Real Estate

Housing prices have increased by up to 7.1 per cent in 12 major cities, including Delhi and Mumbai, in January-March period of this year due to a surge in demand, National Housing Bank said today.

Prices witnessed an increase ranging from 1.3 per cent in Bhopal to 7.1 per cent in Surat in comparison to that in the previous quarter of October-December, 2013, the quarterly update of NHB Residex said.

Prices, however, fell in 12 other cities, ranging from -0.6 per cent in Vijayawada to -5.7 per cent in Patna.

Indices for Faridabad and Kochi remained stagnant.

Buyers of flats in some parts of Noida will have to mark time as the Supreme Court Tuesday declined to interfere with an NGT order restraining the New Okhla Industrial Development Authority from issuing completion certificates in respect of structures falling within 10 km of the Okhla Bird Sanctuary.

An apex court bench of Justice Jagdish Singh Khehar and Justice C. Nagappan Tuesday declined the plea by the Jaypee Infratech Ltd. challenging the order of the National Green Tribunal (NGT) which said no completion certificate will be issued to projects within 10 km of the sanctuary.

The National Buildings Construction Corporation (NBCC) is offering new housing projects across the country in the coming months besides working on plans to redevelop as “green complexes” three government colonies in the Capital.

The NBCC also announced a net profit of Rs 257 crore for 2013-14, an increase of 24 percent over that of 2012-13.

Addressing a press Conference here on Friday, CMD of NBCC Anoop Kumar Mittal said that housing projects for general public are underway in Gurgaon, Khekra (near Delhi), Patna and Kochi.

The Supreme Court today allowed real estate major Supertech Ltd to remove construction materials from its sealed 40-storey twin towers in NOIDA to ensure safety of the residents and others.

A bench of justices J S Khehar and C Nagappan allowed the plea of Supertech Ltd that keeping the safety aspects in mind, the construction materials and equipments at the site need to be removed.

The Allahabad High Court had earlier ordered demolition of the 40-storey residential twin towers.

Pune ranked fourth in the list of top 10 cities in Asia Pacific in office rental growth, global property consultant Cushman & Wakefield said Tuesday.

Office rental in Pune increased by 16.57 percent in the first quarter of 2014 at 59.95 a sq ft per month compared with the year-ago period, C&W said in its Asia Office Q1 2014 report.

New Okhla Industrial Development Authority (Noida) and Yamuna Expressway Industrial Development Authority (YEIDA) on Monday approved a 10 percent hike in land allotment rates in their board meeting.

“Rates have been hiked for Noida and yamuna Expressway. For Greater Noida there was no hike proposal,” Noida, Greater Noida and Yamuna Expressway authorities Chairman, Rama Raman said.

Marking a turnaround, country’s largest realty firm DLF on Thursday reported a consolidated net profit of Rs 219.68 crore for the quarter ended March 31 against a net loss of Rs 4.19 crore in the year-ago period.

Total income from operations fell by 11.5 percent to Rs 1,969.45 crore in the fourth quarter of last fiscal compared with Rs 2,225.55 crore in the corresponding quarter of previous year.

The company posted the net profit in March 2014 quarter on the back of sharp jump in other income at Rs 552.15 crore from Rs 93.24 crore during the period under review.

The interest rates on home loans will be reduced, Urban Development Minister Venkaiah Naidu announced Wednesday.

Soon after taking charge of the ministry here Wednesday, Naidu said that interest rate reduction is necessary if housing for all has to be achieved.

“Housing is our top priority area and I will be taking up this matter with my colleague (Arun Jaitley) who is the finance minister,” he told reporters.

“We will intervene and bring down the interest rates for housing a little. That will be my priority.”

With projects worth over USD 100 billion stalled or abandoned due to poor sentiments, the realty industry in India expects better days ahead, riding on the mood generated by the political stability expected in the Prime Minister Narendra Modi government.

There are strong indications of that as well, with the realty index of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) rising almost 45 percent in May alone.

The new state of Andhra Pradesh may have to face revenue deficit from the registration and stamps (R&S) department at least for a couple of years. Reason: The major share of the revenue (55% to 60%) through property registrations comes from the ten Telangana districts, especially from Hyderabad and Ranga Reddy districts.

Though Sector 63 in Noida is an industrial region, its block A is set to become an investment zone. With Noida Authority working towards the area’s development in terms of roads, sewerage, parks, electricity poles and more, the area is attracting several investors hoping for healthy returns.

Real estate player Brys Group plans to invest Rs.900 crore-Rs.1,000 crore over the next four years in a project that will be north India’s tallest residential tower, Rahul Gaur, chairman-cum- managing director of the company, said here Saturday.

“We will invest around Rs.900 crore-Rs 1,000 crore and the project will be completed by 2018. We are financing the project with both bank and our finance,” he said.

Located in Noida, Sector 150, the residential tower named “Brys Buzz”, will be 81-storeyed with 111 elevators and a helipad on the top of the building.

