Tag: Real Estate

Aim to be a billion dollar company in India, says Sobha

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

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After recording its strongest ever yearly sales in the Indian real estate market, Sobha Developers is now set to make waves in the Dubai property market with the handover of the first phase of it’s ultra-luxury project, Sobha Hartland. CNBC-TV18’s Kevin Lee caught up with the company’s founder and chairman PNC Menon in Dubai, and started by asking him on reports that he was looking to venture into fields other than real estate.

“I decided why to go and do something else when you have so much of opportunity in the same domain. For example, India, we can be a billion dollar company, my son is at it,” he said.

“We have got an opportunity to be a billion dollar company here in Dubai only. So why look for other things,” he added.

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

Q4 earnings to be boosted on low base of Demonetisation and GST

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

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Fourth quarter earnings in most of the sectors will be better-than-expected, helped by a demonetization and Goods and Services Tax (GST) – hit low base, CLSA said in a note.

The brokerage said that the earnings growth will be at 17%. Domestic revenue growth will be at 10% year-on-year, which is expected to be a six-month high.

The auto sector is expected to report 18% growth in the quarterly earnings. CLSA added that, Tata Motors’ earnings might be hurt following a weak trend as the Jaguar Land Rover’s retail volumes fell by 8% year-on-year to 83,732 units in March 2018.

The auto makers performance lagged the most in the UK and Europe as a steep decline was seen in the diesel vehicle sales.

The consumer or FMCG sector will also post a 18% rise in the fourth quarter, after being worst hit by demonetisation and GST related hiccups. The key expectation from this quarter, is sustained recovery and positive management commentary.

CLSA added that domestic sectors like real estate is expected to post 63% of earnings growth as various real estate companies are encouraging pre-sales of properties like Sobha Ltd.

The banks will report a 46% decline in the quarter, hurt by higher non-performing assets (NPA) provisioning, CLSA said. Corporate banks are expected to witness higher provisioning, driving potential earnings downgrades.

Also Read: Eye on Q4 earnings: Experts discuss what to expect from Pharma, FMCG & other sectors

Earnings will decline 20% in the pharma sector for companies like Sun Pharma and Lupin, as they face the brunt of the pricing pressure in the U.S as well as outstanding regulatory issues, especially by The Food and Drug Administration (US FDA) on plants.

“Analysts expect low single digit revenue growth, with revenues from the US – a vital market – likely to decline for the fifth consecutive quarter due to faster drug approvals resulting in more competition and consequently pressure on price margins,” a report said.

However, 10% rise will be seen in the domestic markets for the drug companies as operations normalises post GST and demonetisation.

The intense competition faced from Reliance Jio’s entry into the market has caused Bharti Airtel to report its first ever quarterly loss in over 15 years and Idea to post its sixth consecutive loss, CLSA said.

The average revenue per user (ARPU) will continue to slip in the upcoming quarter, despite strong subscriber addition on account of migration of Aircel and Reliance Communications’ (RCOM) subscribers, Edelweiss said in a note.

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

India’s urban development plan most comprehensive, says Puri

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

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Union Housing and Urban Affairs Minister Hardeep Singh Puri said that India has undertaken the “most comprehensive” planned urbanisation programme in the world.

In his address at the session on “Building a better India through Urban Development” here, the minister said that till 2030, 700-900 million sqare metre of urban space would have to be developed every year to accommodate 40% of the total Indian population, according to a statement by CII.

He added that the kind of planned urbanisation which is sought will not solely be decided by the Central government but the urban local bodies also need to be included in planning and development.

By 2030, cities would contribute around 66% of the country’s Gross Domestic Product and close to 90% of tax collection, Puri noted.

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

Builders expect rise in Delhi-NCR property prices in FY19

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

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A total of 75% of real estate developers expect property prices to rise in Delhi and the National Capital Region (NCR) in the financial year 2018-19, a survey by online trading platform OLX showed.

“75% of the builders expect the property prices to increase in 2018-19, indicating revival of Delhi-NCR’s real estate market,” a statement from OLX said here quoting the survey.

The survey was conducted among 200 developers and property consultants in Delhi, Gurugram, Faridabad and Ghaziabad, it said.

The OLX Delhi-NCR Realty Survey attributed the optimism regarding prices to expectations among builders that regulatory developments will improve transparency in the system, eventually boosting the confidence of buyers and sellers at large.

