailers from entering their states while others have welcomed them. Some fo the foreign retailers like Wal-Mart has conveyed their anxiety over the veto power of the states, to the central government.

Indian cricket team captain M S Dhoni has been gifted a one-acre plot in Kanthitar, where he is constructing his new farmhouse. Though the plot is gifted to him by Ratu Maharaj’s heir Lal Gopal Sharan Nath Shahdeo, it is registered as a sale.

M S Dhoni has started building his new farmhouse in Kanthitar, where Dhoni and his parents own three plots. While one plot belongs to Dhoni, the remaining to his father Pan Singh and mother Devki Devi.

Lal Gopal Sharan Nath Shahdeo is a family friend of Indian Captain. Their families always had cordial relations, and this has forced him to accept the gift offer.

The plot is one kilometer away from the National Highway 75, and so the prices of the plot are not high, said Shahdeo Mehra, the Ranchi district sub registrar who confirmed that the gift is registered as a pure sale.

Currently Dhoni is living in an apartment in posh Harmu Housing Colony. This apartment is built in a plot that was gifted to the Captain Cool by the Uttarakhand state government.

Since his entry into Indian Cricket team, he is the real hero of the state, especially of Ranchi his home town. The people love and admire him so highly and this is seen in this gifting of land as well.

Dhoni’s new farmhouse is being constructed with all facilities and amenities. It will have a swimming pool and multi-facility gym. Besides, it will have various game pools and cricket practicing nets and so on.

Photo gallery of every sport is expected to be another key attraction of the new farmhouse of Dhoni. The construction work is in full swing and is expected to get over within this year.

How people can live without water? It is impossible. Though the property experts may say that amenities and facilities are what determining the prices of a project, the first thing any home buyer will be asking is ample water supply in the project. No one likes to live in an area which faces water scarcity.

Earlier Gurgaon was considered as one of the most sought after locations in the NCR. The residents feel that the city is no more suitable for healthy living as the city is facing various issues like water scarcity, power shortage, weak waste management system, and many similar issues.

Gurgaon, being a hub of many MNCs and other corporates, attracts huge population. While housing remains a major problem for the city, those who have acquired homes now are troubled with water scarcity and other problems.

The residents alleged the civic body for not taking care of the measurements required for assuring ample water and sufficient power to the residents. The residents are really unhappy with the situation, HT-C Fore Survey reports.

A mismatch exists between the demand and the supply of water. The city requires 110MGD water per day. However the supply is only 550MGD. It means that only a half of the demand is supplied by the Haryana Urban Development Authority (HUDA), the sole agency responsible for providing ample water supply.

Besides water scarcity power shortage also affects the life of the residents. The residents say that most of them depend on generators for power. The supply-demand mismatch is visible here too.

While the city demands 1500MW daily, only 900-1100MW is supplied. Dakshin Haryana Bijli Vitaran Nigam (DHBVN) finds no way to provide sufficient power in the city.

Foreign retailers are planning to set up various stores in India. This will improve retail space demand. As per the report of CBRE, the foreign retailers are focusing on top cities, Mumbai and Delhi remaining their most favorite destinations.

In 2012, 13 stores were opened in Delhi by the foreign retailers. The number of foreign retail outlets across the Asia Pacific Region also has improved very much. Nearly 70 stores were set up in this region.

Hong Kong received the maximum number of new stores. 51 stores were set up in this city. Gaining 27 stores, Singapore stands second.

According to CBRE, the sentiments of the foreign retailers are inclined to India. The main reason for this is the increasing population in the Subcontinent. The rising income is another key factor that attracts the foreign retailers.

Though the above said factors can be said as the reasons which attract the global retailers, the key reason is the government’s decision to raise the foreign direct investment level.

India is considered as a mature market, states CBRE South Asia Pvt. Ltd.’s CMD Anshuman Magazine. He stated this while he was releasing Retail Hotspots in Asia Pacific,’ their report on retail space demand in the region.

Though the central government has approved the new FDI policy under which the foreign retailers are free to set up their own stores in India, the foreigners are to get the sanction from the state government in which they are planning to set up stores.

