Posted by: hotgurgaon12 on: February 5, 2009
Amid reports of private developers backing out of residential and commercial projects in the NCR, a worried Haryana government has announced flexible schemes for payment of licence fee for builders. It has also extended the licence validity period from two to four years.The recession relief measures follow two months after private developers approached the state government for a bailout package in the light of both residential and commercial projects coming to a standstill in Gurgaon, Faridabad, Sonipat and Rohtak. Licence fee is one of the biggest revenue earners for the state exchequer.
According to officials of the town and country planning department (DTCP), which grants licences to projects, the government has not come out with any financial package despite demands from developers. The present package, besides extending validity of the licence period, has also doubled the licence renewal period from one to two years. This means developers will now get more time to start construction work and at the same time, the renewal fee will come down drastically.
Private developers as well as government agencies will now need to pay only 25% of the licence fee while applying for a licence. The rest will have to be deposited when the licence is granted. Earlier, the full amount had to be paid while applying.The present licence fee for one acre of residential and commercial property in Gurgaon is Rs 2.5 crore and Rs 1 crore respectively.In another move, the government has extended the repayment period of external development charges (EDC) of such projects. Now the payment can be made in five years, against the earlier limit of four years. The government had increased the EDC in Gurgaon from Rs 35 lakh to Rs 52 lakh per acre when the real estate sector was booming. But with the economic slowdown, the list of defaulters has increased significantly. Now the government has reduced the interest rate on repayment of EDC from 15% to 12%. Similarly, as a relief for defaulters, interest rate has been reduced to 15% from 18%.
A department official said the package also includes a moratorium on payment of revised enhancement fee for projects based on 2021 master plans in Gurgaon, Sonipat and Rohtak till July 10, 2009. “The department issued licences for projects in areas which were earlier not in the development plan. But in case of Gurgaon, Sonipat and Rohtak, many such areas have been included in master plans 2021 and hence charges have been enhanced,” said the official.
Responding to plea of developers finding it difficult to pay the enhancement fee at one go, the government has relaxed the norm to four equal instalments at 9% interest.
Source:http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Delhi/Haryana_relief_for_builders/articleshow/4077562.cms
Posted by: hotgurgaon12 on: February 5, 2009
India’s once soaring demand for high-end apartments and offices has slumped, leading to falling profits for large property developers and a shift in focus towards affordable housing for middle-class families.DLF, India’s largest property developer, warned yesterday of more downward pressure on margins in the coming months, after reporting a 69 per cent drop in profits during the last three months of 2008.
Rajiv Singh, the company’s vice-chairman, said it expected a 10 to 15 per cent drop in property prices in the next three months as it adjusted its product mixture to reflect changing demand.DLF is the main developer of Gurgaon, New Delhi’s glitzy satellite town.Indian sentiment has soured as a result of higher interest rates and worsening global conditions.
DLF’s net profits from October to December fell to Rs6.7bn ($136m), down from Rs21.3bn in the same quarter the previous year. Sales fell 62 per cent to Rs13.6bn, down from Rs35.9bn.”This quarter, we witnessed shutdown of all forms of economic activity,” Mr Singh said yesterday. “Real estate is a business which is driven a lot by sentiments as well as availability of money. . .We got a double-whammy.”
However, Mr Singh said DLF aimed to raise up to Rs25bn from private equity players in the coming months.The company was talking to banks to refinance up to Rs40bn of short-term loans with less expensive long-term loans to reduce finance costs, he said.
DLF’s bleak forecast follows last week’s report from Unitech, another large Indian developer, that its third quarter profits had fallen 74 per cent.Indian property prices had surged in recent years. Prices in some urban centres were up as much as 100 per cent in the two years from 2005 to 2007.The large price rise was driven by speculative buying amid easily available home mortgages, strong demand for high-quality office space, an inflow of foreign funds, and general exuberance about India’s prospects.
“The speculators are the ones who really fuelled the market,” said Anshuman Magazine, the chairman and managing director for south Asia of CB Richard Ellis, the real estate consulting firm.”In the residential segment, you could put a down payment of 10 to 20 per cent, then, three months down the line, sell for a premium. There was euphoria in the market.”
