Indian Property News on 'May, 2009'

Realtors Plan Low Cost Housing for Poor

The private sector real estate players must reset their priorities so as to provide low-cost housing to the middle class and the poor. S Jaipal Reddey made the pint clear while taking charge of the urban ministry for the second consecutive term here on Friday.

“The private sector, which is a major player in the housing sector, must reset its priorities. So far, they had been building apartments for the rich. They must now concentrate on providing accommodation for the middle class and the poor,” Mr Reddy told newspersons after taking over the reins of the ministry. Read More »

Indian Developers to cut supply of Retail Space

As the liquidity crunch forced Indian retailers to curtail their expansion plans, real estate developers have also been forced to reduce the supply of retail space that was supposed to come up by 2010 by as much as 87 per cent according to a report by India Shopping Center Forum.

In 2007, around 800 mall projects were announced by different developers. However due to the steep reduction in demand, just over 100 new malls will enter the market by 2010. Read More »

Indian companies Line Up QIPs Worth 30K cr

With investors regaining their appetite for risk, Indian companies are hoping to make the most of it. Companies have lined up qualified institutional placements (QIPs) worth around Rs 30,000 crore and these issues should sail through without any trouble, provided the mood in the stock market remains positive, merchant bankers say.

Companies eyeing the QIP route include Adani Enterprises (Rs 1,500 crore), Essar Oil (Rs 10,000 crore), HCC (Rs 1,500 crore), HDIL (Rs 3,000 crore), JSW Steel (Rs 5,000 crore), Karnataka Bank (Rs 500 crore), Parsvnath (Rs 2,500 crore) and Sobha Developers (Rs 1,500 crore). Funds raised through this process would be used to finance capex requirements, retire expensive debt and clean up the balance sheet in general. Read More »

NRI Community Comes in Support of the Realty Sector

Notwithstanding the impact of slowdown on realty sector and even after demand for flats up to Rs 30 lakh and 40 lakh and above really hit a new low, thre are still ready buyers for independent houses. These hardy customers don’t take much time to grab an independent house in any good locality and location. These deep-pocketed guys always look for such properties.

According to realty experts, though not many such properties come up for sale, but once they do come up, there are several buyers staking claim over them. And if the house is free from all kinds of disputes and the title is also clear, a seller need not worry he has to wait very long to meet a customer for his house, says Titu Sethi, a South Delhi-based realtor , who has played a key role in sealing many deals involving bungalows and kothies. Read More »

DHFL Plans to develop affordable Housing Projects

DHFL Property Services Ltd has tied-up with various developers and builders across the country to develop affordable projects for low and medium income groups in semi-urban and rural areas.

The company plans to rollout its projects in suburban areas of Ahmedabad, Chennai, Hyderabad and Mumbai.

B K Madhur, CEO, DHFL Property Services Ltd, said, “We have always focused on enabling access to home ownership for the lower and middle income (LMI) groups across India through our mortgage finance company DHFL for 25 years. Our association with Vatsalya Developers for their Dream City project will address the need of proper housing along with other facilities to the LMI segment.” Read More »

Stock Preview : DLF, Unitech, Tata Power

The following companies may have unusual price changes in Indian trading. Stock symbols are in parentheses and prices are as of yesterday’s close.

The Bombay Stock Exchange’s benchmark Sensitive Index, or Sensex, rose 186.37, or 1.3 percent, to 14,296.01. The S&P CNX Nifty Index on the National Stock Exchange added 1.4 percent to 4,337.10. The BSE 200 Index rose 1 percent to 1,733.08. SGX Nifty futures for May delivery rose 1.4 percent to 4,337 at 11:08 a.m. in Singapore.

Overseas investors bought a net 4.37 billion rupees ($91.7 million) of Indian stocks on May 27, according to the market regulator. Read More »

SBI to cut Interest rates

The country’s largest lender, State Bank of India, today said it will consider a cut in interest rates after the bankers’ meeting with Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee scheduled for early next month.

“As far as interest rates are concerned, we will take a view after (bankers’ meeting with Finance Minister),” SBI Chairman O P Bhatt said after the launch of Defence Salary Package here.

