Best real estate destinations in India

Today, we look into five cities that are emerging as few of India’s best real estate destination.

1) Hyderabad

The creation of Telangana as the latest state in the country has led to the emergence of Hyderabad as a top real estate market in the country. With its increasing developments in the residential and commercial projects, complimented further by the moderate prices, the city of Hyderabad is soon going to be the prime investment location for real estate.

Hyderabad Commercial Area

2)  Bangalore

Bangalore has become an important player in the real estate arena of the country. With leading technological companies finding a place in the city, Bangalore is witnessing a large number of people from all across the globe relocating to the Garden City in search of better opportunities. The city offers an eclectic mix of affordable and high-end housing as well as rented accommodation which are cheaper in comparison to cities such as Mumbai and Delhi. Also, with its emergence as a start up hub in the country, office space is also available at competitive rates. So if one plans to initiate a business in the country or is keen on investing in real estate, there is no better place than Bangalore.

Bangalore Commercial City

3) Bhiwadi

In the outskirts of Delhi, a not so widely known place named Bhiwadi is fast becoming the favoured destination for real estate investment as prices skyrocket in Delhi.

With a spate of real estate construction projects under progress alongwith the construction of schools, roads and hospitals, the place is looking to accommodate the increasing number of prospective residents. With prices highly affordable in comparison to Delhi, it looks the perfect time to invest in a property in this location bordering the capital.

Bhiwandi Commercial

4) Thane

Thane might not be Mumbai for a large number of the city dwellers but the city is really becoming a promising investment destination. With residential and commercial properties available for a lower rate in comparison to Mumbai, the city is seeing an increase in number of constructions and investment in real estate. Further, the city also has fair share of basic amenities for anyone looking to invest in real estate.

Thane Commercial area

5) Bhopal

Bhopal has come a far way from being defined as the city of the gas tragedy to being one of the most wanted cities in the real estate sector. With residential flats, villas and luxury apartments on offer at much lower prices in comparison to other cities on the list, Bhopal is emerging as an underdog in the race to be the most sough real estate destinations in the country.

Bhopal commercial area

That’s all folks, if you still have some good amount of spare money left, real estate properties in these five cities look good value for money.

Mumbai’s UHNI count to more than double by 2025

The tribe of super-rich individuals has increased in Mumbai over the last decade and according to a Knight Frank report, the strength is further expected to increase.

In the 2016 wealth Report by Knight Frank, Mumbai has witnessed the fastest growth in a list of 25 global cities that were tracked between 2005 and 2015.

The international real estate consulting firm also notes in the report that the number of UHNIs in Mumbai grew 357 percent to 1,100 individuals and in the next ten years their number is slated to rise by 105 percent to 2,255 individuals. New York has the highest number of UHNIs at 5,600 followed by London at 4,900.

Let us look at the factors that have contributed to Mumbai’s count of UNHIs. Firstly, the city has benefitted from its fast-growing GDP, which has risen by 11 percent annually over the last decade resulting in a growth of nearly 15% in capital markets and the real estate market. Interestingly, the bulk of the assets of these UNHIs are invested in capital markets and real estate.

In view of the fact that India still has the highest GDP growth, it won’t be surprising to see the country’s ultra rich grow their wealth in the next 10 years!

Indian Real Estate becomes attractive for Foreign Investors

Indian real estate market has become increasingly attractive for foreign investors after almost 5 years, as indicated by India-specific fundraisings.

Talking about the improvement in foreign investors’ confidence in real estate market, Shobit Agarwal, Managing Director of Capital Markets at JLL India, said “During the pre-GFC (global financial crisis) phase, 82% of funds got raised in US dollar. This reduced to 57% in post-GFC phase when micro-market understanding was required more than banking on the macro-economy. Interestingly, the contribution, 2014-onwards, has increased considerably to 70% – hinting that the positivity is here to stay for some time.”

The increase in investment gained impetus before the Lok Sabha elections of 2014 and has only increased further as evidenced by funds amounting to $2.2 billion (Rs. 14,860 crore) that has been raised so far in the current investment cycle.

The recent policy measure of easing foreign direct investment rules is also expected to bring more capital in the real estate sector. Encouraged by this, private equity funds are looking to leverage on this rising interest among foreign investors.

According to Rubi Arya, chief executive of Milestone Capital Advisors, “Offshore funds are showing interest in Indian real estate and there is lot of interest from FDI funds back in Indian real estate. We believe this is an opportune time to invest in Indian real estate, with rigorous risk management and strong asset management. We are planning to leverage further on our structured debt and commercial platform to raise money from offshore funds.”

