Property values in an unequal city(Chennai)

South Chennai is the favoured Cinderella while north Chennai is forgotten and overlooked, write Swahilya and A. SRIVATSAN

Startling contrast: Property values between north Chennai.

If you can imagine land prices in Chennai in the form of peaks and pits, then south Chennai would appear as the peak and north Chennai the pit. South Chennai is the favoured Cinderella and the preferred destination of development while north Chennai is like the ugly sister, forgotten and overlooked. Properties and rentals in north Chennai have not grown as much as the south. If the lack of development and attention continues, north Chennai would slide even further. Many un derstand that the real estate market prefer only high profit yielding locations and overlooks north Chennai. But what disappoints and angers the residents is that the proposed draft second master plan too has nothing much to offer.

The land price at Royapuram is Rs. 25 lakhs per ground, at Kaladipet and Tiruvottriyur it is Rs. 20 lakhs per ground (2400 sq.ft). The rent for even the most sophisticated apartment or house of 1000 sq.ft is only Rs.3,500. In places like V.O.C. Nagar in Tondiarpet, there are many numbers of houses having just one room and kitchen, something that is not built anymore in south Chennai. There are many tenements as small as 400 sq.ft, which are rented for Rs. 500 to 600 per month. In contrast, the property values in Adyar, Thiruvanmiyur, Besant Nagar and along the ECR and OMR have hit the rooftop.

The lands in these areas are priced between Rs. 80 lakhs and one crore a ground. An apartment of about 1000 sq.ft fetches nothing less than Rs.10,000.

In the imagination of the planners and authorities North Chennai is an industrial and commercial hub. But it is seldom realised that it is a thickly populated area. In places like Tondiarpet and Basin Bridge there are about 7.8 lakh people living under a high density of about 280 persons per hectare. These areas are annually growing at a low rate of about 1.5 per cent, while south Chennai is growing at an average rate of 3 to 5 per cent. "In North Chennai, life continues despite problems because the people adjust themselves to their surroundings," Mr. Ernest Paul, acting president of the Royapuram Residents Welfare association, says. The upper and upper middle classes afford a rent of Rs. 10,000 but the numbers are very few. The majority that stays in North Chennai belongs to the middle and lower middle classes.” He thinks that the land value and rentals are lower in North Chennai, because of problems of pollution - automobile and industry, iron ore and coal dust from the harbour and garbage.
Economic hub

There are leading doctors and directors of big companies who reside in North Chennai, the reason is because they stay close to their industries or hospitals and not because they wish to stay there. However, they send their children to the more famous schools on Santhome, MRC Nagar and Egmore. There is a complaint from residents that there are no proper hotels, no premier shopping complexes or marriage halls with car park facilities. Besides the Sir Theagaraya College and Bharathi Womens’ College, there are no other colleges of arts and science and engineering for the residents of North Chennai.

For many years, North Chennai with Georgetown as its centre was the thriving residential and trading place. During the sixties and seventies, most of the industrial projects were located here and the place continued to serve as the economic hub of the city. The harbour, Central station and the road connection with the northern and western States made it a favourable location. This was reflected in the land prices and even as recent as 1980’s land prices were fairly high and almost even with the south. Since the beginning of the 1990’s the importance of north Chennai declined. In the new scheme of things South Chennai is the icon of the global city, while North Chennai is considered an industrial backyard.
Decongestion

Photo: S.S.Kumar

South Chennai leaves yawning gap.

As a part of the first Master plan for Chennai, proposals were made to decongest Georgetown by shifting the vegetable and fruit wholesale market to Koyambedu and the iron and steel market to Sathangadu.

A truck terminal was constructed at Madhavaram to relieve the roads from heavy lorry and bus traffic. The markets have been shifted, but the area has not been significantly improved. For instance, the demand of parking spaces is 1.5 to 2 times the supply. In place of markets, port activities have increased. About Rs 55,000 crores worth of trade is done through the port (2003-2004 figures).

The Chennai Port Trust has proposed to invest about Rs.418 crores over a period of 5 years (2004-09). In addition, Ennore port is to be expanded and Rs. 1026 crores is to be invested here. As a result, new tank terminals, LPG terminals and metallurgical coke and power plants will soon be built in and around Ennore.

Unlike the investments in South Chennai, the proposed developments do not push the property prices. This is because the investments are made only on industries that have high impact on the environment. The infrastructure is developed primarily to support the industrial activity. There are hardly any proposal to improve the housing conditions and supply. The proposed economic activities will employ more of blue-collar workers and the private market is not interested in providing housing for them.

The second master plan too is silent on housing and leaves the responsibility to TNHB. The plan is also silent on how it envisages reducing the density of north Chennai.

It appears that the city benefits from the polluting industries of North Chennai, but in return it has not offered much to the place.

In the recently held public discussion on Master plan, a north Chennai resident wanted to know why IT corridors are not planned in North Chennai. The authorities replied that the North Chennai lacked infrastructure and human resources.

That exactly is the complaint of the residents. What they seek is a comprehensive development proposal that would improve the quality of life.

Gone with the loan

Hindu reports on the high cost of loans

Banks run after you, giving colourful reasons for you to take their home loans. You oblige. Then they hike EMI at will. You wish you hadn’t obliged. But then it’s too late, writes M.L. MELLY MAITREYI

These are trying times for home loan consumers. The frequent increase in the interest rates on the loans, which saw a jump of 4 to 5 per cent in the last couple of years, had the domestic budgets of borrowers going for a toss.

And what’s more, the borrower is caught unawares by the quantum jump in the Equated Monthly Instalment (EMI) which can literally plunge a middle/salaried class household into a financial crisis.