Commenting on the survey, Chief Operating Officer of OLX India Irwin Preet Singh Anand said: “The year 2018 could possibly be the year of come back for the real estate as we see significantly higher participation of property buyers.

“Given the positive sentiment in the market, more and more individual and business sellers are flocking on our platform to benefit from the growing demand,” he said.

The report also said that around 55% of the developers in Delhi-NCR were planning to go ahead with affordable housing projects (priced less than Rs 40 lakh) as part of their portfolio.

“Of the inquiries received by property consultants through online real estate portals, one third were for affordable housing projects,” indicating rising demand in the segment, the statement said.

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

Fire leaves one dead in New York’s Trump Tower

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

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A raging fire that tore through a 50th-floor apartment at Trump Tower on Saturday killed a man inside and sent flames and thick, black smoke pouring from windows of the president’s namesake skyscraper.

New York Fire Commissioner Daniel Nigro said the cause of the blaze is not yet known but the apartment was “virtually entirely on fire” when firefighters arrived after 5:30 p.m.

“It was a very difficult fire, as you can imagine,” Nigro told reporters outside the building in midtown Manhattan. “The apartment is quite large.”

Todd Brassner, 67, who was in the apartment, was taken to a hospital and died a short time later, the New York Police Department said. Property records obtained by The Associated Press indicate Brassner was an art dealer who had purchased his 50th-floor unit in 1996.

Officials said four firefighters also suffered minor injuries. An investigation is ongoing.

Shortly after news of the fire broke, Trump, who was in Washington, tweeted: “Fire at Trump Tower is out. Very confined (well built building). Firemen (and women) did a great job. THANK YOU!”

Asked if that assessment was accurate, Nigro said, “It’s a well-built building. The upper floors, the residence floors, are not sprinklered.”

Fire sprinklers were not required in New York City high-rises when Trump Tower was completed in 1983. Subsequent updates to the building code required commercial skyscrapers to install the sprinklers retroactively, but owners of older residential high-rises are not required to install sprinklers unless the building undergoes major renovations.

Some fire-safety advocates pushed for a requirement that older apartment buildings be retrofitted with sprinklers when New York City passed a law requiring them in new residential highrises in 1999, but officials in the administration of then-mayor Rudy Giuliani said that would be too expensive.

Nigro noted that no member of the Trump family was in the 664-foot tower Saturday.

Trump’s family has an apartment on the top floors of the 58-story building, but he has spent little time in New York since taking office. The headquarters of the Trump Organization is on the 26th floor.

Nigro said firefighters and Secret Service members checked on the condition of Trump’s apartment. About 200 firefighters and emergency medical service workers responded to the fire, he said.

Some residents said they didn’t get any notification from building management to evacuate.

Lalitha Masson, a 76-year-old resident, called it “a very, very terrifying experience.”

Masson told The New York Times that she did not receive any announcement about leaving, and that when she called the front desk no one answered.

“When I saw the television, I thought we were finished,” said Masson, who lives on the 36th floor with her husband, Narinder, who is 79 and has Parkinson’s disease.

She said she started praying because she felt it was the end.

“I called my oldest son and said goodbye to him because the way it looked everything was falling out of the window, and it reminded me of 9/11,” Masson said.

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

Five things to keep in mind while buying property in FY19

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

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Buying a property is one of the most critical investment decisions. Whether the decision will pay off depends on several factors. Here are a few things to bear in mind before you take the plunge.

One, don’t take the plunge just yet if you dream doubling your money in the next two-three years.  Sure, sales have started picking up and prices are looking a lot better in 2018 than they were in 2017.

Yet , my take is that unless you can lay hands on a sweet deal through a distressed sale, which essentially means the property is 10-15% cheaper than the market rate, don’t bother. Type in your budget and location on any of the leading online portals. The flats listed for sale on these sites will give you a pretty fair idea of the going rate.

Different Story for Genuine Homebuyers

Two, it’s a totally different story if you’re buying a home to inhabit.  Get going right away. For the exact same reasons as above. Inventory of unsold units is slowly but steadily falling, with new launches down 70% from the peak of 2013-14. Prices across the top eight top cities have started recovering.

It’s wise to buy when the price curve starts improving because you don’t want to catch a falling knife. Plus you get a decent tax break of Rs 2 lakh every year on your housing loan.

