Latest Property News on 'Mumbai'

Property Expo Navi Mumbai Sells 5,000 Flats in Three Days

A property exhibition at Navi Mumbai not only drew in huge crowds but also did big business—about 5,000 flats were sold in three days. Initially, most Navi Mumbai builders were reluctant to participate in the three-day exhibition because of the recession. By Monday, they were buoyed by the unexpected response. “According to rough estimates, the overall transactions were well over Rs 1,000 crore,’’ said Suresh Haware, chief of the Maharashtrian Builders Forum. “We are still in the process of calculating the number of flats sold. But it was most likely over 5000.’’

A senior office-bearer of the Builders Association of Navi Mumbai said over one lakh people visited the 3-day property exhibition, while 60 builders from Navi Mumbai, Mumbai, Thane and neighbouring areas exhibited their properties. Last year, the response was very poor as the exhibition was held just after the terror attack on November 26. Read More »

MMRDA Leasing Out Land at Fraction of Sale Price to Fight Property Market Crash

The property market crash has foiled the plot for the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA), which relies on selling the land in its possession at market rates to fund infrastructure projects. Worried that the trend will continue, the authority is toying with a new revenue stream — of leasing the land, at a fraction of the sale price. The authority will get the land back after the lease expires, by when, hopefully, the market would have recovered.

On the top of its list is the 370-hectare planned office space at Bandra Kurla Complex, for which the authority is planning to invite lease bids in the next few months. The successful bidder would be the one who either quotes the highest rental irrespective of market fluctuation, or a rent which increases over a period of time. Alternatively, the authority may ask interested firms to quote both the rent and the number of years for which they want to lease. Since the idea is to get higher rental, the authority may also decide to become a stakeholder in the new building. Read More »

Owning an Apartment in Burj Khalifa Cheaper than Owning a Property in Central Delhi

An apartment on the 100th floor of ‘Burj Khalifa’, the world’s tallest building and one of the most-sought after addresses in the world today, comes at a price of Rs 38,000 per sq ft. But if you think that’s a soaring price, consider this: desi realty rates beat that by a mile. The rates of apartments on Prithviraj Road and Aurangzeb Road in central Delhi are much higher. The per sq ft rate of apartments in Marble Arch and Tata Apartments on Prithviraj Road is around Rs 65,000 per sq ft. Similarly, Ansal apartments on Aurangzeb Road have a price of Rs 55,000 per sq ft, said senior broker Hemendra Sharma.

In Vasant Vihar and Chanakya Puri in South Delhi, apartments built on smaller plots of 400-800 sq metres are commanding prices of around Rs 45,000 per sq ft. In fact, there are not many luxury condominiums available in central and south Delhi. However, there are several bungalows on independent plots of around three acres with a permitted area of construction of 3500 sq ft to 10,000 sq ft. These plots are commanding a price of Rs 200 crore to Rs 500 crore. So the per sq ft cost of these bunglow comes to a whopping Rs 5 lakh per sq ft. Read More »

Maharashtra State Govt Increases Real Estate Value by 10-20%

Property in Maharashtra just got more expensive. The state government has increased the market value of real estate by 10-20 per cent in its Ready Reckoner 2010. The ready reckoner is a guide for the market price of residential and commercial properties, based on which stamp duty and registration fee for their sale and purchase are calculated. Under the revised rates, a land owner would have to pay more stamp duty because his land got more expensive; the developer would raise the sale price of his finished property since his land acquisition cost got higher; and a retail buyer would have to cough up more for property, stamp duty and registration fee.

This is likely to have its rippling effect on redevelopment of old, dilapidated buildings in Mumbai and surrounding Tier II cities, too. With the upward revision of rates, properties being developed on textile mill land would also see a sharp rise as the ready reckoner raised their value on an average by 13 per cent. “The state government expects to mobilise Rs 5,075 crore through stamp duty and registration fee by the end of 2009-10,” a senior state government official, who did not want to be quoted, said, justifying the rate revision. A large number of builders and developers representing the Confederation of Real Estate Developers’ Association (Credai) and the Maharashtra Chamber of Housing Industry (MCHI) expressed their dissatisfaction over the decision. Read More »

Mumbai Rated as the 2nd Most Promising Development Market

According to the ‘Emerging Trends in Real Estate Asia Pacific 2010 report’ released recently, India’s Financial Capital Mumbai was ranked second only to Shanghai as the most promising development market. “Development has increased there in all property sectors, but construction of affordable housing is particularly strong, as the government continues to lower mortgages and the middle class is being offered “good-quality, honest accommodations,” said the Report brought out jointly by the Urban Land Institute (ULI) and PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP.

Interestingly included under the sub head ‘Markets to Watch’, the predictions are based heavily on projections for strong activity in China and India. “I think there are buying opportunities for some time,” states one investor quoted in the report. This is reflected in the choices made by survey participants for real estate investment and development: Shanghai, Mumbai, and New Delhi are first, second, and fourth, respectively, for real estate development opportunities. (Ho Chi Minh City ranked third for development prospects.) Shanghai has topped the list ‘primarily due to the Chinese government’s decision to infuse the economy with liquidity’.