Adding further she said, “FDI funds are looking to invest in pre-leased commercial assets, create strategic-level partnerships with reputed developers mainly through equity deals and make structured debt investments in residential projects”.

The JLL India report says that India-specific cumulative fundraising attained its peak in the pre-GFC period. During this period between 2005 and 2008, there were 50 such funds that raised $16 billion in total. However, post-GFC, only 29 funds got raised in five years, with cumulative fundraising of $3.9 billion.

The current investment period starting in 2014 has witnessed an increase in the volume of investments as well as the average investment size from $ 134 million to $ 184 million.

Godrej Properties’ first project in Noida

Although Godrej Properties has already developed six projects in the National Capital Region (NCR), this is the first time it is entering the Noida real estate market. The company will be developing a group housing project within Lotus Greens Sports City in Sector 150, it said in a statement.

The project which spreads over 36 acres, will offer four million sq ft of saleable area consisting of apartments with diverse configurations. The Godrej Properties site is within a 300 acre integrated sports city township being developed by Lotus Greens Developers Pvt Ltd.

While NCR, India’s largest property market has been the worst hit by the slump in the property market, Noida has been the only pocket that has performed well in terms of sales. Pirojsha Godrej, managing director and chief executive, Godrej Properties said, “We have seen strong growth in the scale of our operations in NCR and now look forward to taking advantage of this momentum in Noida also.”

Increasing Demand in real estate

According to report of Bain, real estate consulting firm, “The demand in Indian real estate market for organized segment can reach up to 1.35 billion sq ft by 2020, however; currently, it is around 880 million sq ft and out of this 85 percent is for the residential real estate”.

As per report of Bain which was titled with “Residential Real Estate in India: A new paradigm for success” finds that in present the sales of home is slow because of low consumer demand and high price. However; while going to forward, the business of Indian real estate sector will have to things very differently in an order to be successful with positive growth.  As per the statement of Parijat Jain, who work for Principal Infrastructure and Real Estate Practice at Bain and Co-author of the report, “The current business model of real estate is changing and it will continue to change more rapidly over the next few years. All the value that was attributable to a real estate firm was in land acquisition, agglomeration and managing approvals”.  The more he added that now people are building concrete businesses with sustainable and value addition inputs very good process and very good execution skills to manage real estate market.

In present, the real estate industry is seeing shift because of dynamics and competitive forces, which are giving rise to different business models in the market and regulatory environment are becoming more complex and apart from that the shift in profit is increasing and awareness among consumers are also increasing. However; the inventory level is increasing due to slow growth in real estate market, but still its challenges to sale the older inventory in market. Apart from that the newer projects are doing well in the market. According to Gopal Sarma, the Head Real Estate and Infrastructure at Bain for India Unit and lead Author of the Report, “It is combination where come part of sector are doing very well whereas; other segment is facing rough response from customers”. The more he added that there has never been value attached to discipline in the process to provide quality and best price to customer.

To be successful in the real estate market, real estate builder should keep themselves on three key aspects in mind; first, the real estate builder needs to select the business model with right processes in an order to deliver best service because with well defined processes and valuable chain from the pre-construction through the construction cycle, handover and beyond, can create alignment and increased ROI for companies. Second; real estate builder should decide that in which market they want to play in terms of geography and market segment because real estate is the business of local market, it is not the business of national and regional scale. Third; In most of the real estate market, customers are neither on front nor on centre, which means now onwards builders should think for customers.

buy property in UAE

If you are real estate investor or end users who want to buy property in the most lucrative real estate market of the world, so according to real estate experts its perfect time to invest in the realty sector of the UAE. Here are few reasons to support the statements;

High Rentals:  

We all know that if we are going to buy second property, so we are not going to use it personally, however; in that case most of the buyers prefer to earn regular money through rentals. Although the real estate market is witnessing the slowdown in property prices, but still it’s one of the best region where property rentals are too high. According to data, offers rental yields in Abu Dhabi are high and its about 10 percent whereas; in Dubai the rental yields are about 8 percent, so if you will invest in the region so you will always have the option to earn money through rentals.

In present the realty market of London is most strong as here rental yields are about 4 percent. So if you are considering the fact and figures, so you can know that investment in Dubai and Abu Dhabi can be the most profitable decision of life. We will suggest you to investment in the new affordable projects to get the best rental yields in future.

Strategic Location:

If you are taking about the ports and trading, so we should not forget to mention that UAE has its own strategic location advantage. The country is in the centre of the worlds and its connected with rest of the world through best trading waters. Many people see the country as a true bridge between the East and the West. Tax free environment and location advantage on trading routes attract the business companies to set up their business unit in the country because its connecting link between East and West. Most of the businesses have their trading headquarters in Dubai and creating a good number of job opportunities for people across the globe.

