RBI eased norms for Home Loans

Harshil Mehta from DHFL believes that new guidelines of RBI may also get extended for middle income group (MIG) which costs around Rs 12 to 15 lacs in tier-2 and tier-3 cities. To provide a boost for affordable housing, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) eased norms last week for home loans of up to Rs 10 lacs.

While speaking with CNBC-TV18, Harshil Mehta, CEO, DHFL stated that this is very much positive sign for his company and real estate industry. He believes that these guidelines may also get extended for Middle Income Group (MIG) that costs around Rs 12 to 15 lacs in tier-2 and tier-3 cities. As per the statement of Mehta, the new RBI guideline will largely benefit the Economically Weaker Sections (EWS) or the Low Income Group (LIG) segment where the stamp duty registration is anywhere between 12 -16 percent of the cost of unit which was earlier excluded from calculating the loan eligibility. Below is verbatim transcript of the interview:

• Could you take us through the positive side of this announcement? How it will be good announcement for your company as well as the real estate industry?
  This new RBI guideline will largely benefit the Economically Weaker Sections (EWS) or the Low Income Group (LIG) segment where the stamp duty registration typically goes up to anywhere from 12 per cent to 16 per cent of the cost of unit, earlier it was excluded from calculating the loan eligibility.
  Now, with this it for sure that it will help the borrowers to be a part of the loan so in that segment this is definitely good.

• What is your view on the other guidelines which passed with respect to disbursal of loan upfront for the government owned and backed real estate builder bodies’ such as; Maharashtra Housing and Development Authority (MHADA)?
  This is definitely good sign and has been a constant feedback to all the regulators especially for those who came to statutory housing projects either by government or by statutory housing boards as they work in a different way than the private sector so this is surely a welcome sign because when it comes from the regulator it makes things a lot simpler from process perspective when you have borrowers who apply for a loan and are looking at disbursals. So, this is a pretty good sign.

• In present, how much of your loan portfolio is sub Rs 10 lacs?
  If we look at our company’s portfolio, than more than 60 per cent of our home loans get sanctioned for loans up to the size of Rs 10 lacs and on the disbursement side we would be at 51 per cent of the loans to Rs 10 lacs.

• How do you see this benefiting your top line and subsequently the earnings for your company?
  This announcement leads to an enhancement in our disbursements because now you are including that in your loans. So, for sure it will helps us to increase your disbursements while the traction continues on the tier-2 and tier-3 cities so, this means that from a sanction perspective because you will now have more borrowers coming to you for loans and this will lead to higher sanctions. So overall, on the portfolio you can see a marginal increase on account of this.

• Do you see an extension to the ticket size of Rs. 10 lacs going forward to include the Middle Income Group (MIG) as well?
  While this new guideline of RBI is for loans up to Rs 10 lacs, we also need to keep in mind that in tier-2 and tier-3 cities even Middle Income Group (MIG) unit cost is in the range of Rs 12 to 15 lacs. So, this limit of 10 lacs may get extended to cover for the Middle Income Group (MIG) segment also which is up to Rs 15 lacs as it would surely benefit as all this falls under affordable housing but this is definitely a good move towards that.

• Can you quantify that?
  We would suspect that this would be in the range of anywhere from 2 to 6 per cent.

Real estate investment

In present location issue is keeping the buyers away; but better ROI, an incentive, benefits of tax breaks are still attracting the investors as well as end users towards the real estate market. In India, affordable segment are finding buyers but most are investors not those who are planning to stay in those homes because of the location issue as the home is located too far away from offices and have little support infrastructure, analysts and trade experts said. Peoples are making the attempt to invest in real estate sector because government have increase the accessibility of housing through tax breaks and other incentives or benefits, which are therefore going towards those more interested in turning a profit.

Almost 50 per cent of the total housing stock of 293 million sq. ft sold in the last fiscal year, which was ended on March 2014 and the prices of those property was less than Rs.50 lakh, as per the data of real estate research firm Liases Foras. Flats which cost Rs.25-50 lakh accounted for 37 per cent of the total housing stock sold in the same period, while those below Rs.25 lakh had a 13 per cent share. Mumbai is the city which known for its high property prices as well as ROI, accounted for 13 per cent of the sale of houses priced below Rs.25 lakh and 28 per cent of houses in the Rs.25-50 lakh range. According to Pankaj Kapoor, The Managing Director of Liases Foras, “Most new launches in the last three quarters are in the affordable category”. The more he added that the rise in sales in part to state government regulations which have been favorable for both real estate developers and buyers in the relatively more affordable segment.