There is enough liquidity. Credit is not strong at this point of time but it is expected to pick up during the year, he said. “There is definitely a softening bias (on interest rates). There is no chance of going up,” he said, adding that “perhaps they (interest rates) would come down.” Read More »

Morgan Stanley Acquires Stake in IndiaBulls Real Estate

Foreign fund house Morgan Stanley has acquired 7.68 per cent stake in Indiabulls Real Estate for about Rs 570.18 crore, through qualified institutional placement (QIP) route. Morgan Stanley & Co International through its various investment arms has acquired over three crore shares, representing 7.68 per cent stake in the realty firm, Indiabulls Real Estate said in a disclosure on the Bombay Stock Exchange. Last week, the company had said it would issue shares on institutional placement basis at the rate of Rs 185 a piece.

Calculated on the basis of the said price, the allotment to Morgan Stanley is worth Rs 570.18 crore. Earlier, the company had raised Rs 2,656.50 crore through issue of 14.36 crore shares on institutional placement basis. Shares of Indiabulls Real Estate closed at Rs 198.20, down 3.67 per cent on the BSE.

Tata Real Estate and Infrastructure Limited Plans 20,000 Crore Investment

TRIL has hired Sanjay G. Ubale, a former IAS officer to head its real estate and infrastructure foray. Tata Realty & Infrastructure Limited (TRIL), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Tata Sons, has unleashed it mega investment plans for the sector. The company, part of a $62.5 billion Tata group, has said that it plans to develop real estate and infrastructure projects of around Rs 20,000 crore in next three years. It has raised a $700 million offshore fund to invest in its real estate project for the same. TRIL has hired a former IAS officer to head its real estate and infrastructure foray. Sanjay G. Ubale, MD & CEO of TRIL, was till recently Secretary, Special Projects with Government of Maharashtra, where he was responsible for redevelopment and transformation of Mumbai. The projects are being developed with various strategic partners. The $700 million fund is based out of Mauritius, and 18-20% of the capital has already been deployed.

The company has also announced several real estate projects it’s developing, which include IT/ITES SEZs at Chennai, Ahmedabad and in Hinjewadi. TRIL is also developing a 7 lakh sq. ft. retail complex in Amritsar, adjacent to which Taj hotels would also open a property. It is also evaluating a residential and mixed use development on a 35 acre plot at Gurgaon. For its infrastructure push, TRIL has partnered with a number of overseas companies. Its focus areas in infrastructure are roads and bridges, urban infrastructure (comprising metro/monorail projects), airports and logistic parks. Some of the projects it is considering are Metro projects (in partnership with Mitsubishi Corporation), New Delhi Railway Station redevelopment (with Grandi Stazioni), Amritsar & Udaipur Airports (with Changi Airports India), and roads & highways (with Atlantia S.p.A). Read More »

Revival in Real Estate Possible in another 3 Months: Assocham

A survey report by the industry lobby said 88 percent of chief executives of real estate firms see a quick revival within the next three months as developers shift towards affordable housing and property prices undergo significant correction. The Assocham Business Barometer report is based on a survey of 25 real estate firms conducted between May 15 and May 25. The survey report said a whopping 92 percent of chief executives considered affordable housing to kindle demand in the real estate sector, with about 84 percent saying this segment had been least impacted by falling demand. It said while the luxury housing segment witnessed a demand contraction of over 50 percent, special economic zones (SEZs) by about 40-50 percent, retail space between 30-40 percent and commercial space by 20-30 percent, affordable housing was the most resilient segment seeing a contraction of 10 percent or less.

The chief executives called for sought single-window clearances for all schemes under affordable housing, as is done with SEZ proposals, to bridge the shortfall of about 2.6 crore dwelling units at the earliest. About 76 percent of the respondents said the stimulus given to the sector through fiscal and monetary measures was inadequate. Of all policy measures, 64 percent of respondents were of the view that the central bank’s move to allow banks to restructure loans to developers has been the most successful in improving liquidity for the real estate sector. Additionally, 60 percent said a resurgent stock market would be the most prominent source of finance for the sector, while 28 percent thought bank credit was the most viable option. Hefty funds raised through the qualified institutional placement route in the stock market (exceeding Rs.8,000 crore) along with debt restructuring would allow the developers to address their liquidity concerns. Mumbai has been ranked as the most saturated in terms of real estate assets followed by Delhi, Bangalore, Chennai, Kolkata and Hyderabad.