Wealthy Lifestyle:

We all know that wealthy and luxurious lifestyle of the people of Dubai is famous in all around the world and its just because country provides unique and equal opportunities to all businessmen’s and skilled employees to pursuit their dreams. Apart from that Dubai is also one of the favorite destinations of tourists due to luxury lifestyle and attractive places. Unemployment rate in Dubai is about to 4 percent and its continually decreasing due to regular efforts of governments. These key takeaways have made the UAE’s most popular emirate an important business and investment centre. There are many celebrities who have their holiday homes in Dubai and those celebrities are; Brad Pitt, David Beckham, Tiger Woods and Giorgio Armani.

Well Develop Ports and Infrastructure:

In Singapore, Australia, London and the USA you will find that in these countries there are plenty of skyscrapers with impressive infrastructure, but when its comes to UAE, so you will find that in UAE skyscrapers have its own advantages. In Dubai you will find the world’s tallest buildings such as; Burj Khalifa in Downtown Dubai, Princess Tower in Dubai Marina, Princess Tower in Dubai Marina and more.

Apart from that maritime infrastructure is also much advance and well developed and second to none and comparable to that of other global cities across the world. All architects accept the fact no one other city in all over the world have transport and residential infrastructure like UAE.

Political and Economic Stability:

We all know that UAE has the status of oil-dependent economy and even then more than 70 percent of its total GDP directly comes from the non-oil sectors. In simple words we can say that this country has successfully diversified its economy to be more stable and developed. With stable economy, it always insures the great returns and security to all the foreign investors.

Country is famous for its law-and-order situation; the UAE government is capable enough to take care the concerns of all the major cities which are directly or indirectly participating in the growth of county. The rulers of all the seven emirates prefer to work in harmony and support, so when its comes to the political stability, so we can say that this concern simple go out of doors. Apart from that Dubai government is also working to make the country more safe and progressive.

Tax-Free Environment:

The UAE government provides tax-free environment to all the people no matter you are citizen of UAE or not. And it attracts many investors because here you don’t have to pay the taxes on income and property.

Expo 2020:

Dubai is one of the best places in the world to live and work and there are many events which regularly creates many job opportunities. Not only government, but even infrastructure and other sectors are also working hard to provide equal job opportunities to all job seekers.

10 Indian cities having affordable realty markets – JLL

In a recent report by JLL India, Navi Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Pune and Hyderabad have been listed in the 10 affordable property markets of India among other cities like Kochi, Ghaziabad, Jaipur, Nagpur, Surat and Coimbatore. According to the consultancy, these cities offer great low-budget properties between Rs. 30 – 50 lakh.

“These ten cities offer ample choices for investment in real estate with reasonable property price levels as well as opportunities for future capital appreciation and healthy returns,” says Anuj Puri, Chairman and Country Head, JLL India.

On Hyderabad, The report stated that after the end of political turbulence and prolonged slump, the real estate market in this city is all set for an upswing. Puri said Hyderabad is conceivably one of the most affordable cities among all tier 1 cities of India. Even the well-developed residential localities like Manikonda, Kukatpally, Miyapur and Sainikpuri present homes in the budget of Rs 30-50 lakh.

While Mumbai is increasingly becoming unreasonable for the common man, Navi Mumbai still presents affordable choices in similar price range. “The proposed SEZs at Dronagiri, Ulwe and Kalamboli, and the impending international airport at Panvel are expected to generate employment and drive demand for commercial as well as residential real estate,” Puri said.

About Pune, the report said that this Tier II city has documented substantial growth in the affordable housing segment over the last couple of years. These projects offer small 1-2 BHK flats with basic amenities and are located in the periphery of Pune.

“Well connected via metro and roads to the job markets of Delhi-NCR, Gaziabad mainly gratifies the mid-segment home buyers. With a very good supply of ready-to-move-in apartments offered by reputed developers in the affordable range of 30 – 50 lakh, the city is emerging as a residential neighbourhood of Delhi,” Jll said in the report.

On Kochi, the report observed that the residential real estate market of the city is dominated by affordable housing segment, which accounts to about 60 per cent of the total housing projects.

Indian real estate sector 2016

In present, the rest of the world is considering our country as the land of opportunity for investment and business.  If we are talking about the real estate scenario for 2016, so no doubt it could be great year for residential as well as commercial projects.

