Real Estate

Housing prices in Delhi-NCR rose by an average 3 percent during October-December period of 2014 compared to the previous quarter as property market showed some signs of improvement, according to a report by real estate portal 99acres.Com.

“With healthy appreciation in housing prices in most residential pockets, the realty atmosphere in Delhi NCR seems to be improving,” the portal said in its report ‘Insite’, which focuses on capital and rental price trends in housing segment across seven major cities of India.

Realty firm Godrej Properties on Thursday said it has tied up with Snapdeal to offer online booking of its real estate projects.

Godrej Properties already offers online booking through its website and has added this additional sales channel to further enhance customer access, the company said.

The tie-up with Snapdeal will offer customers increased flexibility and unique offers at the time of booking, it added.

The national urban housing scheme aiming to provide houses for all by 2022 is likely to be taken up by the Union Cabinet Thursday.

The blueprint of the National Urban Housing Scheme, to be called Sardar Patel National Housing Mission, is ready and likley to be considered by the Cabinet tomorrow, sources said.

Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation Minister M Venkaiah Naidu had extensive consultation with the stakeholders including state governments, real estate representatives and financial institutions among others on the NDA government’s mega scheme before finalising it.

Aadhar Housing Finance, a company jointly set up by DHFL and International Finance Corporation (IFC), has disbursed loans of over Rs 300 crore to lower income groups in Madhya Pradesh.

“We have disbursed over Rs 300 crore to lower income consumer segments (both salaried and self-employed individuals with monthly incomes ranging between Rs 5,000 and Rs 25,000) to build houses,” Aadhar Chief Executive Officer Deo Shankar Tripathi today told reporters here.

Tata Housing Development Company has started five affordable housing projects, including one in the city, a top official of the company said Tuesday.

“We are setting up five affordable housing projects across the country, including Kolkata,” Tata Housing CEO and Managing Director Brotin Banerjee told reporters here today.

In Kolkata the company has entered into a development manager model with Square Four Group to set up a project on B T Road in the northern part of the metropolis.

Supreme Court Monday directed real estate giant Supertech to refund money to the flat owners within 30 days, saying “developers can’t take investors for a ride.”

“You cannot be holding back money of investors who do not want to be relocated in other projects….Developers can’t take investors for a ride. If they want refund of their investments, can we deny them this relief,” a bench headed by Chief Justice H L Dattu said.

Hotel Leela Palace has secured a stay order from the Delhi High Court against New Delhi Municipal Council’s move of attaching its bank account for not clearing property tax dues.

“The High Court of Delhi had stayed the recovery proceedings. At the last hearing held on January 13, 2015, the matter was adjourned to March 12, 2015 for arguments on merits. However, the order did not specifically mention that the interim order would continue.

Realty giant DLF’s net debt has increased by nearly Rs 400 crore during the third quarter of the current fiscal to Rs 20,336 crore.

According to investors’ presentation, the net debt of DLF, the country’s largest real estate developer, rose to Rs 20,336 crore as of December 31, from Rs 19,943 crore at the end of the July-September quarter.

The current attributable net debt to DevCo (development arm) is Rs 6,350 crore and to RentCo (rental business) is Rs about Rs 14,000 crore, it added.

Real estate developers launched 1.53 lakh new housing units during the last calendar year, a fall of 12 percent from 2013, in the country’s top eight cities.

According to property consultant Cushman & Wakefield, cities such as Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Chennai, Delhi-NCR, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Mumbai and Pune had together witnessed a launch of 1,74,400 housing units during 2013.

Barring Chennai and Kolkata, the other six cities saw fall in the number of launches.

Tata Housing will invest about Rs 1,500 crore to develop two new residential projects in Mumbai and Kolkata and has started selling apartments from today through its online ‘National Home Buying Week’.

Tata Group’s realty firm is offering 2,000 units in 25 projects, including these two new ones, across 9 cities during the second edition of National Home Buying Week that started today and would close on February 18.

According to sources, the company will develop about 700 units in a luxury housing project at Mumbai at an investment of about Rs 600 crore.

Realty firm Omaxe Ltd’s gross debt increased by over 5 percent to Rs 1,147 crore as on December 31, 2014 compared Rs 1,087 crore as on September 30, 2014.

In a presentation to investors, the national capital-based developer also informed that the company has to make debt repayment of Rs 201 crore in this quarter.

On operational performance, Omaxe said that sale bookings fell by 42 percent to 1.18 million sq ft during October- December as against 2.05 million sq ft in the year-ago period.

Bookings dropped by 17 percent to Rs 473 crore from Rs 570 crore during the period under review.

Gauri Khan, interior designer, film producer and wife of Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan, has joined forces with realty megacorp Tulsiani Constructions and Developers Ltd. (TCDL) as their brand ambassador for 2 years.

While Gauri shall be seen in their future advertisements, she will be designing TCDL’s next generation homes.