The states are given the veto power on FDI. It means that they are free to accept or reject the foreigners’ firms and retail outlets. One thing is sure that if the foreigners enter the country, then the demand for retail space in India will see new heights.

It seems that the Thane Building collapse has shaken the builders and developers in Maharashtra. After the incident, it was reported that the project clearance was granted to the builder violating many of the building norms.

This might be reason why the developers have sought two expert panels for project clearance procedures. The builders believe that if the project clearance is done through the experts, they would remain responsible for the building collapses.

Maharashtra Chamber of Housing Industry also met Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan. The body also requested the CM to appoint two expert panels, dispersing the high-rise committee.

The expert panel would mainly include some experts. Some structural engineers will also be included in the panel.

Some builders, meeting the CM, informed him that the current project clearance method is too lengthy and time consuming. It is a burden for us, CREDAI members informed Mr. Chavan.

Another serious issue conveyed to the CM was the inefficiency of the fire safety department. In cases of building with heights above 70m, the department is not able to reach the top.

The builders alleged that there were various projects waiting for the clearance for a long while.

Under the current project clearance process, the panel is to examine the quality of the soil where the project is proposed to be erected. However this is not followed in many of the cases. This is one of the main reasons why building collapses take place.

Stability of the structure and the fire-safety norms are also to be considered. The committee can approve the project only after this.

Assuring the developers, Chavan said that he will discuss the matter with both environment and forest ministries. CM guaranteed that he would ask these ministries to take steps to clear the projects as soon as possible.

Patna-based realty firm Agrani Homes has bagged West Indian Cricketer Chris Gayle to endorse their projects. The realty firm has projects in various cities.

By singing with Chris Gayle, Agrani Homes expects an improved demand for its projects. The realty firm hopes that the popularity of the West Indian Cricketer will surely help them.

The West Indian Cricketer became a favorite star through Indian Premier League. In fact it has made him more fans than ever he had before.

Though he plays for Bangalore Royal Challengers, his fans are not the supporters of this IPL franchisee. In fact, those who love IPL and T20 cricket matches surely love him.

Preity Zinta, the co-owner of the Kings XI Punjab, just before the match between RCB and KXIP, said that she loves the batting of Chris Gayle. She added that only when he is playing against her team.

Recently he wrote his name into the record books of T20 Cricket history by smashing 175 runs from a mere 66 balls. This made him all the more popular. On his way to 175 he smashed 17 sixes and a good number of boundaries. The number of sixes is another record.

This is the reason why all the opponents of the RCB plan about how to trap this tall cricketer. They all say that if they can get the wicket of Chris Gayle in a quick time, they can come back to the game.

Now various firms are after this tall cricketer as they all are sure of improving their returns with this popular player. This is the same thing which Agrani Homes too expects from their deal.

Agrani Homes have various projects in Delhi-NCR and Jharkhand other than in Bihar. The real estate firm expects a good response from buyers with this deal.

DLF plans to sell out nearly 81 million shares. Through this, the realty major aims to raise over Rs.2000 Cr. The shares will be sold via institutional placement program (IPP).

Though the developer has announced its plan, the timing is not yet announced. However DLF is reported to sell its shares in the first half of May. By selling 81 million shares, the firm aims to comply with the guidelines prescribed by SEBI.

Last year, the Securities and Exchange Board of India had ordered all the listed firms to limit their shares by 75 percent while making 25 percent available for the public.

Currently the promoters of DLF hold 78 percent of its stakes. This will come down to 75 percent after selling the shares.

The developer group officials said that the shares will be sold under IPP. Under the IPP, the shares can be sold either at the market price or with a maximum discount of five percent. Rs.2 is taken as the face value of each share.

For conducting the sale of shares, the realty firm has already appointed eight banks. UBS, Standard Chartered, Kotak, JP Morgan, HSBC, Deutsche Bank, CLSA and Bank of America-Merrill Lynch are the eight banks mandated to conduct the sales.