Three, for those of you earning up to Rs 18 lakh a year and looking to buy your first home, my recommendation is — act now! Government-sponsored CLSS (Credit Linked Subsidy scheme) knocks off another Rs 2.4 lakh from your EMIs and there is a straight-up subsidy available on home loans until March 2019.

Beware of the Splendour

And who doesn’t love villas and independent homes? But my take is stick to high-rise projects in gated communities with smart basic amenities – a club house, swimming pool and sport facilities such as a tennis or badminton court, a nicely laid-out walking or jogging track.

Don’t swoon over glitzy facades, elaborate landscaping, fountains, Jacuzzi, spas and fancy fittings.  Spend your budget on the largest carpet area or space between the four walls you can possibly buy.

Apartments are easy to maintain and are socially more fun. Your kids will find plenty of playmates and leave you in peace for binging on Netflix.  And if you don’t have kids, even better. You will find plenty of likeminded people to hang out with.

Four, what about buying a property to rent out? I’m going to stick my neck out on this one and say it’s not a bad idea.  Financial planners recommend this kind of investment as a portfolio diversifier, citing property rental income as an inflation hedge. Except in India the rental returns on residential property in the most sought after localities don’t stack up today. At best you will get 2-3% of the capital value as annual rent.

Over the next four to five years though, as demand and supply mismatch goes out of the system and more and more younger population joins the workforce, rental yields should improve, especially if price rise remains under check, which I believe it will. If you are the patient kind, buy a smart one or two bedroom apartment in a tier-I city with high employment potential. Stick to the big cities and avoid smaller ones.

Five, if you’re one of the erstwhile heavyweight real estate investors sitting on a few flats hoping to get your dream price one day, do smell the coffee! A home to live in, another to rent out  is all you should own, unless you’re seriously rich.

Genuine homebuyers are back, especially for ready-to-move-in property. So sell now if you find a buyer, at the going market rate and switch to a well performing equity or balanced fund.  Your net worth will look a whole lot better, several years from now.

Manisha Natarajan is Group Editor, Real Estate & Urban Development, Network 18 and has been watching real estate closely for 7 years.

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

Municipal bodies need to tap bonds, ad fees to fund development of cities, says JLL

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

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Municipal bodies will have to find new ways to raise funds for development of cities, property consultant JLL has said and suggested that options like bonds and advertisement fee could help generate 30% of the capital required.

In its latest report Municipal Finance: Funding Urban Development in India’, JLL said that over 140 cities can raise development capital through the issuance of municipal bonds.

Municipal bodies have to find new ways of raising capital to sufficiently fund their endeavours, it said. “A solid financial structure is essential to the success of cities in meeting the growing needs of urbanisation.”

The report added that the traditional forms of revenue generation “like taxation and grants no longer suffice the scope, expanse and speed for the required development”.

Municipal bonds are financial instruments issued by urban local bodies to raise money for specific infrastructure projects.

SEBI regulations (2015) regarding municipal bonds state that municipalities must not have negative net worth in any of the three preceding financial years, and also there should not be any default in any loan repayments in the last one year.

One of the ways to determine a city’s financial health is through credit ratings. The government has initiated credit ratings to evaluate the credit worthiness of every possible local town.

“Non-traditional forms of raising capital including Municipal Bonds and alternate revenue streams such as advertisement tax and user fees can provide additional capital up to 30% of the total requirement in various urban centres in the future,” said Shankar Arumugham, Chief Operating Officer, Strategic Consulting, India and Sri Lanka, JLL.

The report also estimated that as much as Rs 25 crore can be raised annually through advertising fees by municipal bodies of metropolitan cities of India.

“Advertising fees are trending as a key instrument for revenue augmentation in the urban centres of India. The advertising fee, or revenue collected through the leasing of advertisement rights on assets owned by various government agencies, have the potential to be a game changer in the near future,” the report said.

JLL said that India’s urban centres are growing at a rapid pace, but this growth is causing significant strains on urban infrastructure and services, where massive upgrades are needed.

“This has necessitated local governments to consider planned urbanisation and peripheral expansions that would need a steady stream of revenues greater than what is generated currently by most urban centres,” it said.

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

ANAROCK to partner with local, global housing brokerage firms

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

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Property consultant ANAROCK will partner with other domestic and global brokerage firms to scale-up its business and help real estate developers sell their homes across India and international markets.