The curtains on much-publicised integrated township project ‘Pride Asia’ promoted by realty firm Parsvnath Developers in collaboration with Chandigarh Housing Board finally came down with later agreeing to refund the award money and former returning the land.

“We have agreed to part ways on this (Pride Asia) project,” Officiating Chairman, Chandigarh Housing Board (CHB) Vivek Partap Singh said here on Wednesday.

“We have given the award money amounting to Rs 567 crore to Parsvnath while the realty has returned the 123 acres of land to CHB as per Arbitration award,” Singh added.

Realty firm Parsvnath Developers on Friday said it has received Rs 572 crore from the Chandigarh Housing Board after both parties agreed to accept arbitration award in a dispute over development of a real estate project.

Last month, a sole arbitrator had directed the Chandigarh Housing Board (CHB) to repay the amount to Parsvnath, while the realty firm was asked to surrender 124 acres land.

The country needs to improve basic infrastructure and ensure a favourable business environment for the success of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ambitious “Make in India” programme, noted industrialist Rahul Bajaj said.

Talking to mediapersons on the sidelines of an event here organised by Indore Management Association, he said government needs to provide growth opportunities, fair labour policies and speedy environmental clearances to make India a global manufacturing hub as envisioned by Modi.

Indore Management Association felicitated Bajaj with the lifetime achievement award.

Manila-based Asian Development Bank (ADB) today said it is committed to supporting India’s ambitious plan to build 100 smart cities in the country.

ADB President Takehiko Nakao said the agency will continue to play an important role in the development of inclusive, green and resilient cities and for the success of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the global climate change agenda.

Realtors’ apex body CREDAI on Tuesday expressed disappointment at the RBI’s decision to keep the key policy rates unchanged, saying the country cannot afford any more delay in pushing the economic growth.

Real estate developers sought reduction in interest rates in future to boost housing sales. Builders also expect some relief and tax reforms in the upcoming Budget.

Spain has come forward to assist in transforming Delhi into a Smart City and a memorandum of understanding (MoU) will be signed shortly between the two countries accordingly.

An understanding to this effect was reached at a meeting between Urban Development Ministry M Venkaiah Naidu and a nine-member delegation led by the visiting Minister of State for Trade of Spain Jaime Garcia-Legaz Ponce.

Realty firm Omaxe Ltd’s gross debt increased by over 5 percent to Rs 1,147 crore as on December 31, 2014 compared Rs 1,087 crore as on September 30, 2014.

In a presentation to investors, the national capital-based developer also informed that the company has to make debt repayment of Rs 201 crore in this quarter.

On operational performance, Omaxe said that sale bookings fell by 42 percent to 1.18 million sq ft during October- December as against 2.05 million sq ft in the year-ago period.

Bookings dropped by 17 percent to Rs 473 crore from Rs 570 crore during the period under review.

India and the US on Tuesday decided to set up a task force for jointly developing Allahabad, Ajmer and Vishakhapatnam as Smart Cities with a mandate of preparing the roadmap within three months.

The decision was taken at a meeting between Urban Development Minister M Venkaiah Naidu and visiting Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker, two days after the two countries signed pacts under which the three cities will be developed as Smart Cities with the help of United States Trade and Development Agency (USTDA).

Office space absorption increased by 28 percent to 32.5 million sq ft during last year in the country’s eight major cities on the back of improved business sentiments post-election, according to property consultant Cushman & Wakefield.

Office absorption in these eight cities — Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Chennai, Delhi-NCR, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Mumbai and Pune — stood at 25.35 million sq ft during 2013.

Housing sales in Delhi-NCR market declined by 43 percent last year at 40,575 dwelling units, the lowest in a decade, while prices rose marginally by 3 percent, according to property consultant Knight Frank India.

The National Capital Region, the country’s largest residential property market, had recorded a sale of 71,421 units in 2013.

New launches fell by 24 percent to 73,143 units during 2014 as against 95,678 units in the previous year.

Housing sales are unlikely to recover in the next fiscal as high property prices have made residential units unaffordable for end-users, India Ratings & Research said while maintaining a negative to stable outlook on the real estate sector.

The agency said credit metrics of real estate companies would continue to deteriorate next fiscal year, as demand would remain subdued amid high property prices even as inventory was being built-up using bank funding.

The real estate investment trusts will be a “booster rocket” for investments coming into the country and realty players are awaiting more clarity on the proposed new instrument, according to JLL India’s Chairman and Country Head Anuj Hari.

He also expressed hope that the government would provide more clarity on Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) before the Union Budget.

JLL India is a real estate consultancy firm.

A successful development of proposed smart cities across the country will depend on five critical elements such as power, infrastructure, funds, technology and social capital, property consultant Cushman & Wakefield said Thursday.

The Centre plans to develop 100 smart cities as satellite towns of larger cities and by modernising the existing mid-sized ones. In the Union Budget last year, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley had allocated Rs 7,060 crore in the current fiscal for the scheme.