Tag: housing

Residential market sales register 171 percent year-on-year growth in sales April-June- JLL

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Buoyed by demand for luxury and super-luxury apartments, the residential segment in India has registered 171 percent year-on-year growth in sales in the April-June quarter. However, the boom is understandably on account of the low-base effect of April-June 2021, which saw the worst of India’s deadly COVID second wave. A total of 53,232 units were sold in the quarter when compared to 19,635 in the same period last year.

According to data released by JLL what stands out as great news for Indian real estate is a 3 percent spike in quarter-on-quarter sales growth in the April-June quarter despite the RBI’s hike in repo rates  51,849 units were sold in January-March 2022 versus 53,232 in April-June.

Also read: Affordable housing as an investible asset class for global capital

Overall, the first six months of 2022 have also done far better than H1 of 2021. “India’s residential market has shown remarkable resilience in the last year. Sales of more than 105,000 units were recorded in H1 2022, which is an increase of 199 percent YOY when compared to H1 2021.” said, Siva Krishnan, Head, Residential (India), JLL.

A massive chunk of sales in the quarter gone by was by luxury and super-luxury apartments. A total of 8,113 apartment units priced above Rs 1.5 crore were sold in the quarter, accounting for 15 percent of all residential sales in this period. Only 4,801 units in this range were sold in January-March 2022, while just 2,145 super-luxury apartments were sold in April-June 2021.

There has been a healthy rise in sales of apartments in the 1-1.5-crore-rupee bracket as well. A total of 7,476 units in this range were sold in April-June, a healthy spike from over 6,187 units sold last quarter and 2,839 units sold in April-June 2021.

Also read: Why Credit Suisse is positive on housing finance companies, upbeat on HDFC

“This indicates that market sentiments are improving when compared to the previous year, Sales got a boost from many factors including lower COVID-19 cases, a pick-up in economic activity, and a stable employment scenario. The residential market has charted a new chapter of growth in H1 2022.” Krishnan added.

Predictably, Mumbai and Bengaluru stood out as two of the top contributors to Pan-India sales in H1 2022. Nearly 23,818 units were sold in Mumbai in the first six months of the year, while Bengaluru saw 23,452 units sold in this period.

The RBI’s recent repo rate hike, coupled with an increase in input costs resulted in pricier apartments this quarter, despite which sales saw a jump, quarter-on-quarter.

“Capital values are showing a 3 percent to 7 percent across all cities except Hyderabad, which showed resilience by clocking double-digit price growth over the same period. Developers have partially passed on the input cost increases, which are now reflected in the current residential prices,” said, Samantak Das, Chief Economist and Research Head (India), JLL.

There are indications that price hikes could deflate demand in the short term. “However with interest rates still on the lower side, residential demand is likely to remain on its growth trajectory,” Das added.

Also read: Residential property demand revival propels fresh housing supply by 43% across 6 cities: Report

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Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Top seven cities see 15% fewer houses being sold in April to June due to rising property and loan costs, says report

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Housing sales have declined during the April-June period by 15 percent to 84,930 units across seven major cities compared to the previous quarter, according to Anarock. The reason attributed to the fall is the rise in property prices as well as mortgage rates. Sales stood at 99,550 units in the January-March quarter of this year.

Housing sales, however, have jumped 3.5 times from 24,569 units during the same quarter last year. Housing brokerage firm PropTiger, in its report released a day earlier, said that sales jumped over 4.5 times year-on-year in April-June across eight cities at 74,330 units, while demand was up 5 percent from the previous quarter.

Anarock Chairman Anuj Puri, commenting on the sales number said, “Inflationary pressures on input costs compelled developers to increase property prices in the past few months, and RBI unleashed two rate hikes that swelled up home loan interest rates.” 

Also read: How rising interest rates may impact home prices in NCR, Mumbai and Bengaluru

“These two factors combined to hike the overall property acquisition cost for homebuyers, leading to a dip in housing sales,” he further added. Puri said that sales could have also been impacted due to family travel during the school summer vacations.

For Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR), housing sales fell by 11 percent to 25,785 units in April-June 2022 from 29,130 units in the previous quarter. The Delhi-NCR market saw 19 percent decline in housing sales to 15,340 units from 18,835.

Housing sales in Bengaluru were down 14 percent to 11,505 units in April-June, from 13,450 in the January-March 2022 while Pune witnessed 11 percent fall in housing sales in the April-June quarter 12,500 units from 14,020 units.

Sales of residential properties in Hyderabad were down 15 percent while Chennai saw a 24 percent fall. Housing sales in Kolkata declined 20 per cent to 4,800 units in April-June, from 5,990 units in the previous quarter. 

Also read: Residential property demand revival propels fresh housing supply by 43% across 6 cities: Report

“Annually, prices have risen by between 4 and 7 percent, primarily due to increased input costs and good demand post-COVID-19,” Anarock said which has considered sales of flats, villas and row houses in its data.

The Delhi-NCR market includes- Greater Noida, Noida, Ghaziabad, Gurugram, Faridabad, Bhiwadi and New Delhi. The MMR market includes Navi Mumbai, Thane and Mumbai.

With inputs from PTI

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Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Residential property demand revival propels fresh housing supply by 43% across 6 cities: Report

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Fresh housing supply rose 43 percent quarter-on-quarter (QoQ) across six cities during January-March to around 80,000 units, mainly driven by a revival in demand for residential properties, according to proptech firm Square Yards. Technology-led real estate consultant Square Yards sells homes on behalf of builders and facilities home loans to consumers.

In its report ‘India Residential Overview: Jan-Mar 2022’, Square Yards has covered Hyderabad, Bengaluru, MMR (Mumbai Metropolitan Region), Pune, Noida and Gurugram.

“The top six cities witnessed the new launch of close to 80,000+ housing units, noting an exorbitant QoQ rise of 43 percent. The year 2022 has started on a positive note with both sales and new launches witnessing improved numbers across top cities,” Square Yards said.

Also Read | Housing prices may rise 8% this fiscal: Report

Strongly rooted in high homeownership sentiment, the realty sector during the first quarter of 2022 has predominantly remained end-user driven. The MMR continued to retain its top position in the number of new residential units launched. Hyderabad inched up a little, attracting the interest of big builders in the market.

According to the data, the MMR contributed 35 percent to the total new launches during the January-March quarter across six cities. Hyderabad’s share in total launches stood at 25 percent, followed by Pune 17 percent, Bengaluru 16 percent, Gurugram 5 percent and Noida 2 percent.

“Even though home buying trends in the post-COVID era has been largely influenced by the need for space, health and wellness amenities, demand trends in Q1, 2022 shifted slightly towards smaller units,” the report said.

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The first quarter of 2022 recorded a 42 percent share of the total online searches for 2BHK units, a rise of 3 percent compared to Q4 2021. The demand for 3BHK homes dropped slightly. However, the consultant said this shift seems to be completely transient.

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Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Ashiana Housing sales bookings witness 7% increase in FY22

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Ashiana Housing on Wednesday reported a 7 percent increase in its sales bookings at Rs 573.25 crore during the last financial year. Sales bookings in the financial year 2020-21 stood at Rs 534.68 crore, according to a regulatory filing. The company sold 14.76 lakh square ft in FY22 as against 14.97 lakh square ft in the preceding fiscal.

“1,051 units were booked in FY22 vis-a-vis 1,131 units booked in FY21,” the filing said. Delhi-NCR based Ashiana Housing is into development of housing projects. It is majorly into housing for senior citizens. Housing sales have improved significantly after the second wave of the COVID pandemic.

According to property consultant Anarock, housing sales across the top seven cities rose 71 percent year-on-year in 2021 to 2,36,530 units. PropTiger.com said that housing sales across eight major cities increased 13 percent to 2,05,936 units in 2021.

The sales momentum has continued in the January-March period of 2022.