Though by selling the shares, DLF may comply with the guidelines of the market regulator; this is not the primary objective. The main objective is to cut the debts down. The debt of DLF, till December 2012, is Rs.21, 350 Cr.

So the realty major may achieve many things by selling the shares. Among all these, the most prominent and most important will be cutting short the debt of the real estate firm.

Blackstone, having assets worth over $210 billion, is ranked as the largest private equity firm in the world. The group has investments in many countries including India.

Within the last two years, Blackstone has invested almost $1 billion in India. However most of their investments were in the residential realty.

Now with the plans to buy Express Tower, the group has signaled a shift from residential realty to commercial realty. Earlier Blackstone also was reported to be in talks with Mantri Realty for purchasing their business park in Bangalore.

Some persons who are familiar with the deals of Blackstone said that the group has halted their decision to buy out Bangalore Business Park for a while. They indirectly pointed to the group’s plan to buy the Express Tower in Mumbai.

Blackstone has its Indian HQ in the fifth floor of this tower. The estimated value of this 25 storied project is Rs.850 Cr. The total build up area is over four lakh square feet.

Express Tower is a joint venture between ICICI Ventures and Indian Express Group. Though they hold the main shares of the project, there are some other small scale investors in the project. This project was completed over forty years ago.

The PE firm has got a brochure of the project which they have shown to their Indian partner Embassy Group. The officials of the Bangalore based realty firm will visit the project. Only after their visit the deal will be fixed.

Persons with direct knowledge of the development say that the group is moving ahead with their plans to buy this tower. As the tower is close to the Arabian Sea, it provides a very exciting and pleasing view of the sea.

However senior officials of Blackstone declined to comment. ICICI Ventures’ MD and CEO Vishakha Mulye too did not respond to the queries.

Kota is witnessing a good demand for 1 BHK apartments and studio apartments. While most of the students who come to the city for study purpose stay in various hostels, the number of those who stay in rented homes is never less. Whatsoever, this is considered as a good sign for the realty market in the area.

Some students come to Kota with either of their grandparents or a guardian. For them it is not possible to stay in hostels. Thus they demand 1 BHK apartments or studios.

The parents of these students say that the stay in hostels is not comfortable for study. If we can own a small one bedroom home it is better for study, said Neerja whose son is enrolled in one of the top coaching centers in Kota.

In her opinion realty market is always good for investment. She recently bought a home in Kota for the purpose of her son’s study. She said that once her son’s coaching gets over, she will sell the property. Thus for time-being it is an investment in the realty market, she adds.

Kota is known for its coaching centers. Students from across the country come here for gaining better coaching.

Commenting on the demand from the side of the students, a real estate developer of the area said that they mainly demand for 1 BHK and studio apartments.

Seeing this demand the developers are coming up with various studio apartment projects. Manish of Suwalka and Suwalka Group said that they have a good number of upcoming projects.

As per the enrollment data nearly 1.2 lakh students come to the city for coaching purposes. Their demand for homes really boosts the realty market in the area.

Reserve Bank of India has recently cut its rates by 0.25 per cent. Though the realty developers welcomed the RBI move, they added that the cut is insufficient to boost home sales.

In the opinion of realty developers, the sector is not going to gain any benefit from this as this is too small. The real estate sector is undergoing a sluggish momentum. The home sales across the country are down.

This has affected majority of the realty developers. They are finding it really tough to pay off their loans.

The realty developers say that the home sales can be improved only by revising the rate cuts. However the rate cut may not soon reduce the interest rates for home loans.

Commenting on the RBI decision to cut rates, Lalit Kumar Jain of CREDAI said that this will improve the sentiments of home buyers. He added, however, that this will have only a menial boost as the rate cut is minimal.

Any further reduction in the rates will benefit both the buyers and the realty developers. While the buyers will be able to purchase homes at lower interest rates, the builders have various loans with banks and other financial institutions.

At present, after the reduction, the repo rate is 7.25 per cent. If the rates are further lowered, then there would be more takers. This is what the realty developers seek for.