The new vertical ‘channel partner business’, headed by Bappaditya Basu, would focus on forging strategic international and domestic alliances within the residential consultancy space to create India’s largest real estate services network, the company said in a statement.

Basu, who was formerly National Director of Retail Services at JLL India, has over 15 years experience in the real estate business and has operated across India, Sri Lanka and several South Asian countries.

With a growing team of 1,300 professionals, ANAROCK already operates in all key property markets of Mumbai, Chennai, Bengaluru, Gurgaon, Noida, Hyderabad, Kolkata and Pune, along with an international presence in Dubai. It has plans to open offices in Navi Mumbai and Ahmedabad.

“Through its leading channel partner alliances, the firm will offer developers the widest-possible channel spectrum across domestic and international markets,” said Anuj Puri, Chairman, ANAROCK.

“We will lose no time in building scale by aggregating global channel partners under our roof while leveraging ANAROCK’s expertise in real estate technology,” Basu said.

“There has been a distinct lack of focus on the residential sector among Indian real estate consultancies, and we are filling this gap for Indian developers as well as consumers,” he added.

ANAROCK said it would enrol only those channel partners that are registered under the new real estate regulatory law ‘RERA’.

Global property consultant JLL in April last year had sold its India residential brokerage arm to its former country head Anuj Puri for an undisclosed amount. In June last year, he renamed the company as ‘ANAROCK’.

Puri had quit JLL India in February 2017 after serving 10 years in the company.

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

Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code panel suggests treating home buyers as financial creditors

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

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Home buyers should be treated as financial creditors which will allow them to equitably participate in an insolvency resolution process, a high-level panel has recommended to the government.

The 14-member panel, headed by Corporate Affairs Ministry, has also suggested relaxations for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code.

A slew of other changes to the Code, which came into force in December 2016, has also been suggested by the panel.

Constituted by the Corporate Affairs Ministry, the committee had the mandate to identify and suggest ways to address issues faced in the implementation of the Code.

In a detailed report, the panel has recommended that home buyers should be treated as financial creditors owing to the unique nature of financing in real estate projects and the treatment of home buyers by the Supreme Court in ongoing cases.

“Notably, classification as financial creditors would enable home buyers to participate equitably in the insolvency resolution process under the Code,” it added.

The recommendation, once implemented, would provide relief for home buyers facing hardships due to incomplete real estate projects.

Some realty firms are facing insolvency proceedings.

Under the Code, financial creditor implies any person to whom a financial debt is owed. The financial debt can include money borrowed for interest.

According to the report made public by the ministry, the government should exempt MSMEs from application of certain provisions of the Code. “Illustratively, since usually only promoters of an MSME are likely to be interested in acquiring it, applicability of section 29A has been restricted only to disqualify wilful defaulters from bidding for MSMEs,” it noted.

Section 29A of the Code pertains to ineligibility criteria for bidders.

Besides, the panel has suggested that only those who contributed to defaults of the company or are otherwise undesirable should be ineligible from bidding for stressed assets under the Code.

“Moreover, being mindful of the Non-Performing Assets (NPA) crisis in the country, the need to encourage the market for NPAs was felt and accordingly several carve-outs from section 29A have been recommended for pure play financial entities.

“In order to prevent retrospective application of any proposed change, it has been recommended to add a provision that the amendments shall be applicable to resolution applicants that have not submitted resolution plans as on date of coming into force of the said amendment,” the report said.

Against the backdrop of rising number of cases coming up under the Code, the committee has recommended certain measures to prevent possible misuse.

In this regard, the provision to provide for special resolution passed by the corporate debtor’s shareholders or resolution cleared by at least three-fourth of the total number of partners of the corporate debtor has been recommended.

To provide for withdrawal of resolution application in exception circumstances, the panel has suggested that in such cases, there should be approval from the Committee of Creditors (CoC) with ninety per cent of voting share.

“In order to facilitate successful implementation of the resolution plan by the successful bidder, it has been proposed to allow one year time to obtain necessary statutory clearances from central, state and other authorities or such time as specified in the relevant law, whichever is later,” the committee said.

In January, the Code was amended to prevent unscrupulous persons from misusing the law. Wilful defaulters and those whose accounts have been classified as non-performing assets, among others, are barred from bidding for stressed assets.

The Code provides for market-determined and time-bound insolvency resolution process.

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