Also Read: High demand for big, ready-to-use homes post-pandemic: Macrotech Developers

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

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Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Mahindra Lifespace to build India’s first net-zero housing project in Bengaluru at Rs 500cr cost

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Mahindra Lifespace Developers Ltd, the realty arm of Mahindra Group, on Tuesday announced an investment of Rs 500 crore to develop India’s first net-zero energy housing project, comprising around 550 units, in Bengaluru. The company also announced that it will develop only net-zero housing projects from 2030 onwards, and the farm equipment-to-aerospace conglomerate will become carbon neutral by 2040, ten years ahead of the Paris Agreement targets.

Net-zero refers to totally nullifying the quantum of greenhouse gases produced by human activity through reducing emissions and the implementation of measures to absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.

At a virtual launch event of the new project ‘Mahindra Eden’ in Bengaluru, Mahindra Group Chairman Anand Mahindra said, “I can vividly imagine a dystopian future, where my grandchildren — choking and fighting for every breath — turn to me and say, you could have done something about this, but you didn’t.”

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“So I am reiterating our commitment here today that we, as a group, will be carbon neutral by the year 2040, ten years ahead of the Paris Agreement targets,” he added.

In an interview with PTI, Mahindra Lifespace Developers Managing Director and CEO Arvind Subramanian said the company has launched its new residential project ‘Mahindra Eden’ spread over nearly 8 acres of land parcel. “We are launching India’s first net-zero energy housing project in Bengaluru. We will be developing 550 units in this green housing project in the two phases over the next six years,” he said.

Reiterating the company’s commitment to the environment, Subramanian pledged, “We will develop only net-zero housing projects from 2030 onwards.” Asked about the investment and revenue potential from the project launched on Tuesday, he said the total project cost will be around Rs 500 crore, including land and construction cost. “We expect a revenue of Rs 600-650 crore from this project,” he said.

The project is certified by Indian Green Building Council (IGBC). Subramanian said the additional construction cost will be just 5 percent higher compared to any conventional group housing project, but the savings to residents in terms of usage of water and electricity would be huge.

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The residential development is expected to save over 18 lakh kWh electricity annually, equivalent to powering over 800 homes. The remaining energy demand for the project will be met from renewable sources through on-site solar and wind energy systems, and purchase of green energy from the grid.

“Global climate change is one of the most pressing issues and buildings alone are responsible for approximately 36 percent of the total energy consumption and close to 40 percent of carbon emissions. “As a pioneer in sustainable development with a 100 percent certified-green portfolio, we were keen to take the next leap in sustainable design and development. Building net-zero homes is one of the cornerstones of a reduced carbon future, thereby an important solution to climate change and we are committed to playing a leading role in this energy transition of the real estate sector,” Subramanian said.

Mahindra Eden has been developed by adopting climate-responsive design strategies and energy conservation measures that include SRI paints for high heat reflectivity; optimal building orientation to maximise natural light and ventilation; lower SHGC glass on windows to reduce heat ingress from the building envelope; and use of Variable Voltage Variable Frequency (VVVF) elevators that use less energy during acceleration and deceleration. Furthermore, the project also has multiple sustainability features like low flow water efficient fixtures, rainwater harvesting, sewage water treatment plant, and smart water meters.

This will help reduce the water demand of the project by 74 percent when compared to conventional buildings. Additionally, the project will deploy sustainable strategies such as waste segregation, composting, waste recycling through a resource recovery center and vendor tie ups.

E-waste management will divert 100 percent of the annual waste away from landfills, making it zero e-waste management project. Along with energy, water, and waste efficiency, the project is designed to preserve and nurture over 100 species of plants, more than 25 species of birds and over 25 species of butterflies.

Initiatives for naturalizing and streamlining of water bodies within the project will also be undertaken. Mahindra Eden is Mahindra Lifespaces’ second project in Bengaluru. Its maiden residential project, Mahindra Windchimes, located on Bannerghatta Road is complete and sold out.

Established in 1994, Mahindra Lifespace Developers’ portfolio spans 28.2 million square feet of completed, ongoing and forthcoming residential projects across seven Indian cities. It also has over 5000 acres of ongoing and forthcoming industrial park projects across four locations.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

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Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Average construction cost up 10-12% in last 1 yr; may rise further by 8-9%: Colliers India

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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The average cost of construction for housing projects has risen 10-12 percent over the last one year due to the rise in prices of raw materials like cement and steel, and may rise further by 8-9 percent by December, according to property consultant Colliers India.