An official of DLF Group said that the rate cut will hardly boost the sector. In the opinion of the largest realty developers, the reduction rate is too small. DLF Group Executive Director Rajeev Talwar said that more reduction is needed for boosting the sector.

Sluggish realty market and weak home sales have affected Mumbai Developers severely. This has forced them to launch their new projects at comparatively lower rates than the existing prices.

Due to the weak home sales, most of the developers are now debt-driven. The experts see the Mumbai developers move to offer new launches at lower prices as a good marketing technique. They say that it will surely improve the sentiments of the takers.

New launches in Lower Parel area in Mumbai are offered at Rs.25000 per square feet. This is below the existing rate of Rs.28000 per sq. ft. It means that the Mumbai developers have cut short the premium property prices by almost 15%.

A few days before news had come up stating that the property prices are shooting in the top cities despite weak demand for housing units. Top cities like Bangalore and Delhi also see lowered demand for housing units.

The numbers of unsold inventories are rising in all these cities. The situation in Mumbai too is not anything different. Property prices have gone up by three percent in the city while the sales have gone up only by one percent.

This also has affected the sentiments of the property buyers. Always the demand falls in opposite proportion to the rise in prices. Thus by reducing the prices, Mumbai developers hope that they can improve home sales in the city.

Commenting on the issue Om Ahuja, CEO Jones Lang LaSalle India, said that the prices are really competitive. He added that this will boost the sentiments of the buyers.

This is what the Mumbai developers too hope for. They are sure that they can save the situation only by cutting the prices down.

Sky-touching home prices have hurt the sentiments of buyers, keeping them away from buying. Though this, the higher property prices, have caused the fall of home sales, still the prices are shooting up everywhere.

Due to the weak home sales, residential market remains sluggish. The builders find no way to attract buyers. While they are thinking of attaining some takers by reducing the prices, the prices are still moving upward.

The last quarter report of the market analyzer Liases Foras has recently reported that home prices in Mumbai has reached record heights.

Mumbai residential market, where property prices are touching the sky, is one of the costliest markets.

According to the Liases Foras report the prices rose in the city by 2.9%. This is during the last quarter ended in March. With the rise by 2.9 percent, the average price has reached Rs.11626 per square foot.

The same period, on the other end, witnessed a mere one percent growth of home sales.

A slight price correction had taken place in Mumbai in the last quarter of 2012. So the people expected another price correction soon. However as against the expectations, the prices again rose.

Pankaj Kapoor of Liases Foras says that the rise of home prices was common in most of the cities.

Along with the rise of prices, the vacancy percentage also grew. Rising by 3.7% the vacancy rate has reached 139.3 sq. ft. Delhi-NCR saw a slight rising of vacancy rates by 0.1 percent. After this growth, the current vacancy rate in Delhi NCR is 262.6 sq. ft.

Liases Foras report was prepared after tracking six top cities of India. While half of the cities faced a downfall of home sales, it was the worst in Hyderabad.

Approximately two to three lakh liters of water is daily used for the construction of a single project. Now you can think how important water is for construction sector. In case if there is no water, no construction will be possible.

Earlier once when National Green Tribunal banned the use of ground water for construction purpose, many of the projects were halted. In the same way, now the summer is approaching and it has already on the threshold.

Water shortage has become visible in many of the areas. According to the builders the shortage is more visible in urban areas and so the construction sector in the urban areas is more affected than that of the villages and rural areas.

Commenting on the issues, a real estate developer said that water shortage will hike the property prices. The developers are to pay an additional amount for the water. This additional cost is levied on the shoulders of the buyers.

Along with the construction sector, many other industries are also affected by acute water shortage. In many of the cities halted construction is visible.

Though some of the builders are bringing water from other sources for construction, they say that it is costlier. Earlier if they were allowed to take water free of cost, now they have to pay for it.

Water shortage severely affects the construction sector, says Alex P Cyriac. Builders Association of India’s Chairman (Kerala Chapter) adds that it has impact on the property prices as well.