Government moves to rein in inflation resulting in higher interest rates � and the global economic slowdown have since caused the positive sentiment to evaporate.Mr Magazine said developers could still get new projects off the ground if they got the pricing right, however.
“Transaction volumes have dropped and prices have dropped, but there are still end users buying residential apartments where the price point is right,” he said.
Source:http://inhome.rediff.com/money/2009/feb/04ft-indias-biggest-developers-hit.htm
Posted by: hotgurgaon12 on: February 2, 2009
DLF Ltd India’s top listed developer, said it would focus on selling “non-strategic” assets and reducing operating expenses, as it battles a slowdown in property sales.
It said challenging market conditions would continue in the foreseeable future and its aim was to boost liquidity and cash flows rather than growth in the short and medium term.
“Unlocking non-strategic assets with no medium-term utility” is a focus area, the company said in a statement on the weekend.
New Delhi-based DLF reported on Saturday a 69 percent slump in quarterly profit to 6.71 billion rupees ($137 million), while revenue fell 59 percent.
The company has called a news conference at 2 p.m. to give details about the quarterly results.
Earlier rival Unitech’s quarterly profit fell 74 percent to 1.36 billion rupees. ($1=49 rupees) (Reporting by Devidutta Tripathy.
source:http://www.reuters.com/article/rbssFinancialServicesAndRealEstateNews/idUSDEL39373320090202
Posted by: hotgurgaon12 on: December 23, 2008
Rupees one crore is sufficient to buy a sizeable 2-BHK flat in southern part of Delhi in locations like Jasola, Kalkaji, and Vasant Kunj. In locations like Lajput Nagar –II and III, and Dayanand Colony one can bargain even a 3-BHK at this budget.
In Dwarka, one can easily find out a 3-BHK flat of an area of around 1200 sq ft at this budget.Real Estate consultant Manish Kumar Gupta, who runs his own company Nirmala Realtors, describes, “To buy a flat upto an area of 800-900 sq ft, this budget is good in South Delhi.” He further says, “If one crosses the Delhi boundary and look for flats in suburbs, he/she can get a luxury flat at this rate.”
The luxury apartments in Indrapuram (Ghaziabad), Greater Noida, and Faridabad can be best buy, where even flats of areas ranging to 3000-3500 sq ft can be available at this price. “One can buy flats in ATF Greens at Sector 93 Noida at this budget,” informs Gupta. “Some of these flats are well-furnished and have several high-tech facilities, which make it worth investing in these flats,” he adds.
In East Delhi, 3-BHK in areas like Patpargunj and Mayur Vihar can be bought at this budget.Similarly, in western part of the Capital, localities like Vikaspuri, Janakpuri and Punjabi Bagh offer 3-BHK flat upto an area of 1250 sq ft at this rate.However, if one wants to buy a floor, then budget will have to be increased or else in some of unregularised colonies and rural belts, one can try his luck to get even a floor at this rate.
Chandigarh
The price range of Rs 1 crore in Chandigarh is just about good enough for those who wish to have an independent house irrespective of the area or an independent floor in a house. But if spacious apartments are what one is looking for, the city still has plenty to offer. The prospects of owning a bigger independent house are the best in Panchkula followed by Mohali, says Chandigarh-based property consultant Sanjay Arora of property portal 123yards.com.
Independent houses : Five-marla houses (125 sq yard) are available in sectors 22 and 23 and sectors 37, 38 and 40 below this budget (Rs 80 to 90 lakh) while for seven marla (169 sq yards) kothis in sectors such as Sector 37 you may have to shell out a few lakhs more (Rs 1 to Rs 1.5 crore).
Source:http://www.indianexpress.com/news/3bhk-luxury-flats-in-ncr/400794/
Posted by: hotgurgaon12 on: December 17, 2008
Like a gunslinger with no spare bullets in his belt, India finds itself short of ammunition to fight its deepening economic downturn.A massive stimulus package like those planned by the United States and China is out of the question. India already has a chronic fiscal deficit. New Delhi puts it at 2.5 per cent of gross domestic product for this fiscal year. It is almost certainly much higher.
