Trustworthy Real Estate Consultant- Bharat and Company: October 2014

Thursday, 16 October 2014

Internet influencing real estate decisions worth $43billion in India: Google

As more Indians log online to seek information before entering into property deals, Internet today is estimated to be influencing decisions worth about USD 43 billion, search engine giant Google said.

According to a study commissioned by the US-based firm, over 50 per cent of real estate buyers’ decisions are influenced by Internet research.

“This phenomenon of researching online for real estate information before making a decision is not limited to metros but also extended to buyers in tier II cities,” Google India Industry Director Nitin Bawankule told reporters here.

The overall influence of Internet on real estate transaction value of both residential and commercial property including rentals amounts to USD 43 billion (USD 31 billion for residential and USD 12 billion for commercial), he added.

The primary reasons for researching online were easy access to in-depth property information and market trends (60 per cent), large comparison options (52 per cent), easy access to contact details of owners and developers (49 per cent) and financing and document processing information (43 per cent).

The survey, conducted by consultancy firm Zinnov across 15 cities in India included the metros, Pune, Lucknow and Ahmedabad with 6,196 respondents.

Talking about search trends on Google, Bawankule said the number had seen a 3x growth in the last three years.

“There is tremendous opportunity for both online real estate aggregators, brokers and developers to engage the buyers online by providing rich, meaningful and immersive experience to buyers on the Internet,” he added.

According to the study, 62 per cent respondents said aggregator sites (like makaan.com and magicbricks.com) were top sources of information for them on the Internet, followed by websites of real estate companies (52 per cent).

About 45 per cent said they visited broker sites, blogs and forums to find information before making a decision.

An increasing number of people are also using their mobile devices to search for properties online.

“Mobile queries (those originating from mobile phones) are doubling every year and about 40 per cent of total searches came through mobile phones,” Bawankule said.

Also, the study found 73 per cent respondents saying they prefer using their mobile apps for researching for property.

However, a major concern for people researching online was the lack of accurate and updated information.

Respondents said websites of developers and aggregators often lacked availability of in-depth information about property and features like easy price comparison.

Blackstone, others gear up to list REITs as India finalises rules

NEW DELHI – Blackstone Group(BX.N: Quote, Profile, Research) and its partner, Embassy Group, are laying the groundwork to cash in on their property holdings by setting up India’s first real estate investment trust (REIT) and listing it on one of the country’s stock exchanges.

The move comes as Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government works to finalise rules as early as next month that will govern the trusts. The finance ministry is expected then to clarify tax rules for REITs in the budget, people with direct knowledge of the matter said.

The world’s biggest property investor and Embassy have a joint portfolio of more than 20 million square feet of offices in India, which is likely to help value their REIT at $2 billion, said Jitendra Virwani, chairman of Bangalore-based Embassy.

Listing REITs gives companies like Blackstone, The Xander Group, an emerging markets investor backed by the Rothschild family, and private equity firm Red Fort Capital, which counts Abu Dhabi Investment Authority among its investors, an attractive option to exit some of their investments.

“We are actually gearing up because we feel the pace the government is moving at is faster than what we would want, so it is better to be prepared much earlier than later,” said Virwani, who was set to meet Blackstone on Thursday to draw up a plan for the listing.

A spokeswoman of the tax department did not answer requests for comment. Blackstone did not respond to a request for comment.

The long-awaited move by India will be implemented by the country’s market regulator after the ministry clarifies tax rules to transfer assets into a separate vehicle before listing the trust, which had triggered worries over double taxation.

Implementing REITs will also be one early sign from Modi of how he wants to bolster the economy, which is suffering its longest spell of under-5-percent growth since the late 1980s.

India issued draft regulations for REITs in 2008, but was forced to shelve the plans after the global financial crisis dried up investor interest and an economic downturn dimmed the outlook for real estate investments.

If REITs are approved, India will follow China, where regulators in April approved the first property trust. The absence of REITs in China and India made Singapore and Hong Kong the preferred markets for listing property assets in the region.

REITs, listed entities that invest mainly in leased office and retail assets and distribute most of their income to shareholders as dividends, will give developers a new avenue to raise funds by allowing them to sell finished commercial buildings to investors and list them as a trust.