Mr. Cyriac points that the water charges have gone up. In most of the areas the water rate has gone up by 200% or doubled the price. For instance, he adds, if the earlier price was Rs.1000, now it is Rs.2000 for 10000 liter.

Shahrukh Khan, popularly known as King Khan, is called the Badshah of Bollywood. If he is called King (Khan), then his home must be nothing less than a palace. Thus he has bought a home, Mannat which perfectly suits his status and image in the film industry.

The estimated value of Mannat falls between Rs.70 Cr to Rs.100 Cr. This is the third most expensive homes in India.

Antilla, the home of Mukesh Ambani, is undoubtedly on the top spot. The homes of Ratan Tata, Anil Ambani, Mallya, etc. are also included among the most expensive homes in India. Raymond Chairman’s JK House is another most expensive home.

Now let us come back to Mannat. The palatial palace of Shahrukh Khan was originally built by Batliwala Family, nearly a century ago. It was built in the year 1915.

After undergoing a lot of reconstruction and re-facing, this splendid home in the Italian Architecture remains one of the most impressive homes in Mumbai. It is also known for its architecture uniqueness and excellence.

Mannat is placed in Bandra, one of the most posh areas in Mumbai. Moreover this area is sea facing.

Commenting on his home, Shahrukh Khan says that this home is very dear to him just because of the privacy it provides. The home is designed in four floors.

Elegant interiors really make Mannat really marvelous. This awesome home has various amenities and facilities, including sufficient space for car parking.

M.F. Hussain’s Paintings and other arts and craft works bestows a capturing charm to the living room. It really looks royal.

Though Mannat has all modern amenities like boxing ring, table tennis, etc., Bollywood Badshah spends most of his free times along with his children in the pool side.

Considering the petitions filed by the builders who have vacant IT buildings, Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority finally granted permission for converting them into shopping malls. This could have made the developers breathe air of relaxation.

Though CMDA granted the conversion of vacant IT buildings for other purposes, builders say that it is not easy to convert them into residential projects. The best option is to convert into shopping malls.

As the builders are given the permission to covert the existing buildings which were built for Information Technology, the vacant ones may soon be converted.

For the purpose, CREDAI Chennai Chapter had approached the civic body. The decision was taken, after the civic body studied the petition and the existing situation.

Most of the vacant IT buildings were built by the developers a few years back. The state government had offered many incentives to the builders for developing IT projects.

Besides incentives, the builders also enjoyed reviewed floor space index ratio. When 1.5 was the FSI rate for residential projects, it was 3.75 for IT projects.

While this revised FSI was one of the big boosts for the builders, this has become a point of thought now. However there is no one to take out these IT projects which were built in and around the city. This situation prompted the civic body to hear the plea of the builders.

Though the plan to convert the IT buildings is approved, the civic body said that the availed FSI will be treated as premium rates. Moreover CMDA officials added that this will be treated according to the circumstances.

The decision was taken in the last CMDA Meeting. The developers have already appreciated the meeting. They say that this move will benefit the developers. Most of them plan to convert their IT projects to shopping malls with latest facilities.

According to the developers as well to the experts, skyscrapers are the best option for meeting the housing demand. The land has become a rare material. In most of the cities there is no more land available for residential development.

All the more, the available land parcels are priced really higher. While many of the developers say that the property prices are increasing due to the sky reaching land prices, they point out that this can be overcome only with skyscrapers.

The experts say that skyscrapers have become a necessity. Vertical development has become the latest trend in the residential market; see how the demand for high rise apartments is rising.

Along with the construction of skyscrapers, many industries are growing. One of the main industry which really benefits with this is elevator industry.

In the opinion of the experts, elevator industry is growing by 40% on year to year basis. They predict the growth rate to be more in the coming years.

If earlier skyscrapers were built only in the commercial sector, now there are many skyscrapers in the residential sector as well.

Developers say that, due to the higher level of migration to the top cities, there is no place for them to develop homes. Thus they are forced to go for vertical constructions.

Moreover, as these homes are less costly, they are more on demand. This will benefit the affordable housing segment. However vertical development is possible only if the FSI is raised.