In December 2014, the Apex Bank (Reserve Bank of India) allowed real estate developers and housing finance companies to raise up-to $1 billion through external commercial borrowings to promote housing projects, which also referred to as low-cost because they are cheaper than more upscale properties. The budget of 2013, proposed a Rs.2.5 lakh deduction on the total taxable income on home loans of less than Rs.25 lakh, applicable to loans from banks and non-banking financial companies (NBFCs). Such housing projects are profitable business for real estate developers as in Mumbai, they provides an internal rate of return (IRR) of 45 per cent with gross margin of 24 per cent. According to report of Monitor Deloitte in 2010, a consulting firm, “Most of the flats are being bought by investors rather than genuine low-income end-users despite the low prices and interest rates, since these flats are being built in far-flung places with poor connectivity and social infrastructure, real estate and analysts”.

For example, If person buys such a home in Karjat, which is one of the last stops on Mumbai’s suburban Central line,  will have to travel about 85 km if his/her office is in the central business district of Nariman Point. That’s about two hours by train each way. According to Kapoor, “Trans Harbour Link have easy connectivity between the the mainland and the island city and provided a much-needed boost for affordable housing”. The Trans Harbour Link have 22 km road across the sea which will connect the island city and Navi Mumbai. It is expected that, Trans Harbour Link will be operational by 2018-19. Now investors are looking to it as excellent opportunity as it has connectivity and support of infrastructure. According to Om Ahuja, the chief executive, “Most projects are not affordable in terms of living and these projects are bought by investors who park their money. If it is a wrong product, their investment gets stuck”.

According to Brotin Banerjee, MD and CEO of  Tata Housing, “Tata Housing sells these homes under two different national banners; Shubh Griha (Rs.4-13 lakh) and New Haven (Rs.25-40 lakh). It plans to launch more affordable projects across different consumer segments in Mumbai, Bangalore, Gurgaon, Bhubaneswar and Kolkata.” VBHC (Value and Budget Housing Corp.), has many affordable housing projects, which are in Delhi, Chennai, Mumbai and two in Bangalore. It’s planning to launch one more in Delhi and Mumbai in the next few months, according to Vivin Mathew, chief executive, western region. On March 2014, GPL (Mumbai-based Godrej Properties Ltd), the realty arm of the Godrej group, launched an affordable housing scheme at its Godrej Garden City township project in Ahmedabad. In real estate market some of the real estate developers are using finance and marketing techniques to attract genuine home buyers or investors in the Rs.6-25 lakh range.

Poddar Developers Ltd, a Mumbai based real estate developer has 25 per cent of the apartments in one of its project to families availing loans from NBFCs such as Gruh Finance Ltd, Mahindra and Mahindra Financial Services Ltd and Muthoot Fincorp Ltd. NBFCs offer rates that are slightly higher than that of commercial banks, but have an easier documentation process, making it a better option for low-income borrowers. According to Rohit Poddar, MD of Poddar Developers Ltd., “We don’t sell more than one flat to a single buyer. We have a 75:25 mix of actual home buyers and investors”. In last two years, Poddar Developers has sold more than 2,500 apartments in Badlapur in Thane district and Karjat in Raigad district, in the range of Rs.3.5-12 lakh each. Recently they have launched the similar project at Atgaon in Thane and is planning 40,000 sq. ft of land by the end of this financial year.

According to Rashmi Housing Pvt. Ltd, “It’s also giving a loan to home buyers without interest to drum up interest in homes that cost below Rs.25 lakh. According to Yogesh Bosmiya, Director of Rashmi Housing, “Around 30 per cent of our home buyers or invetors they are availing this loan facility and we are mostly getting the end users”. Rashmi Housing Pvt. Ltd, said that they has sold more than 3,000 units in the Mira-Bhayander area of  Thane district since 1999 and is developing another 4,000 units in the same area. Bosmiya said the profit margin is 20-25 per cent. Whereas; some of the real estate developers are constructing the hospitals and schools to improve the existing public schools, to create social infrastructure in a bid to attract families.