MORE LIQUIDITY

Between 2008 and 2013, private equity funds invested more than 452 billion rupees ($7.6 billion) in Indian real estate, of which more than a third was spent on office and retail assets, according to data from Cushman & Wakefield, an international property consultant.

“If there is more liquidity in the market, if people believe they have clearer exit possibilities, obviously it is helpful to any investor,” said Siddharth Yog, managing partner at Xander.

“If REIT laws came into being and a potential REIT listing in India was possible, it could be one of many potential exit strategies that could be explored,” said Yog, adding that REITs, however, will not dictate the company’s investment plan.

In 2012, Blackstone paid $200 million for a 50 percent stake in three office assets managed and owned by Embassy and mainly located in Bangalore. Earlier this year Blackstone and Embassy hived off their portfolio of assets into a separate vehicle, taking their first step towards listing a trust in India.

The portfolio, leased to tenants like Microsoft (MSFT.O: Quote, Profile, Research), IBM (IBM.N: Quote, Profile, Research) and Goldman Sachs (GS.N: Quote, Profile, Research), generates an annual rental income of 8 billion rupees and Virwani expects this to rise to 10 billion rupees by the time it lists a REIT.

“To have a brand like Blackstone along with us will help us market the REIT and get a better valuation.”

Commercial realty gets a boost as companies gear up to cash in on “Acche Din”

Companies across industries such as IT, consultancy and e-commerce have begun leasing and buying office space in expectations of an economic boom under a stable central government — a development that will rejuvenate the job market.

Top property consultancies in the country such as Cushman & Wakefield, CBRE, JLL, Knight Frank and DTZ say they have mandates from various corporates to lease about 40 million sq ft of space in the top seven cities this year. With firms planning to use more than half this space for expansion, conservative estimates show that they will create around 350,000 jobs in the process.

“There is a sense of urgency among clients today,” said Viral Desai, director – office at Knight Frank. “While not much has changed in their business so far, with a new government in place, they are preparing for growth. No one wants to miss the bus,” he added. Consulting firm KPMG recently leased over 700,000 sq ft of space in Bangalore and there is buzz in the market that its peers EY, Deloitte and PwC are also looking to ramp up. Many of the big Japanese and Korean firms are looking for space, though demand from the IT industry — doing well on the back of a US recovery — is still the biggest.

Accenture, for example, is looking for about one million sq ft of space in Bangalore, according to property consultants. Another big segment vying for space is e-commerce which has seen multiple rounds of consolidation and entry of big global players such as Amazon and eBay over the last one year, with players adding offices and warehouses on hopes of a boom in consumer spending.

Bangalore-based RMZ said it has already leased 3.25 million sq ft in a business park in the city to corporates such as SAP, Morgan Stanley, ANZ and Honeywell in the last few months. While large scale leasing might not be back just yet, the first signs are here.

“Corporates, both Indian and foreign, foresee 2016 as a big year and they are starting to plan for that growth today,” said Bhumesh Gaur, co-chair at India chapter of CoreNet Global, an association of corporate real estate professionals whose members include over 100 India and foreign corporates. A landslide victory for BJP-led National Democratic Alliance in the general elections triggered the new-found excitement in the corporate sector. “In our conversations with companies till a few months ago they were more interested in maintaining status quo as they were uncertain.

There were no large futuristic calls on expansions. That’s changing now,” said Anckur Srivasttava, chairman of GenReal Property Advisers. Srinivasan Gopalan, chief operating officer at Mumbai-based developer Wadhwa Group, said the company’s leasing pipeline has doubled since the election results to nearly 400,000 sq ft now. “Enquiries have gone up substantially,” he said.

The development will boost the job market, which has slowed down due to subdued economic growth that hit production and consumption. According to an ET Intelligence Group analysis of close to 250 companies belonging to the S&P BSE 500 index, employment growth slowed to 3.5% in FY13 from 5.7% in the year before and 6.4% in FY11. There could be an improvement this fiscal with corporates planning to use about 25 million sq ft of office space they plan to take on lease in top cities such as Gurgaon, Bangalore, Pune, Hyderabad and Chennai for expanding their businesses. “There is a lot of positivity in the environment now as challenges of project approvals and capital inadequacies are being done away with.