Real estate transactions in Rayalaseema and coastal Andhra regions, which had been slow for the past year, have picked up since March 2014, after the AP Reorganisation Bill was passed in Parliament.

In the Telangana region, where the business has been moderate for the past 18 months, it has begun to speed up in Hyderabad, Nizamabad and Ranga Reddy districts.

Realty giant DLF on friday said it has raised Rs 525 crore through debt instruments backed by a luxury shopping mall in the national capital, marking the country’s first commercial mortgage backed securities (CMBS) offering.

India’s largest realty firm DLF had announced in October 2013 a plan to raise about Rs 1,000 crore through issue of securities backed by mortgage of two retail assets as part of strategy to replace costlier debt, which stood at Rs 17,400 crore two months back.

New Delhi: National Highways Authority of India in its board meeting today may consider allowing rescheduling of premium payments by some highway developers.
According to sources, about 7-8 requests for premium restructuring are coming for consideration by the NHAI Board on Friday.
Premium is a payment made by the developer to NHAI in build, operate and transfer (BOT) projects. The premium, which is offered by companies during the bidding stage, is based on projected returns from tolls.

New Delhi: Land acquisition is the topmost hurdle in the execution of highway projects in the country and should be dealt with on a priority basis by the incoming government, a top official of the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways has said.

“For us the roadmap is already there, basically land is the main bottleneck, with the new government we have to get on with the land acquisition part and roll out the programme,” Road Secretary Vijay Chibber told PTI.

Rentals for office and retail spaces are expected to increase in the coming quarters on the back of rising demand, according to a survey by RICS.

Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors, a global body for setting standards in the property sector, said in its latest report that the demand for office and retail spaces rose during the January-March quarter.

Real estate sector in Vadodara, one of the fastest growing Tier-II cities of India, is touching new heights. Largely dominated by affordable housing, the city is now offering a chance to live luxurious life to those who can afford it. Several residential properties that were tagged Rs 1 crore and above are being made available in localities, such as Alkapuri, Vasna Road, Old Padra Road and Gotri, according to Magicbricks’ data.

Alkapuri

In Hyderabad and Secunderabad, where the realty market is mostly end user driven, one might be lucky enough to earn good rental returns as localities like Marredpally promise assured rental returns.

Located at a close distance of close to 2 km from Secunderabad, is a developed locality called Marredpally. Natives and local real estate trend watchers pronounce it as an infrastructural and development-led locality where the benefits of affordability, connectivity and rental returns could become almost a USP of the locality.

Prices

In a setback to DLF, the Competition Appellate Tribunal on Monday upheld the CCI order imposing Rs 630 crore penalty on the realty major for unfair business practices.

In August 2011, the Competition Commission of India had found DLF violating fair trade norms and imposed a fine of Rs 630 crore on it following a complaint by a Belaire Owners’ Association in Gurgaon.

During the hearing today, the tribunal upheld CCI decision to impose Rs 630 crore fine on DLF. It had challenged the fair trade watchdog’s order at the tribunal, Compat.

Realty player Mahindra Lifespace Developers said it received Rs 324.95 crore from the sale of a five-acre property in the Byculla area of the city owned by the Kanoria family.

“The company, together with the owner of the property at Byculla, has completed the sale of the property wherein Mahindra Lifespace had development rights on part of the property. Our share of the sale consideration is Rs 324.95 crore,” Mahindra Lifespace said on Thursday in a filing to the BSE.

The company did not reveal the name of the buyer or the size of the deal.

Kolkata-based Cygnett Hotels & Resorts will open six hotels with a total room capacity of over 300 in the budget and mid segment category this year.

Cygnett Hotels & Resorts on Thursday announced an association with Jameson Inn Inc as a part of which it would open one hotel each year under the brand of US budget hotel chain. The first such property has come up in Kolkata. The company has already joined hands with US-based ABF Inc.

The skyline of Dubai is set to undergo a sea change as the construction industry here is expected to gain further momentum this year, according to an international property agency.

Construction cranes have dotted the Dubai skyline and are seen to herald the economic growth, with a major build-up of momentum in the real estate activity.

Dubai was once home to almost 25 percent of the world’s cranes during the height of the property boom and now is set for the revival era of the construction industry.

Indian Hotels Company Limited (IHCL) will open its new Taj hotel here in the fourth quarter of this year.

Taj Dubai is located in the Burj Khalifa downtown area and surrounded by architectural landmarks like the Burj Khalifa, Dubai Mall and Business Bay.

The hotel will comprise 296 guest-rooms, including the Taj Club rooms, 20 junior and 14 luxury suites, a statement released here said.

The two theme suites – The Tata Suite and The Maharaja Suite – occupying the top floors will comprise private dining, living areas and views overlooking the downtown area.

Investors need to be a little careful about the latest rally in real estate stocks, advance largely by the expectation that a business-friendly government will assume power.

Real estate companies such as Unitech, HDIL, DB Realty and Indiabulls Real Estate have surged 25-80% in the past three months, stimulating expectations of more to come.