Government spending is rising at 20 per cent a year. Ramping up spending much more would draw the attention of credit-rating agencies, which are already raising alarms about India’s profligacy. The roughly $4-billion (U.S.) in new stimulative spending announced earlier this month has further stretched New Delhi’s fiscal limits. That figure pales beside the $700-billion announced last month by China, which has the advantage of being solidly in the black.
Interest rate cuts are another form of ammunition for governments trying to revive economic growth. India faces limits there, too. Partly because of high government spending, India still has an inflation problem, making it dangerous to lower rates too fast or too far. The central bank has lowered rates three times since October. The latest cut was a whopping one percentage point, but the bank may be running out of room.
Source:http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20081217.IBASIA17/TPStory/Business
Posted by: hotgurgaon12 on: December 15, 2008
Buoyed by robust sales in mid-income housing, real estate giant DLF on Monday said it will invest Rs 15,000 crore over the next three years to develop various residential projects across the country in Rs 15-40 lakh range.DLF, the country’s biggest real estate developer, had last year announced its plan to enter into mid-income housing segment, realising the huge untapped demand in this category.
“We will be investing Rs 5,000 crore a year over the next three years on mid-income housing projects,” DLF Home Developers Vice President A Harikesh said.”Mid-income homes will be our focus area and will witness significant growth in the coming quarters,” he added.
DLF’s investment plans for affordable housing coincides with announcement by public sector banks to boost the segment by cutting home-loan interest rates, putting caps of 9.25 per cent for Rs 5-20 lakh and 8.5 per cent for loans of up to Rs five lakh. Harikesh said internal accruals, advances against sales and capital raised through private equity would take care of the planned investment. DLF had raised Rs 1,675 crore as private equity in eight projects in November 2007.
DLF Home Developers, the wholly-owned subsidiary of DLF, would construct about 40,000 housing units in the mid-income category, sizes of which would vary between 1,000 sq ft and 1,800 sq ft, he added.The company has witnessed tremendous response for its mid-income housing projects and sold over 7,000 flats so far this year, despite slowdown in the housing demand for the last six months on account of high interest rate and capital value.
DLF has launched mid-income housing projects in Bangalore, Gurgaon, Hyderabad, Indore, Kochi, Kolkata and Pune.
Source:http://www.financialexpress.com/news/dlf-to-invest-rs-15-000-cr-on-affordable-housing/398725/
Posted by: hotgurgaon12 on: November 26, 2008
Leading real estate player Parsvnath Developers received environmental clearance for the construction of office-cum-commercial “Corporate Tower” at Netaji Subhash Place Metro Station, in New Delhi.The project spreads over an area of 19,400 sq mt and has a total developable area of 2,50,000 sq ft. The project is strategically located with an easy accessibility on the ring road catering to the shopping needs of public travelling by metro and road. The project having multiple pull factors, will offer product mix that will attract footfall across all the age groups, a company statement said.
Parsvnath Developers is developing 114 mega projects spanning 211.32 mn sq ft in 51 cities and 18 states. For the year ended March 31, 2008, the company recorded consolidated revenues of Rs 1837.12 crore and net profit of Rs 424.39 crore.
Source:http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/parsvnath-gets-environmental-clearance-for-delhi-project/11/21/50119/on
Posted by: hotgurgaon12 on: November 15, 2008
PURE Real Estate, a real estate investment management company, has made giant strides towards becoming a major player in Abu Dhabi’s property sector within only one year since it has been launched.The company is currently handling around Dh20 billion high-end residential, commercial and retail projects that are being developed by leading Kuwaiti companies, which include Dar Al Dhabi Real Estate and Mayadeen, and which are situated on Al Reem Island, a prime location in the emirate.