There is significant expectation of de-congestion of growth from now on. Overall growth expectation for the job market in the next one year is very bullish,” said Rituparna Chakraborty, senior vice president at HR consultancy firm Team-Lease Services. “The challenge for India now is not job creation but finding the right talent and skillset,” he added. Meanwhile, rising demand for office space may lead to supply shortage and high rentals. Over the last few years, as demand for office space declined, as a kneejerk reaction most builders started to defer new office projects and shelved many projects.

According to JLL, across the top seven cities, expected total supply of grade A office space is only about 31 million sq ft in 2014 compared to 44 million sq ft in 2011. “In most cities, enhanced interest from companies has not kept pace with commercial property developers with lack of new launches. The rentals are expected to move up by 5% to 10% this year,” said Ashutosh Limaye, head of research at JLL India. Srivasttava of GenReal Property said he expected office rentals to keep rising constantly over the next five years.

Delhi tops India list for property fraud cases. Here’s how people are being duped

Delhi tops the list in terms of cases related to property fraud and misappropriation among all states and union territories in the country, according to the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB).

The total number of cases reported in sections of property lost under criminal breach of trust and cheating during 2013 was 181, the highest in the country, the report says.

While eight cases among them were of criminal breach of trust, 173 cases were of cheating. Delhi was closely followed by Maharashtra with 176 cases, while Punjab came third with 82. The Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of Delhi Police which investigates financial crimes also says that there has been a spurt in such cases.

“Around 30 percent of all the cases which are reported to us are related to real estate,” Joint Commissioner of Police (EOW) Satish Golcha told PTI. Selling mortgaged property to multiple buyers or on fudged papers have been the typical methods, but now people are coming up with unique ways to con investors these days, police said.

“In a recent case, a real estate firm in its promotional documents used projects executed by some other entity to gain investors’ trust,” said a senior police official. An FIR was lodged by one Surrinder Kumar Bangla, a former Assistant General Manager at SBI, against the promoters of Cosmic Structures Ltd at Janakpuri Police Station of West Delhi under provisions like Sections 420 (cheating), 120B (criminal conspiracy), etc.

Bangla allegedly paid Rs 70,000 and booked a virtual space in an upcoming tower in Noida of Cosmic Structures Ltd after its promoters provided him with a list of projects they claimed to have developed, constructed and delivered across the country.

“However, Bangla later came to know that the projects Cosmic Structures Ltd was boasting off were actually of Quality Constructions and he demanded a refund. He later approached court and got an FIR registered. Police is investigating the case,” said the official. Meanwhile, the owner of Quality Constructions, Rajesh Lamba, who is the brother of late cricketer Raman Lamba, approached Delhi High Court requesting it to restrain Cosmic Structures Ltd from using his name for their promotion. The ruling as sought was granted to Lamba by the court in an order on April 3. He has also filed a case in this regard at EOW and it currently is under investigation.

Plan to hive off sick PSUs’ real estate

The government is considering a proposal to hive off real estate owned by sick public sector companies in Mumbai, Kolkata, Pune and Ahmedabad to state-owned National Buildings and Construction Corporation (NBCC), before selling off the chronically loss-making entities.

Senior government officials told TOI that NBCC, which is developing real estate in the national capital, has shown interest in prime plots owned by companies such as Bengal Chemicals, National Bicycle Corporation and Richardson & Cruddas in Mumbai’s Worli and Byculla.

Similarly, in Kolkata, the company is looking at land owned by NJMC as well as state-government entities such as Lilly Biscuits and West Bengal Warehousing Corporation.

When contacted, NBCC chairman and MD Anoop Kumar Mittal confirmed that his company has written to the disinvestment department and the Board for Reconstruction of Public Enterprises to enter into a partnership with some of the loss-making PSUs. “Our interest goes beyond metros as we also want to look at tier-II cities,” Mittal said, but refused to discuss the issue further.

Separately, the company has initiated a dialogue with some of the companies to develop land. Government officials said NBCC has suggested various models, including direct sale of land and even joint ventures for the development of real estate. There are also suggestions of a holding company model, which will bring the sick companies under its fold, along with the staff and other assets and liabilities.

“It is something that we are considering but there is no decision on the issue,” an official said.

The government is keen on maximizing its disinvestment receipts and is looking at various ways to maximize its mop-up to meet the stiff Rs 48,000 crore target fixed by finance minister Arun Jaitley for the current financial year. Although the BJP government is continuing with the UPA’s disinvestment policy, it has not ruled out looking at strategic sale in profit-making PSUs as well.