BN Sharma of Indian Elevator Company said that there is huge demand for elevators in Noida. Divine Right Elevator’s MD Manoj Tyagi also approves the opinion. They say that the demand for elevators is raised by both housing and commercial sectors.

Des:

Tags: elevator industry, vertical development, skyscrapers, Indian Elevator Company, Divine Right Elevator, Noida real estate, NCR real estate,

Supertech has started construction of an ultra-luxury residential project. However this project will be entirely different from other super end projects of Supertech.

The project is expected to be one of the most supreme projects in the country as it is designed with an objective to conquer the emerging trends in the residential market where branded homes are the most sought after.

Yes, after Team Taurus and Sunteck Realty, it is the turn for Supertech to develop a Disney branded project in India. However the Mumbai based and Kolkata based developers entered into contract with Disney India last year, Supertech’s contract remains the latest.

With the tie up, Disney interiors are expected to feature this residential project which is designed especially for the top-end users.

Though this is their first tie up with Disney India, this project is not their first branded home project. Earlier they have developed another branded project in collaboration with Giorgio Armani, world renowned fashion designer from Italy.

According to some recent reports, the demand for branded homes is showing signs of an upward move. This is the reason why now more developers are coming up with branded home projects.

Commenting on the new project, Supertech Group MD R K Arora said that they have tied up with Disney India because of the popularity of Disney characters. He added that they are popular among both kids as well as the elders.

While speaking to the media persons, Disney India’s Roshini Bakshi said that the demand for Disney interiors is more now. More developers are approaching for the same, she adds.

Disney India will design the interiors of the project. The painting of the project also will be done according to the theme. It means that in future we may see more such projects.

Top end luxury projects are demanded at all times. This would be what made House of Patels to think of developing a high end luxury project in India.

The Dubai based developer has announced the group’s plan to launch a project in India. Asgar Patel, owner of House of Patels, has land parcels in Kerala, the south-most state in India.

Thus it means that for them, it will not be anything difficult to develop a project in India. However this will not be their first project but the second.

The group is already developing a housing project in Pune. This is their first project. The 250-apartments project is under construction and is expected to be completed within two to three years.

Asgar Patel is one of the wealthiest Indian businessmen living in the Gulf countries. He migrated to the Gulf countries in 1975. Now he has investments in Bangkok and Thailand.

Recently House of Patels invested $630 million in a Bangkok project. Besides their investment in this mixed use project, the group has invested in MahaNakhon Tower project.

In this project he has bought two penthouses each worth $16.25 million. He has around five apartments too in the project.

The hotel rooms of MahaNakhon Tower are managed by international hotel chain Ritz Carlton. The project has 150 hotel rooms. The project also includes another 194 serviced apartments. Asgar Patel has gained exclusive rights to sell the Ritz Carlton residences.

Seeing the performance and popularity of Ritz Carlton, House of Patels group owner was really pleased. Thus he plans to develop a project in collaboration with the international hotel chain. However, so far Ritz Carlton has not expressed their views on the plan.

Land acquisition bill recently received the consensus of all parties. This was after the bill has undergone vast changes and amendments from its first form.

The land acquisition bill may give reasons to the farmers. At the same time, it gives more reasons to those who do not own any piece of land and are looking for an affordable housing unit.

With the land bill, the rights of the land owners and the farmers will be increased. However, according to the industry experts, this will result in the hike of property prices.

As the builders are forced to pay higher amounts to the farmers in the form of compensation, they will charge this additional cost on the shoulders of the property buyers.

It means that the property prices will reach newer heights with land acquisition bill, if it is passed.

It is likely to get through the parliament as the bill has already received the consensus of all parties. It received the consensus once the proposal of BJP to raise the farmers’ compensation by 50%. It was one of their key demands.

The bill, once passed and implemented, will leave severe impact on the affordable housing segment. The property prices are on the verge of a hike and this will make home owning more difficult for the lower income class group.

The government is now planning to present the bill in the parliament. Most probably it will be presented in the second section of the ongoing budget session.

