Delhi-NCR Home Sales Show Promise

With the residential sector coming out of the shadow of Covid-19 pandemic and staging a smart recovery, home sales in Delhi- NCR have shown a remarkable growth.

Gurgaon- based Smart World Developers have made a record sale of Rs 2000 crore for low-rise floors in Gurgaon in its two debutant projects – Smart World Orchards in Sector 61 and Smart World Gems in Sector 89, launched this month. These residential projects offer 2-3 BHK lifestyle floors. While Smart World Orchards floors cost Rs 1.37 crore – 1.94 crore, Smart World Gems units cost Rs 72.5 lakh – 89.5 lakh. As many as 70% of buyers are first time home buying millennials.  The company is targeting Rs 5000 crore of sales by March 2022.

Another NCR player, Trehan Group that had announced plans to develop 320 luxury independent floors in different parts of Gurgaon, successfully sold 120 of these floors as home buyers preferred quicker deliveries, besides quality construction and lifestyle amenities. Elite Landbase has sold 450000 sq ft area, valuing Rs 425 crore during the festive season, compared to Rs 290 crores of sales during the same period last year. There was a significant increase in the sale of SCO plots, closely followed by residential plots and independent floors.

Leading property consultancy, Anarock has made a record home sale of Rs 8084 crore in H1 2021, across top cities, registering a massive rise of 80% over the same period last year. The NCR market contributed Rs 832 crore of sales.

A PropTiger report says that after a prolonged period of decline, both home sales and new launches gained traction in the September quarter, laying the solid ground for festive sales. While home sales registered 59% yoy growth in Q3, 2021, new launches in 8 top cities saw a threefold jump.

The rise in digital marketing has significantly helped to boost home sales. According to Housing.com’s IRIS Index, online property searches in September 2021 surpassed its   historic peak. Delhi- NCR topped the index, with maximum search volume for 2-3 BHK homes in the sub Rs 50 lakh price bracket, closely followed by those looking for Rs 50 lakh- 1 crore homes.

In Gurgaon micro markets of Sector 57 along GCER and Sector 67 along Sohna Road, witnessed heightened online searches with most of the potential home buyers looking at apartments with good infrastructure and connectivity in the price bracket of Rs 1-2 crore. In Noida most of the searches were along Noida- Greater Noida Expressway like Sector 150 and Sector 137 for 2 BHK homes costing between Rs 50 lakh and 1 crore. Greater Noida has emerged as a hot choice for buying residential plots due to proximity to upcoming Jewar Airport and proposed metro expansion.

Blurb: Greater Noida has emerged as a prime choice for residential plots due to close proximity to upcoming Jewar Airport, Gurgaon is the hotspot for low-rise, lifestyle-independent floors.

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Landmark Rulings Boost Consumer Confidence

The recent landmark rulings by RERA authorities and the apex court, will not only boost consumers’ confidence but also help improve market sentiment, at a time when real estate in general and housing in particular, is making a strong come back, after being badly hit by the Corona pandemic.

Haryana Real Estate Regulatory Authority, Gurgaon (HARERA-Gurgaon) has recently delivered some laudatory judgements, providing a big relief to home buyers. The prominent among these relates to assured returns offered by developers to property buyers/investors. Gurugram bench of HARERA has ruled that builders must respect agreement on assured returns and they simply can’t back out on it.  This judgement came in respect of over two dozen cases of non-payment of assured returns to investors by the builders. Of late, there has been a big rise in the number of cases where the developers have been mischievously refraining from paying assured returns after collecting 100% payment from investors by simply changing the terms of the contract. HARERA-Gurgaon ruled that there was no provision for changing the agreements under RERA. It is mentioned by HARERA Gurgaon authorities that its judgement will help curb malpractices by the promoters to raise funds by floating dubious deposit schemes such as assured returns schemes.

In yet another important judgement, HARERA-Gurugram fixed 1 percent brokerage for buying and selling of property. It may be mentioned that much to the agony of home buyers, brokers have been charging as high as 10% and more brokerage fee. To regulate the entire brokerage business, HARERA-Gurugram, under the chairmanship of K K Khandelwal, is preparing a model code of conduct for the brokers to plug existing loopholes, in order to give home buyers a fair deal.

Rajasthan RERA, in a recent judgement said that all rejected projects be put on the website by the developers in order to safeguard the interests of home buyers. There was another recent RERA ruling, making it mandatory for debt-laden developers to reveal their financial health with project information so that buyers could avoid any possible development risk.

CORPORATE BUZZ:

Colliers Strengthens Research & Office Services

Colliers India has appointed three more Senior Directors for its Research and Office Services teams based in Mumbai. The three industry experts join from JLL India to further strengthen Colliers’ capabilities in the region and across the country.

An industry expert and trusted thought leader with more than 14 years of experience, Vimal Nadar joins Colliers from JLL as Senior Director & Head, Research | India. Prior to JLL, Nadar spent time with Cushman and Wakefield and CRISIL. In his career in the real estate industry, Nadar   has led thought leadership initiatives for all real estate stakeholders including occupiers, developers and investors, besides undertaking bespoke research for clients.

Arshish Kavarana has been appointed as Senior Director & Head, Occupier Consulting and Digital Initiatives, Office Services | India. Previously with JLL for about 8 years, Arshish led the Occupier Consulting Group. In this capacity, he was responsible for portfolio strategy optimization, location advisory, employee engagement, and implementing the future of work for key global occupiers. He has advised CEOs / CXOs on integrating their real estate and business outcomes.

Neha Yadav re-joins Colliers from JLL as Senior Director, Office Services | Mumbai.  Yadav with a reputation for nurturing strong client relationships, will strategically focus on increasing market share for the firm through client acquisition and innovation. She will also add a hint of diversity to Colliers’ local leadership team at Mumbai. She will actively contribute towards client engagement and CRM initiatives across major tenants with her proactive approach.

Pankaj Bali is CBO  MaGIC USA INC  

MaGIC USA, a global private investment platform, a wholly owned subsidiary of MaGIC Capital Services Private Limited, has appointed Pankaj Bali as its Chief Business Officer. The company sources, processes, curates and structures international investments, mostly in the United States.

Bali has a proven track record of initiating and leading turnaround growth strategies in complex multi-channel distribution environments. He carries with him 20 years of hands-on experience in international aviation, leisure & travel, super luxury, entertainment, IT & ITES, real estate and infrastructure sectors.

KV Kamath Joins KKR as Senior Advisor

US private equity giant KKR has appointed former ICICI Bank chairman, KV Kamath as a senior advisor for its operations in India. Prior to this, in October 2020, Kamath was appointed the chairperson of India’s newly established National Bank for Financing Infrastructure and Development, for supporting the development of long-term infrastructure. KKR that has committed $ 7 billion of equity in asset classes including infrastructure is looking to leverage Kamath’s experience in infrastructure financing.