“We really believe in this project, we see a lot of investors from the UK, Ireland, India, Pakistan and the US looking at Abu Dhabi, particularly at Al Reem Island,” Alan O’Donnell, the company’s managing director, told TBW.O’Donnell noted that given the current global economic crisis, the UAE market is becoming an increasingly attractive alternative for investors from the West. “There are a lot of mature investors who are obviously suffering from the depression of the real estate market and stock market in the US. However, there is still a lot of liquidity and people are looking for places to invest money outside the US,” he said.
Pure Real Estate, founded by O’Donnell, Emirati businessman Saeed Ghanim, who is currently the company’s chairman and Stuart Donald, director, was launched with the aim to fill the gap in Abu Dhabi’s real estate market for a multi-platform company that could offer comprehensive real estate solutions, including sales and marketing as well project and investment management services. “The goal of PURE Real Estate is to offer integrated real estate solutions,” O’Donnell said.
Source:http://www.zawya.com/
Posted by: hotgurgaon12 on: November 15, 2008
The real estate sector in India may have seen its best time for the next several decades. The real estate markets now heads downward, as people cannot make their mortgage payments.
OP Bhatt, chairman of State Bank of India (SBI), the country’s largest bank, expects 50% correction in the housing sector prices in the country. “In India we may witness up to 50% correction in pricing in the mortgage markets. If that happens, it’s good news for the Indian banking system as NPAs would reduce and new business would fall-in,’’ he said at the concluding session of Ficci-IBA Conference on Global Banking: Paradigm Shift, in Mumbai on Saturday.
According to other analysts, the market can roll downwards another additional 15 to 20% before stabilizing.The commercial and residential sectors in major metropolis are experience severe credit crunch, defaults and bank takeovers. The glut of unsold apartments is skyrocketing. The residential mortgage market is collapsing faster than the subprime mortgage market in America.
source:http://www.indiadaily.com/editorial/20263.asp
Posted by: hotgurgaon12 on: November 14, 2008
In a sign of the times, the country’s third largest real-estate player, Housing Development and Infrastructure Limited (HDIL), has offered to sell off three of its plots totalling about 4.5 million square feet. Analysts say the rare move shows the extent of liquidity crunch in the realty market where no developer normally takes the extreme step of off-loading valuable land stock.
The plots along with their potential Floor Space Index amounts to 1.5 million sq ft saleable land at Andheri, 2.5 million sq ft at Kurla and 63,000 sq ft at Carmichael Road in the upmarket Malabar hill area. At present, the Carmichael Road plot houses a bungalow.
The Kurla plot is a portion of the 53 acres acquired by HDIL to rehabilitate 20,000 of the 85,000 slum-dwellers’ families, in Phase I of the massive Mumbai Airport Slum Rehabilitation project.
Earlier this year, HDIL had raised money through debts to purchase the Premier Automobiles Kurla land from an IFLS affiliate at Rs 1,900 crore.
The current debt of the listed real-estate company, which is also one of the largest landowners in Mumbai, stands at over Rs 3,000 crore.
Sarang Wadhwan, HDIL managing director, brushed aside any co-relation between the debt and the proposed land sale. “It’s just a business move where we are planning to offload some land as a means of revenue. We are trying to raise money for the airport land rehabilitation. At present, work is on as per schedule at 125 of the 190 buildings,” he said.
Wadhwan refused to comment on how much money he expected to raise from the land sales. On whether the land would have any takers in the present market, he said, “The market is seeing a correction and there will definitely be no problem in getting buyers.”
Realty analysts state that HDIL’s move is just the tip of the iceberg in the real-estate industry which has been aggressively acquiring land over the past few years. According to Akshaye Kumar, CEO of Parklane Property Consultants, over the last few months, a significant number of developers have put up a few sites on their portfolio for sale. “Historically, developers never sell land. Even when the previous real-estate crash happened, there was only an odd developer who put up his land for sale. But this time, considering the asset-rich cash-strapped scenario, such a step might be unusual but not surprising,” said Kumar.
Source:http://www.indianexpress.com/news/real-estate-giant-hdil-to-sell-off-4.5-million-square-feet/385514/