As all the parties have expressed their consent over the bill, the presentation in the parliament is expected only to be a formality. The land acquisition bill holds all chances to get through the parliament. However the after-effect will be visible only when the bill is implemented.

According to some recent reports, vacancy rates in shopping malls have reached almost 30%. The mall owners are now finding it hard to gain takers for the vacant space.

There are 255 shopping malls in India. As per some recent reports, one third of them remain vacant. The situation in Delhi and Mumbai are still worse.

While vacancy rate in Delhi-NCR is nearly 30%, in Mumbai it is over 25%. Both of them are now witnessing to the increase of vacancy rates.

This is not anything exceptional to these two cities alone. All the cities are witnessing the same. However the vacancy rates are not as high as these cities. This is the only difference.

In Chennai, vacancy rate rose from 10% of 2011 to 20% in 2012. Vacancy rate in cities like Bangalore and Hyderabad fall between 5-10%. It means that these cities also see increasing vacancy rates. What is the cause of this?

According to the industry experts, one of the main factors that result in vacant space is indiscriminate supply of office spaces.

The industry experts point out that the developers remain competitive in delivering shopping malls with latest facilities and amenities. In the opinion of the experts, the builders seldom calculate the demand existing in the area. This creates over-supply of office space.

However they do not discard the problems of lack of planning. For instance, the earlier shopping malls do not have multiplex facility. This is one of the key factors which cause heavy footfall.

Another important thing which attracts larger population is the presence of good food shops. Those shops which lack food shops and restaurants also fail to attract people.

The slum dwellers are really happy to hear that the Gujarat Government is pondering over implementing new housing policy in the state. Under the new housing policy nearly 22 lakh housing units will be developed.

Around 7 lakh housing units will be set apart for the slum rehabilitation program. The remaining numbers of housing units will be focused on LIG and EWS.

The main focus is on the economically weaker and lower income group. No housing units will be developed for the upper class people. Gujarat government said that the upper classes will have homes in the coming phases of this program.

However some number of housing units will be developed in the MIG segment.

Slum rehabilitation is one of the main focuses of the new policy. The government has almost completed the survey of slums in the state.

The new housing policy of the Gujarat government is expected to be launched within a month. Apart from this, the state government is thinking of initiating two sub-policies as well.

25 sq. m. will be the size of housing units which are meant for slum rehabilitation. The average prices will be around Rs.3 to Rs.3.5 lakh. If any additional amount is required, the buyers will have to pay the additional amount.

The total built up area of LIG houses will be 50 sq. m. The average rate will be Rs.2000 per sq. ft. MIG-I houses will be having 65 sq. m. of built up area and the prices will be Rs.2500 per sq. ft.

Commenting on the new housing policy, an official said that the EMI will be fixed less than 40% of the total income of the buyer. This will make it easier for the buyers to pay back the loans.

E-Payment of Property Tax has been initiated as one of the easiest ways to pay property tax. Though this was meant for all, this facility has not yet become common. All areas in Bangalore are not enrolled and given PID numbers.

While most of the areas in the city are now able to property tax online, some areas like Byatarayanapura, Dodda Bommasandra and Vidyaranyapura, this facility is not available. These areas are not yet PID enrolled.

A BBMP official said that the enrolment could not be completed due to the election work. Till the enrolment is not completed the residents of these areas will not be able to pay property tax online. It means that they will have to wait one or more years because collection of property tax for the year 2013- 14 has been started.

While many of the residents complain against this, some others say that they are paying the tax in the BBMP office directly.

One of the main issues those who are paying the tax directly is that they have to spend hours and hours in the queue. Long queues are a common scene in Bangalore. Yet the authority is not concerned about this neither they are ready to take measurements.

It is estimated that over 50,000 people in Byatarayanapura are not having access to E-Payment of Property Tax. Byatarayanapura is one of the suburbs in Bangalore. The sole option they have is to walk to the BBMP office and pay the tax directly.

Speaking on the issue, the official said that the civic body is looking for ways to solve this issue as soon as possible. The residents still hope that they will be able to pay the tax by the year 2014.