Under the policy approved by the UPA, loss-making PSUs were to be put on the block but it’s a different matter that no action was initiated for a decade. But, before these companies are sold, the government will want to sell off its real estate so that it is not accused of handing over prime property at throwaway prices. Analysts, however, say that there may not be many takers for the sick companies minus the real estate.

15 gems in Gurgaon’s realty crown

Winners don’t always take it all, especially when one has to choose the best from the best.

The 10 housing societies that made it to the top 15 of Clash of the Condominiums but couldn’t break into the best five matched the winners in several parameters and even surpassed them in some but lost out in the overall tally.

An analysis of the survey, conducted by the Indian Market Research Bureau (IMRB) in association with The Times of India, shows the condominiums that made the top 15 have almost everything an ideal home should — from efficient administration to a well-equipped gymnasium and good neighbours.

The names of the first five have already been announced — Aralias, Hamilton Court, The World Spa, Gurgaon One and Raheja Atlantis. This is how the rest stack up. At No. 6 is The Laburnum Complex, followed by Vatika City, Wellington Estate, DLF Park Place, Jal Vayu Towers, The Close North, Belvedere Towers, Ridgewood Estate, Orchid Petals and Sispal Vihar AWHO Society.

The condominiums were judged on parameters that included maintenance charges, RWA performance, power back-up, construction quality, satisfaction with maintenance, safety of children, satisfaction with facilities, frequency of government events organized within the complex, festival events, the quality of gymnasiums, swimming pools and common and play areas.

Each aspect was rated on an individual scale before a final ‘overall satisfaction index’ was drawn up, taking into account both tangible components like infrastructure and intangible ones like safety and neighbourly interactions. While the top five did well in almost all indices, the others too had their moments in the sun.

The Laburnum Complex, for instance, finished next only to the winner, Aralias, as the condominium whose design most people in the city would adopt if their own society was to be given a makeover. Then, Vatika City, which doesn’t figure in the top five, notched up the best scores for its swimming pool, common area and club. Similarly, The Close North got maximum points for its common area, club and kids’ play areas while Jal Vayu Towers and Sispal Vihar AWHO Society also got the perfect score for their common area and kids’ play areas.

Along with Aralias, Belvedere Towers topped the gym and swimming pool score sheets. The society that scored full marks for its common area and power back-up was DLF Park Place. On the aspect of safety with respect to visitors, which was given significant weightage in the study, Sispal Vihar outdid all others, specifically for its implementation of maid ID cards. It also received top marks for its convenience store, a category in which the only other complex that bagged full points was Wellington Estate.

Some apartments with moderate results in most categories outshone others in one or two segments exponentially. Orchid Petals, for instance, performed exceptionally well on power back-up, finishing among top societies like Aralias and DLF Park Place.

NCR real estate hails polls surveys, hopes of market revival

Realtors and local players expect that the realty market, which offers thousands of jobs and a major contribution to the economy, will revive in a couple of months.

Real estate sector players said that with polls surveys, revival signing were visible. Indian stocks climbed to record highs just after exit polls. The players strongly believe that there would be control in price rise this will further help to reduce construction cost. Apart from that, companies and buyers who have been holding their decisions of investment for a longtime, will jump in the market.

Poll projections have floated a new wave of expectation in UP’s industrial and real estate sector. Experts believe that a clear mandate will lead to economic growth. They also believe that the market is sentimental and will respond very soon — possibly breach an all time high. Amit Gupta, MD, Orris Infrastructure said, “For the last few months the Indian real estate was witnessing major downslide. Even the results of four states assembly elections had left a positive impact on the Indian market. We are hopeful that the real estate market, which provides bread and butter to crores of people of this country, would be revived soon. There is no doubt that the mandate will pump the market. The positive sign will be visible in the coming days.”

Anil Mithas, CMD, Unnati Fortune Group said that positive sentiment was missing from the market, which is why some sectors were not doing well. With the functioning of the new government, the market will witness more growth and strength. “Real estate had started witnessing revival signings after four assembly polls last year in December and it’s the right time to buy property. Post elections, rates would go up and put burden on the buyer’s pocket. The poll surveys displayed by media houses are reflecting stable government,” Mithas said.

