The Fitch Ratings 2011 outlook for the Indian real estate sector seems to contradict itself. While it says the realty market is stable in the year, it also warns of a negative bias. The negative forecast of Fitch Ratings is, however, based more on the sentiments than the emerging market reality.
Kumari Selja, Union Minister of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation & Minister of Tourism, has categorically blamed the banks for not facilitating the affordable housing. Inaugurating the 10th National Convention of National Real Estate Development Council (NAREDCO) at New Delhi the minister said the housing finance sector has witnessed a boom in the recent past due to favorable government policies.
After the Convention of confederation of real estate developers’ association of India (CREDAI) where the Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee urged the realty sector to be poor sensitive, it seems the affordable housing is the buzz word now. National Real Estate Development Council (NAREDCO), the apex body for real estate and housing sectors under the aegis of Ministry of Housing & Urban Poverty Alleviation, Government of India, also announced that its convention is aimed at realizing the “Housing for All” call of Prime Minister of India, Dr. Manmohan Singh.
While the foreign direct investment flows (FDI) dependent Indian realty market is awaiting a good fortune, a World Bank report brings cheer to the industry. It says the FDI into developing countries including India is expected to recover over the next couple of years and is projected to increase by 17 per cent in 2010.
Property management as a subject of specialized study has hardly been discussed in India. While the industry gropes with the huge manpower shortage in almost all functional areas of real estate including property sales, marketing & brokerage, expertise is hardly available in the industry.
Keys Hotels, one of the leading players in the mid-market brand of New York-based Berggruen Hotels, has announced plans to develop 15 hotels across India in the next three years with a total investment of Rs 550 crore.
Most banks lending for homes are only interested in providing mortgages to people who have a fixed annual or monthly salary and their important criteria for assessment is based upon the amount that is earned. The presumption is that only these people are capable of meeting their repayment options without default.
Capital market regulator the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has apprehensions over the feasibility of real estate investment trusts (REITs) in India. The regulator had issued draft guidelines for REITs a couple of years ago, but may drop its plan to introduce it now.
In the year 2007 Preeti Banerjee bought a house in Royal Legacy, Vasundhara, Ghaziabad with the obvious high expectations of moving into a hassle free living. However, the dreams were soon shattered and she was exposed to the agony of an average middle class home buyer, often left alone at the mercy of the builders.
With the economy giving indications of recovery and real estate companies putting up a brave face, the question as to whether this is the right time to buy property has yet again been raking up. If the industry figure is to be believed, it seems many of the prospective home buyers who had put their plans on shelf due to the threat of job loss & inability to pay the EMIS borne out of recession are back in the property hunt.