While the Indian realtors have often cribbed on the issue of under representation of the sector in respective budget, they have seldom admitted the fact that the real estate has been a divided house over their wants and needs. Navin M Raheja, MD, Raheja Developers suggests a way out and asserts that tax sops given to real estate will actually increase the government revenue.
Mumbai witnessed the highest absorption in the year in 4Q10 which was recorded at 1,328,582 sq ft (123,429 sqm) indicating robust demand. Demand for Grade A office space was broad-based and not restricted to the banking, financial services and insurance (BFSI) sectors, which typically dominate Mumbai’s tenant landscape. Domestic and multinational occupiers from the consulting, aviation, IT/ITES and other industries were active in acquiring front-office and back-office space in 4Q10.
The Hyderabad commercial office market posted a strong increase in demand in 2010 with the foray of new occupiers such as United Health Group, JP Morgan Chase and Facebook, and the expansion of existing tenants including TCS, Accenture, Google, Mindtree and Cognizant. Majority of the leasing transactions were recorded in the peripheral districts of Hitec City and Gachibowli. During the year, the city also witnessed strong pre-leasing activity. Demand of SEZ space in the city increased as compared to IT Parks in 2010.
The period ending 4Q10 witnessed low to moderate activity levels in the CBD and SBD of Delhi NCR. The CBD, with its low vacancy levels, continued to cater to small office queries, while the SBD with significantly more office stock, catered to the larger corporate office space demand.
Bangalore continued to witness increased market activity in 4Q10. Transaction volumes have improved significantly compared to that in the previous quarter. The improvement in transaction activity can be attributed to the stabilising macroeconomic situation, positive business environment outlook and the strengthening domestic market conditions.
An increase in lending rates is almost inevitable, considering the high need to curb inflation. On its own, an increase in lending rates would probably not have a very significant effect on the market. However, the fact is that there are already a number of negatives such as overpricing at play in the residential real estate sectors of large cities like Mumbai and Delhi.
CB Richard Ellis, the US-listed property services firm, has emerged as favourite to acquire the majority of ING’s real estate group in deal worth one billion euro (USD 1.35 billion) to create the world’s largest property funds business, says a media report.
After Gurgaon One, western part of the city might see rise of another multi-storey building in the same vicinity. Jawala Mills, decades-old defunct textile mill on Old Delhi Road is slated to be sold by mid-February. The 17 acres of land was first purchased by IT major Aricent Technologies in early 2000s as tech firm wanted to re-develop the area into an office space. However, the new Master Plan of Gurgaon has marked the area as a residential zone. Following this, Aricent Technologies have decided to put the land up for sale.
Global property consultant Jones Lang LaSalle has cautioned that housing prices in Delhi-NCR and Mumbai have reached the peak level of 2008 and any further rise in the rates will adversely affect the demand. It said the prices in the rest of the country may firm up by about 10-15% next year to touch the 2008 level.
After one and a half years of gradual consolidation, real estate in India has fathomed its own comfortable ground, and is poised at the right threshold to take a giant leap in years to come, according to the forecast of the Jones Lang LaSalle, the global real estate services firm.