1. Residential Properties:

It is expected that year 2016 will not bring some great hope for the residential sector as demand will remain constant. However; we can expect that silver lining will shine more and bad days of the real estate segment will be bottomed out; as according to reports in some cities sales have picked up and these cities are; Mumbai, Hyderabad and Bangalore. However; you can expect less launch in the cities such as; Mumbai as inventory level is already high. Real estate developers initiatives such as; attractive schemes, freebies, deal terms and heavy discounts with lower interest rates by RBI have activated fence-sitters. It is expected that year 2016 will end the long and painful journey of real estate market and signal an upward growth trajectory. It will definitely mature further into an organized industry in which some lesser- organized players become casualties.

2. Office or Commercial Properties:

The absorption rate of commercial properties as well as office spaces are still at 35 million sq ft and it is second highest figure in the history of country after the year 2011. However; the PAN India vacancy is still at the 16 percent, whereas; the realistic vacancy actually stands about 8 to 9 percent. It is expected that in the year 2016 the demand will remain consistent as occupiers are showing a positive bias. The years 2016 will bring more demand for leased spaces however; the quality supply will be lower. It means in year 2016 we can expect higher occupancy for Grade-B office spaces.

3. Retail Properties:

In 2015, there were no launch for the quality retail space and the major trend which we observed in the year 2015 were; the consolidation of retail real estate by retailers and big brands are focusing on the profit making stores and they are closing down the loss making stores. These days there are more institutional investors and all credit goes to relaxation of sourcing norms as single-brand retail companies are able to explore the Indian market. It is expected that years 2016 will be good year for the retail investors as there are many ecommerce companies which are planning to set up their retail stores in near future. Retailers will have to revisit their real estate strategy and have a flexible approach, customized to different micro-markets.

Capital Markets:

The year 2015 was the interesting year for capital market activities in the real estate market as PE focus continued to remain high for the office and residential projects. The platform-level deals and entity-level investments are also came into the limelight as the level of confidence are increasing among the investors.  The income yield of the office projects are attracting the majority of equity investments and when it comes to the geographical spread, so we can say that tier I and tier II cities are good for the investment in the offices spaces because over there you can earn more rent.

How to sell your property in a dull market?

The real estate sector has been seeing a rough phase since past 2-3 years. in such times, selling off a property is indeed a struggle. Nonetheless, having a strategy in place to trade off your property proves beneficial in fetching a good price. Read on for some tips on how to go about with the sale.

Good advertising: Remember to publicize the sale of your property through ads on online realty portals available in plenty, use social media like Facebook effectively; you may also consider placing an advertisement in local newspapers. Most online property websites offer their property listing services free of charge but you can also use their paid services which may range from Rs. 700 – Rs. 1500 depending on the duration, number of properties and services availed.

Refurbish – renovate: First impression is the last impression; a house which appeals the eye always sells faster. You can get the property painted, repair furnishings and fittings to enhance the visual appeal. But do not spend too much on it as this does not guarantee a higher price for the property. Keep a list of positives and USPs of your property ready in order to allure prospective buyers.

Pick a competent broker:   to ensure a smooth process of sale, it is very critical to select a broker who is well-versed with the local area, has knowledge of the markets as well as possesses substantial experience in the job. Beware of unprofessional people who just claim to be brokers. Instead, approach a professional agency which has a track record of successful deals.

Up-to-date paperwork: keeping the property papers up-to-date gives confidence to the buyer that he is transacting with a genuine seller. In order to close the deal quickly, you must keep all the property-related documents like previous sales deed, occupancy certificate, possession certificate, completion certificate, no-dues certificate and approved layout ready.

Allow flexible payment conditions:   Buying a property involves huge money and organizing it may take some time. If you offer flexibility in the terms of making payments as a seller, it might work in your favour. Being rigid and demanding for hefty down payment is not advisable in a buyers’ market. Flexibility in terms & conditions and allowing extended payment plans stand you the chance of fetching better price for your property.

New year gift for property buyers

Ready Reckoner, RR is an annual statement of rates based on which the stamps and registration department collects stamp duty from property buyers which are revised on January 1 every year. However, in a key policy shift, the Maharashtra Government has issued a gazette notification that the prevailing RR rates with an average increase of 14 percent (revised in January 2015) will continue till March 2016.

Realty players had made a series of representations citing that there is a restriction on transactions happening below RR rates under Section 43 (c) of the Income Tax Act; they argued that it has become difficult for developers to reduce property prices even if they wish to.  Responding positively to representations, the government has decided to apply the revised rates from April 1, 2016. In view of the slow-moving real estate market, this decision protects the interest of property buyers.

“After a proposed amendment to the Bombay Stamp (Determination of True Market Value of Property) Rules, 1995,  The revised rules titled Bombay Stamp (Determination of True Market Value of Property) Rules, 2015 were issued by the government vide a gazette notification. The RR rates will now be revised from April 1 instead of January 1 every year in compliance with Rule 4,” told a senior government official.