“Over the last one year, developers’ average cost of construction has risen 10-12 percent, owing to a higher input cost due to supply-side constraints. The cost of key materials like cement and steel have risen over 20 percent yearly as of March 2022. These constitute a predominant share in the total cost of construction,” Colliers said in a statement.

Also Read | PM Modi inaugurates 5.21 lakh houses of PMAY scheme beneficiaries in Madhya Pradesh

The consultant said that developers, so far, have been cautious about increasing prices as the market was recovering from the aftermath of COVID-19. However, developers have now started feeling the pinch of rising cost and they have started reviewing their pricing strategy, it added.

“With rising material cost, developers will be compelled to increase prices as construction materials account for about 2/3rd share in the total cost of construction. Developers have already been operating on thin margins over the last few years,” Colliers India CEO Ramesh Nair, said. The rising cost will impact developers in the affordable and mid-market segments relatively more as they are already operating on lower margins, he added.

Nair further said, “With wholesale price inflation (WPI) and material cost, both seeing a double-digit rise, the cost of construction can rise by a further 8-9 percent by December 2022.”

Colliers India said that the average cost of construction of residential properties rose to Rs 2,300 per square feet in March 2022 from Rs 2,060 per square feet a year ago. The data of average cost of construction excludes GST. The cost is for a standard premium residential building of 15 floors.

Colliers, a leading diversified professional services and investment management company, has operations in 64 countries, including India.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

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Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

PM Modi inaugurates 5.21 lakh houses of PMAY scheme beneficiaries in Madhya Pradesh

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday inaugurated 5.21 lakh houses of beneficiaries of the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojna (PMAY)-Gramin in Madhya Pradesh while participating in the ‘Grah Pravesham’, a ceremony to hand over new houses to their owners. Addressing the programme via video conferencing, Modi said his government has given topmost priority to providing houses to the poor people.

So far, 2.5 crore houses have been constructed under the PMAY scheme in the country, including two crore in rural areas, he said. Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan participated in the programme from Chattarpur in the state.

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On the occasion, PM Modi also said that under the Nal-Jal scheme in the country, six crore families were provided pure water tap connections in their houses. Besides, over four crore fake ration cards have been cancelled since 2014 by the present government in the country to prevent theft of food grains worth crores meant for the poor, the PM said.

“We have the policy to ensure that even the last man in the queue gets the benefit of government schemes,” he said.

Modi also called upon people to take a vow to construct 75 ‘amrit sarovar’ (ponds) in every district of the country over the next 12 months, as the nation marks 75 years of its independence.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

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Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Housing demand will continue even if lending rates increase, says HDFC’s Deepak Parekh

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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A minor increase in interest rates, which are already at “historic lows”, will not impact loan disbursal or the demand for homes, said HDFC Ltd chairman, Deepak Parekh.

The top banker was speaking at the CII-Anarock Real Estate Conclave today, when he delivered a keynote address affirming that housing demand will remain robust, lending rates notwithstanding.

“We are at the bottom of the interest rate cycle and the RBI has said that any increase in interest rates will be calibrated and non-disruptive,” said Parekh, “Although interest rate cycles may move up and down, customers who want a home will not hold back.”

Also Read: Mumbai real estate bookings poised to rise; debt reduction in progress: Prestige Group

The HDFC boss pointed out tax incentives on home loans and repo-linked borrowing as an adequate reason for continued demand for home loans by prospective homebuyers: “The fact that there has been no upward revision in the repo, and since interest rates are at historic lows, a minor increase will not have an impact on home loans.”

‘Sweet spot for prices between Rs 50 lakh and 1 crore’

Parekh claimed that he believed the sweet spot for home prices in India remained in the Rs 50 lakh to Rs 1 crore range, irrespective of early signs of price rise in select high-end segments.