Falling Gold prices have raised questions among those who have invested in the property market. However the experts say that realty market is unlikely to face a collapse.

The falling of gold prices has attracted many people to gold market. Now the investors as well as buyers are crowding around the jewelry shops. The situation is visible across the world. Once the prices have fallen, people feel it as the right time to grab a piece of this valuable metal.

How does this affect realty market? The question is answered by the experts. They say that this will not affect the realty market in any way. They continue that so long as the land is becoming a scarce raw material for construction, there will be no fall of property prices.

Besides the land prices, cost of production also is getting higher as the labor cost and other materials like cement, sand and others. All this makes sure that there will be no fall of property prices round the corner.

Unlike gold market, realty market is more stable. While gold can be avoided, houses can never be avoided. In the coming decades the demand for housing units will be more and there will be scarcity of housing units.

Despite the assurance of property experts, the investors are looking at the property market doubtfully now. They fear that it too will collapse. According to some recent reports there are over a lakh of unsold properties in the NCR alone.

The developers have not found takers for their unsold inventories. While buyers’ sentiments are hurt by the prices, the builders are to cut short the prices.

Some of the developers have started offering freebies and other sorts of discounts. Though these discounts are offered to woo the takers, they do bring the property prices down.

Air India is really happy that their plan to lease its assets in Delhi will be a great success. The airlines hope that their lease plan will fetch a good amount of money.

Many government entities like State Bank of India, Life Insurance Corporation, etc. have already conveyed their interest in leasing out Air India properties.

The property is located on Baba Kharak Singh Marg near Connaught Place. Being located close to Connaught Place which is one of the top commercial hubs in the Capital, the property is highly demanded.

The property consists 1.7 lakh sq. ft. of office space. So those who lease out this property will be able to enjoy all benefits of this prime location and other location advantages.

However it seems that it is impossible for the private firms to enjoy these advantages. Though the private companies were also showing interest, Air India has no plans to lease to the private companies.

SBI and LIC are the two forerunners who have shown keen interest in leasing this property. Oil and Natural Gas Corp also has shown interest in the property which is located in the central Delhi.

The monetization scheme was announced in February. The monetization program is considered as part of their debt-alleviation scheme. The debt driven Air India expects to raise over Rs.5000 Cr through leasing their realty assets.

Besides their Delhi Property, the national carrier will lease properties in Mumbai and other cities. Some of their overseas properties also are expected to be leased.

The monetization program is expected to be executed within three years. Commenting on the decision to lease out the property to government entities, an Air India senior executive said that the airline does not wish to see private companies to handle government properties.

MUMBAI: The demand for branded homes is increasing in top cities. Many developers like Supertech, Lodha, Ireo, 3C Company, and so many others are coming up with branded home projects. This increasing number of branded projects shows that it has become the latest trend in the top-end luxury segment.

Though the branded homes are offered at higher prices, it does not affect the buyers’ sentiment. As the demand for such projects are mainly raised by the top earners, prices are not an issue for them at all. Average price of a branded homes project is between Rs.10 Cr to Rs.25 Cr.

It means that there will be no such home within the range of a comparatively higher income group. It is affordable only for the super HNIs and not for anyone else.

Over the years, the concept of luxury has undergone vast changes. Earlier people used to consider amenities like swimming pool and other sports facilities as symbols of luxury. However these are no more considered as part of luxury.

In the opinion of the top earners, these have become common with almost all the projects. Thus they consider it as suitable for the middle income class. It means that their concept of luxury is far beyond this. For them the best option is branded homes.

Perceiving this increasing demand for branded homes, many realty developers are coming up with such projects.

Joining hands with Italian Fashion Designer Giorgio Armani, Supertech is developing a branded homes project.

Homestead’s Maria Sharapova Tower and Michael Schumacher Tower are also examples. These two sports oriented projects are being developed in Gurgaon. More importantly the Tennis queen and the F1 legend are the brand ambassadors of these projects.

Lodha, Ireo and 3C Company are other major developers who have such branded projects under construction.