Godrej Properties Joins Hand with Addison to Develop Residential Project near Chennai

Mumbai real estate developer Godrej Properties Monday said it will jointly develop a mid-market residential project near here in association with the city-based cutting manufacturer Addison. As per the deal, Godrej Properties has acquired the developmental rights on a 12.57-acre plot owned by Addison. “We will promote a mid-market residential apartment project after getting the necessary approvals,” said Godrej Properties chief operating officer K.T. Jithendran.

“As per the agreement, Addison will be entitled for 30 percent of the saleable constructed area and our share will be 70 percent,” Jithendran told reporters here. Last year, Godrej and Addison had signed a deal to jointly develop commercial and residential buildings on 17.39 acres in Tiruvallur district near here. The Mumbai firm paid Rs.8 crore to Addison for its share of land, measuring around 8.75 acres. According to Jithendran, Godrej Properties is looking at mid-market residential apartments in Chennai and Kolkata, apart from other cities. Read More »

Real Estate Investment worth Rs25k cr in Trouble Due to Water Crisis in Mumbai

The Maharashtra government’s decision not to provide water connection to high-rise buildings (above seven floors) in Mumbai till 2012 has dealt a body blow to the city’s real estate developers. Developers and independent observers said investments of over Rs 25,000 crore (250 billion) in the construction of around 1,400 high-rise buildings in the city are now in jeopardy. The decision was announced by Chief Minister Ashok Chavan in the state legislature yesterday in view of the prevailing water scarcity in Mumbai. Stung by the decision, real estate developers have requested the state government to reconsider its decision on the ground that this will worsen the shortage of houses in the metropolis.

A Mumbai-based analyst, who did not want to be quoted, said the decision can be challenged in a court of law because it has made the real estate developers the sacrificial goat for its own failure to provide basic amenities like water. A senior government official said the damage of Rs 25,000 crore is based on a minimum sale price of Rs 3,000 per sq ft for 1,400 projects. The loss to the real estate developers could be still higher if the sale price of Rs 7,000 per sq ft is considered. He, however, defended the government’s decision in view of the 15 per cent water cut already in place in the city. This would in fact go up to 30 per cent if Mumbai did not have adequate rainfall by July next year. Water availability will be possible only after three reservoirs are built by 2012. Hence the ban, he said. Read More »

Real Estate Community Criticizes Newly Announced Township Policy

As the state government’s township policy has not won appreciation by developers, the latter have decided to call off the idea of coming up with the townships. Developers and other industry associations are going to do some brain-storming to find recommendations and suggestions that they plan to submit to the urban development minister. With that in mind, the Gujarat Chamber of Commerce and Industries has organized a discussion on the matter on December 19 and have invited industry experts from CEPT and other universities, AUDA, AMC and social experts to get a clearer picture of the situation.

Chairman of real estate committee in GCCI, Vijay Shah said “We are going to talk about issues like Delhi Mumbai Industrial Corridor, Special Investment Region, and AUDA’s 2011 to 2021 new development plan.” “But the emphasis will be on the recently announced township policy which has been criticized by the real estate community. Therefore, through this discussion we are going to make recommendation and suggestions to the government to rethink certain issues that are holding builders back with regard to affordable homes for middle income group (MIG),” said Shah. Read More »

Underworld and the Mumbai Real Estate

It is rare that the don himself picks up the phone and threatens anyone. That job is left to his lieutenants like Chhota Shakeel. But since the stakes are very high and the builder is also in the top league, don Dawood Ibrahim decided to issue the threat himself. The Karachi based Dawood Ibrahim had last week threatened a builder with dire consequences if he did not part with a huge sum of money. Not only did he issue the threat, but also activated his ace shooters to tackle the unwilling builder.

Alarmed by this development, certain middlemen, including underworld operative Mohammed Macchi, are trying to broker a settlement. Some of them are believed to have flown to Karachi to personally mollify the don. A top crime branch official said: “We will enter the picture only if a formal complaint is lodged with us.’’ The apparent reason why the builder has not approached the crime branch’s anti-extortion cell so far is that he himself was using the don’s finances for several of his projects. Read More »

Real Estate Activity Picking Up in Mumbai after Long Lull

Real estate activity has picked up pace after a long lull in Mumbai’s Bandra Kurla Complex (BKC) as valuations in commercial property across the city recover from the economic slowdown. An unlisted pharmaceutical chemical company has bought 15,000 sq ft of space at Rs 31,000 per sq ft in the 16-storeyed Crescenzo, a standalone corporate building at BKC. Although the valuation of the deal is only around Rs 45 crore, analysts say this is an important deal as it marks the return of commercial realty. Dhaval Shah, director, Parinee Developer, which owns Crescenzo, confirmed the deal, but refused to disclose the buyer’s name. “With the prices in BKC bottoming out and now looking up, this is the perfect time for investors and corporates to take a fresh look at buying space in BKC,” he said.

BKC had seen a decline of up to 45% in capital and rental values, but finalised a deal last week that is around 30% higher than values prevailent in the area and almost on par with 2007 valuations. The slowdown between 2008 and May 2009 hit the Indian real estate market hard. While the residential market gradually stabilised, the commercial market continued to suffer and prices in Mumbai and New Delhi-NCR saw a 45% drop. This was fuelled by a lot of supply hitting the market, with several corporates putting their property up for sale. However, the situation seems to have improved by December. Read More »