“For that last one-and-a-half decades no big industry has associated its name with Greater Noida and Ghaziabad, which is called the industrial hub of Uttar Pradesh. Credit goes to poor infrastructure, maligned law and order and ‘gunda and jungle raj’. We are sure that a clear mandate and stable government will impact the NCR region as well,” said Aditya Ghildiyal, president, AGNI (Association of Greater Noida industries).

Hoping for a turnaround, realty brokers bet big on Narendra Modi government

Since the election results were announced last week — handing out a clear mandate to the Narendra Modi-led BJP — real estate brokers across the country have been prodding buyers to book their dream homes fast, since with a stable government on the cards, builders could increase prices any time soon.

Business for thousands of brokers has been thin over the last year or so as negative sentiment engulfed the market and home sales tanked. Investors fled and genuine home buyers waited anxiously to see if a new stable government can infuse life into the economy.

“It might just be a case of brokers trying to perk up the market, riding on sentiments,” says Samir Jasuja, managing director of property research firm PropEquity.

Developers and industry experts say property prices are likely to remain stable, at least for the next few months till the industry measures up the new government’s policy and reform initiatives, which is good news for buyers. Developers are hoping that the new government would hasten the pace of granting approvals to projects and also get the Real Estate Regulation and Development Bill, which has been hanging fire for many months, passed.

“There’s abundant supply in the market and lots of options for buyers. But no immediate price increase is in the offing,” says Getambar Anand, managing director of ATS Infrastructure and also the president of the Confederation of Real Estate Developers Association of India (Credai).

Jasuja of PropEquity says prices will take some time to go up. “It won’t be a knee-jerk reaction from developers.”

With slowing home sales over the last year and a half, developers have been facing a liquidity crunch. Unsold inventory levels have risen dramatically. According to property research firm Liases Foras, in the December quarter, unsold inventory levels rose to about 650,000 apartments, which would take over 30 months to be sold. That number went up to 700,000 by the end of March 2014.

Selling off this huge number of unsold homes will be priority for developers, says Abhay Khemka of Gurgaon-based real estate brokerage firm Khemka Investments and Properties.

While there’s been no rush to buy homes, brokers are starting to get calls from end-users and investors alike. Khemka says he has heard from five of his investor clients in Gurgaon over the weekend.

“While some brokers might be trying to force the issue to increase their business, buyers also realise that developers are under stress. Those who have the money and can buy are starting to explore the market as sentiment improves,” he says.

Many buyers have been sitting on the fence for the past few quarters because of negativity in the market — a slow economy, nagging inflation, political uncertainty, a not-too-encouraging job scenario across sectors, high cost of homes and rising home loans. Now, with the stock market on the rise and the rupee strengthening, these fence sitters are also getting positive vibes.

Real estate company MD booked for alleged fraud

The managing director of real estate company Vigneshwara Group and two of his family members have been booked by Gurgaon Police in a multi-crore fraud case. Some estimates put the scale of the fraud at more than Rs 1,000 crore.

Despite taking money from around 700 investors for properties in and around Gurgaon in 2006-07, and promising assured returns till possession, the group allegedly didn’t begin construction of some projects and defaulted on payments to investors.

An FIR was filed at Sushant Lok police station against group MD Sunil Dahiya, his brother Sanjay and father Daryav Singh. Dahiya hasn’t been taken into custody yet because he complained of illness and was hospitalized.

Dahiya and the others have been accused of putting out misleading advertisements promising 12% returns on investment in under-construction properties at Gurgaon’s Sector 74 and IMT Manesar.

Geetha Venkatesan, one of the 38 investors in Vigneshwara projects who filed the complaint, alleged she had not received payments since last month and that cheques issued by the company had bounced. She also alleged that the project at IMT Manesar, which started in 2006-07, was just 20% complete while the one at Sector 74 was yet to take off.

“The three were booked under sections 420 (cheating), 406 (breach of trust), 120B (criminal conspiracy) and 34 (common intent) of the IPC,” Sushant Lok police station officer Naresh Kumar said. “We have served notices on all the accused to join investigations but the main accused said he was unwell and was admitted to hospital for treatment. Police will detain him soon.”

Ram Singh, another complainant, made similar accusations against Vigneshwara. Kiran Kumar, also an investor and a complainant, said, “We were assured that the money will be returned by May 20 but the promise was not fulfilled.”

The case was registered after investors protested at the realtor’s office in Sector 52.

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