“In high-end premium projects, we have already seen a price-rise of 15 to 20 percent, but this is not the case across the board,” he said, “But this is not the case across the board. The sweet spot for housing is still in the price range of Rs 5 million to Rs 10 million.”

Also Read: Puravankara to invest Rs 1,550 crore to construct 3 million realty project in Kochi; eyes Rs 3,000 crore revenue

While the big threat to stable real estate prices is the escalation of material costs, Parekh said it could be offset by a collection of other factors: “There are measures that can lessen the impact — faster approvals or enabling credit input for under-construction projects.”

The HDFC chairman pointed out that more buyers are today opting to buy a home under-construction from a builder with a good track record for delivering projects on time, a sign that prices will not hit the roof anytime soon.

‘Developers refused to get a reality check in the past’

Two years ago, Parekh stirred a hornet’s nest when he claimed that builders should come down on their prices by 20 percent in order to offload unsold inventory. He referred to those remarks again, today.

Also Read: Big Bull Rakesh Jhunjhunwala bullish on commercial real estate sector

“Many developers refused to get a reality check and recognize that their housing prices were not viable, and that’s why they ended up with unduly large unsold inventories,” he said.

Parekh’s remarks today, on the robustness of Indian housing, comes on the back of demand for homes and launch pipelines seeing a pronounced spike in the post-COVID months. He acknowledged it.

“What is staying in India’s strong demand for housing,” he said, adding that prop-tech is helping developers get an edge in their sales. “Real estate in India will see better days ahead,” Parekh said, before signing off, “There is no substitute for prudence and no allowance for excessive greed.”

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

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Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Puravankara to invest Rs 1,550 crore to construct 3 million realty project in Kochi; eyes Rs 3,000 crore revenue

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Realty firm Puravankara Ltd will invest over Rs 1,550 crore to construct a 3 million mixed-use project, mainly housing, at Kochi in Kerala as part of its plan to expand business amid rise in demand of apartments post the second wave of COVID-19 pandemic. The company’s subsidiary Provident Housing Ltd will develop 3 million square feet in the project, which is spread over 18 acres, named ‘Provident Winworth’ at Kochi.

Puravankara is expecting a sales realisation of about Rs 3,000 crore from this project over the next 6-7 years. The company’s Managing Director Ashish Puravankara said, “One of the driving forces behind Provident Housing is upending the notion that luxury and affordability are mutually exclusive. We are delighted to debut our first premium-affordable offering of Kerala in Kochi.”

When contacted, Puravankara Ltd CEO Abhishek Kapoor said the company will develop 2.6 million square feet of residential area and 0.4 million square feet of commercial space in this mixed-use project.

Asked about the project cost, Kapoor said the company will invest around Rs 1,550 crore on the pure construction of this project. The land cost has not been included. Mallanna Sasulu, the COO of Provident Housing Ltd, informed that the project will be developed in three phases. The first phase will comprise 519 apartments.

Also Read | Demand for housing in India is from genuine home buyers, not from speculative ones, says Deepak Parekh

In December 2020, Puravankara had announced that IFC, a member of the World Bank group, and IFC Emerging Asia Fund will invest Rs 556 crore in its affordable housing platform to develop up to four projects. “It will be the largest mixed-use development in Edappally with retail and commercial elements, making it inclusive and accessible,” Kapoor said.

The project will be introduced in the market through an innovative ‘Quasi Book Building’ method. Fundamental demand-supply metrics will drive the price discovery process. The pre-booking process offers comprehensive product information to prospective buyers, along with a ‘price-band’ for each type of unit. Expressions of interest (EOI) from prospective buyers help gauge the project’s demand and achieve a data-driven pricing decision.

Puravankara Ltd has completed 75 projects measuring over 43 million square feet and over 24 million square feet of projects are under development. Currently, the total land bank of the company is over 58 million square feet. Over the last 13 years, Provident Housing Ltd has launched around 21 million square feet of projects across 9 cities – Bangalore, Chennai, Hyderabad, Mumbai, Pune, Goa, Kochi, Coimbatore and Mangalore, out of which around 12 million square feet has already been delivered.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow