Real Estate

Realty firm Omaxe on Friday said it has leased 2 lakh sq ft of retail space to Chinese companies in its commercial project at Greater Noida.

The leasing deal was signed after a Chinese delegation comprising around 50 manufacturing and investment firms today visited Omaxe’s project at Greater Noida.

“Omaxe will develop the leased 2 lakh sq ft as ‘Dragon Mart’ for Chinese companies that will open and run retail outlets, offices, representative offices, exhibition centres and other such facilities,” Omaxe said in a statement.

Slapped with a fresh ‘cease and desist’ order by fair trade regulator CCI, realty major DLF has said it is “very surprising” that no penalty has been imposed on various other realtors operating in the same market with the same product line.

In a fresh order yesterday against DLF, the Competition Commission of India (CCI) ruled that the realty giant was guilty of indulging in “unfair and abusive” business practices in sale of apartments in a Gurgaon housing project.

Bengaluru is at the top position in the list of 14 best real estate destinations in the country for housing segment while the cities in the national capital region are at the bottom, a study has said.

PropEquity, an online subscription based real estate data and analytics platform, said the rankings are based on various parameters like price appreciation, supply, sales, unsold inventories, delays in project completion and size of the market, among others.

Housing price inflation has slipped to nearly four-year low to below 4 percent, a survey by the Reserve Bank said on Thursday.

It said that housing prices rose by 61 percent during the last four and half years, with Jaipur recording the highest growth of 78 percent.

These findings are based on a RBI survey covering transaction level data on housing loans disbursed across select 13 cities, from select 35 scheduled commercial banks/ housing finance companies.

Realty firm Tata Housing will invest about Rs 600 crore to develop a new residential project at Bahadurgarh, Haryana.

The company has tied up with a local developer, who owns 21.7 acres of land, to develop this housing project comprising 800-1,000 units.

Tata Housing subsidiary Tata Value Homes said in a statement it has entered into Delhi-NCR’s affordable housing market with the launch of this project in Bahadurgarh. The apartment price starts from nearly Rs 50 lakh.

In a major boost to Real Estate Investment Trusts, the government Wednesday approved changes to FEMA regulations that will allow such instruments to tap foreign funds.

Currently, REITs — which are mainly aimed at bringing in funds into the realty sector in a transparent manner — are prohibited from getting overseas investments under Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA).

Bowing to strident opposition demands, the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance government on Wednesday sent the real estate bill to a select committee of the Rajya Sabha.

The 20-member committee, formed earlier in the day with representation from all parties, will submit its report by the first week of the next session of parliament.

Moving for the reference of the bill to the select committee, Parliamentary Affairs Minister M. Venkaiah Naidu said the government had brought the bill after wide consultations, as there was a perception that the bill was getting delayed.

Following pressure from opposition parties, the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance government is set to send the real estate bill to a select committee of the Rajya Sabha.

The formation of the committee, comprising 20 members from all parties, was listed in the business for the day on Wednesday.

The Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Bill, 2013, aimed at establishing a regulatory authority for the real estate sector, was deferred by the Rajya Sabha last week with opposition members insisting that it be sent to a select committee of the house.

Rajya Sabha is likely to witness a tug of war between Government and Opposition over Real Estate Bill, which is listed for consideration and passage on Tuesday as main Opposition party Congress has upped the ante over it after Rahul Gandhi’s Saturday meeting with home buyers.

Oberoi Realty Ltd on Friday reported 34 per cent increase in consolidated net profit at Rs 103.02 crore for the quarter ended March 31, 2015.

The company’s consolidated net profit stood at Rs 77.03 crore in the year-ago period.

The consolidated revenue rose to Rs 349.33 crore for January-March quarter of 2014-15 fiscal as against Rs 228.49 crore in the year-ago period.

“The consolidated profit after tax for 2014-15 is Rs 317.12 crore as against Rs 311.06 crore for FY14,” Mumbai-based firm said in a statement.

Private equity (PE) investment in the real estate sector fell by 5.6 per cent to Rs 5,170 crore in the first quarter this year, over the previous three months, says property consultant Cushman & Wakefield.

It was, however, up by 84 per cent over the January-March period of last year.

“Private Equity (PE) funds invested about Rs 5,170 crore (USD 829.8 million) in the real estate sector in the first quarter of 2015, a decline of 5.6 per cent from the previous quarter,” the consultant said in its latest report ‘Investment Marketbeat’ for Q1, 2015.

The Supreme Court on Friday sought a response from realty major DLF Ltd on a plea challenging the order of the appellate tribunal quashing SEBI’s decision to bar it and its six top executives from capital markets for three years.

A bench of Justices J Chelameshwar and R K Agrawal, which issued notices to DLF and its promoters K P Singh, Pia Singh and Rajiv Singh but refused to stay the order saying there was “no immediate fallout”.

Even as the realty industry has talked of revival in market sentiment, the number of project launches witnessed almost 50 per cent decline during the January-March compared to the same period last year, says a report.

The first quarter of 2015 saw the lowest number of project launches over a period of two years, according to a recent report by property consultant Cushman & Wakefield (C&W).

Nearly 24,700 units were launched during the period as against 55,500, registering a 50 per cent decline
compared to January-March quarter of 2014 mainly due to lower returns on sales.

Tata-owned flagship Taj Hotel has launched a new corner restaurant in Britain which is set to become the new favourite celebrity hangout.

The five-star Taj Buckingham Gate, a stone’s throw from Buckingham Palace in the heart of London, is already the preferred venue for visiting Indian ministers, diplomats and Bollywood stars.

The new ‘Kona’ restaurant takes its name from its positioning at a quiet secluded corner of the Tata Group hotel.

Fair trade regulator CCI has rejected allegations that real estate developer Vatika Group abused its dominant position in the market for development and sale of its commercial units in Gurgaon.

The matter relates to the purchase of a commercial unit in Vatika Professional Point Sector in Sector 66 of Gurgaon, Haryana.

A complaint filed by an individual had alleged Vatika of unfair and discriminatory conduct on buyers of the commercial units.

Global rating agency Fitch on Monday said the likely upturn in the country’s investment climate and reduction in interest rates will improve the property market by the end of March 2016 and provide relief to the debt-ridden developers.

“The property development sector (will) be a key beneficiary of reductions in housing loan interest rates by several domestic banks in April 2015,” the agency said, adding that they would also boost credit growth.

Global rating agency Fitch today said the likely upturn in the country’s investment climate and reduction in interest rates will improve the property market by the end of March 2016 and provide relief to the debt-ridden developers.

“The property development sector (will) be a key beneficiary of reductions in housing loan interest rates by several domestic banks in April 2015,” the agency said, adding that they would also boost credit growth.

Investment attracted by the real estate sector from various public and private sources across India have declined by 6 percent in the last four years, says a survey.

The investment fell to Rs 14.3 lakh crore in 2014-15 from a level of Rs 15.2 lakh crore in 2011-12, the survey by Assocham said.

Real estate projects involving about 76 percent of the total investments attracted by the sector remained non-starter during the period between 2011-12 and 2014-15, the poll found.

Delhi-NCR witnessed a 57 percent decline in the office space absorption in the first quarter this year due to delay in decision making by corporates, according to property consultant Cushman & Wakefield.

However, the consultant said office space absorption (leasing) is expected to pick up on strong demand in the coming quarters.

Net absorption of office space in Delhi-NCR fell to 6.26 lakh sq ft during January-March from 14.61 lakh sq ft in the year-ago period.

Realty firm Lancor Holdings on Monday said it is expecting a turnover of Rs 400 crore from its new housing project in Chennai.

In a filing to the BSE, Chennai-based developer said the company had acquired 6.44 acre of land at Potheri, GST Road from L&T Urban Infrastructure Ltd.

“The company has obtained permission for conversion of wet land and is in the process of launching a residential project, which has the potential of 8,00,000 sq ft of built up area, with an estimated turnover of Rs 400 crores at a margin of 25 per cent,” it added.

Realty firm Supertech Friday said it will invest Rs 2,400 crore over the next five years to develop a township project on 140 acres land that the company has bought from Parsvnath Developers at Gurgaon in Haryana.

“We have completed the deal to buy 140 acres land from Parsvnath Developers for about Rs 700 crore,” Supertech Managing Director Mohit Arora told reporters here.

The Noida-based firm would develop an integrated township on this land parcel at Sohna, Gurgaon, he added.

Tata Group firm Indian Hotels Company (IHCL) on Thursday said its board has approved the proposed acquisition of the remaining stake in Lands End Properties for a sum not exceeding Rs 17 crore.

“The Board of Directors of the company, at its meeting held on April 9, 2015, has accorded its approval to the proposed acquisition by the company of the balance 80.1 per cent equity stake in Lands End Properties Private Ltd (LEPPL), for an aggregate consideration not exceeding Rs 17 crore…,” Indian Hotels Company Ltd (IHCL) said in a filing to BSE.

Property consultant JLL India on Monday said it has formed a separate vertical to provide services to the infrastructure sector.

In a statement, JLL India said that its dedicated ‘Infrastructure Services’ vertical would specifically address the requirements and opportunities that the infrastructure sector will represent till 2020.

JLL is the first global property consultant to offer this service within the country, it added.

On an ambitious expansion spree, global hospitality major Carlson Rezidor Hotel Group plans to have over 170 hotels across the country within 5 years under its various brands, including Radisson and Park Inn.

The company has set a target of having a hotel in every major city in India with a landmark property in every state capital.

Smart City project is in advanced stage and will be implemented on Public-Private Partnership (PPP) mode after Cabinet approval.

Urban Development Minister Venkaiah Naidu on Wednesday said this during discussions with a Swedish delegation, led by Anna Johansson, Sweden’s Minister for Infrastructure.

During the deliberations, Naidu gave an overview of the policy framework and other initiatives of the Ministry. He said the Urban development Ministry is undertaking three important projects at the moment.