The dream of acquiring a house which materialised thanks to the competitive interest rates and pro-active approach of banks and housing finance companies not long ago, suddenly turned into a nightmare with the inflated EMI eating into the substantial part of the salary.

Narendra Kumar, who had taken a ICICI Home loan in 2004 at a floating interest rate of 7.5 per cent, now pays much more.

“During the last few years the interest had been revised several times. The tenure was increased to two years resulting in an additional burden of Rs.6 lakhs. Recently my EMI was hiked by Rs. 9,000 with no prior notice or information. And a penalty is slapped for not keeping enough balance when it is time for electronic transfer,” says an exasperated Mr. Kumar.
Amateurish

This is an unfair and amateurish way of dealing with the customers, he adds, wondering why banks, housing finance institutions do not explain all the implications and pitfalls of the loan agreement to the customers in the first place.

“It is not feasible to have a buffer amount to meet a sudden increase in EMI as incomes in most sectors do not match up to interest hikes,” concurs T. Ramarao who too is reeling under the impact of sudden hike in EMI by HDFC.

“Earlier, the EMI amounted to one-third of my take home pay. Now it has gone up to 60 per cent of it with the interest rate going up from 8.5 to 11 per cent. Forget about luxuries, even spending on essentials is becoming difficult,” he says.

In the 1980s, it used to be quite tedious and frustrating to get home loan sanctioned and the process was time-consuming. Now the problems begin once the loan is availed, quips another consumer.

This is particularly so with the private bankers who went aggressive in promoting home loan business with competitive interest rates.

Jayaprakash of Tata Teleservices got a loan in August last year at a floating rate of 9.25 with an EMI of Rs.13,500 for a tenure of 20 years. Now, in less than an year, the interest has gone up to about 12 per cent, EMI to Rs.15,000 and tenure to 25 years.

But the ICICI Home Loans puts the ball in the RBI court and suggested he could pay up Rs.2.5 lakhs of principal to retain the same EMI and tenure. “I did it at the cost of other important expenditure,” says Mr. Jayaprakash who is now seriously considering switching over his loan to SBI or LIC Housing.
Liquidity problem

According to SBI sources, home loans were given at competitive rates with the expectations that interest rates would not change. But with the frequent revision of interest rates, three times within one year by private banks and two times by SBI, all banks now face a fund crunch.

With the call money market rates increasing and fall in deposits, banks face liquidity problem.

With the increase in deposit interest rates, service charges had gone up and margins had come down, necessitating hike in home loan rates.

Many, taking advantage of low interest rates, had gone for a second home loan to get IT exemption. With the hike in interest rate, such plans have been shelved. Even first time home buyers have put their plans on hold, affecting the real estate market.
No choice

However, bankers say they have no choice other than increasing the EMI as the tenure cannot be increased beyond a point. Rising interest rates have also meant eligibility criteria going down by as much as 21 per cent in the case of ICICI Bank alone, the biggest mortgage player in the market.

The Reserve Bank is reportedly working out modalities to bring some relief to home loan borrowers by stating that revision in interest rates should not apply to loans below Rs. 20 lakhs.

But 90 per cent of home loans are below that mark, making it difficult for banks even to consider the proposal.

Little wonder then that most banks expect growth in the home loan business to be not more than 25 per cent this year, the lowest in five years.

DLF to pump Rs 4,000cr in Bangalore realty and 1800 in Chennai

BS Reporter / Bangalore June 5, 2007
The property market in Bangalore is set to get hotter with the entry of DLF, which plans to build 10,000 residential apartment units in the city. The real estate major is also building a 2 million sq ft mall in the state capital.

According to an announcement made by the company today, an investment of Rs 3,000 crore, in developing the apartments coming up over 100 acres, is planned. "We have about 80 acres of land on Bannerghatta Road and 20 in Electronics City," A S Minocha, chairman, DLF Commercial Developers, said. According to Minocha, work on the project will start in the next three to four months, and the first set of apartments would be ready in two years.

Work on the mall, which is coming up in Whitefield, has already begun and will be open for commercial use in about 18 months, Minocha said. DLF, which is a late entrant in the real estate sector in Bangalore, is investing Rs 1,000 crore in the mall. The mall is likely to be one of the biggest in the country.

The company said they were also looking at buying land to develop office buildings in the city.

The projects are part of the proposed investment plans of DLF. The company intends to fund the projects through the Rs 9,500 crore public issue which opens on June 11, 2007.

DLF is expected to raise Rs 8,750 crore to Rs 9,650 crore through its public issue of 17.5 crore equity shars this month. Of the net proceeds of the issue, the company would pump in around Rs 3,500 crore for developing existing projects while the same size of funds would be utilised for acquiring lands and developments rights for new projects.

A major chunk of money raised through the public issue is expected to be injected in its existing projects in Gurgoan, Chennai, Hyderabad and Bangalore. In addition to the two new housing projects in Bangalore, he said the company would also launch another apartment project in Chennai.

DLF has already acquired 130 acres in OMR Road in Chennai to construct 6,000-7,000 apartments with an estimated investment of Rs 1,800 crore.

Chennai land prices costlier than London

The bubble is exported to the farmlands of the United Kingdom. Globalization in reverse causes the formation of the West India company. Ace is expecting a return of 4x in 2 years. If people are so foolish, they surely need to be parted with their money

CHENNAI: With real estate prices turning unaffordable to the common man, a city-based firm has come out with the offer of much cheaper properties in London, Dubai and even New Zealand.
Real estate promoters Ace International has put up for sale of 200 plots, some 20-25 kms off Central London and 12 kms from Heathrow airport. The 2,600-4000 sq ft plots cost Rs 15-20 lakh, half of what it costs in the Chennai suburbs.
"This is perhaps for the first time that promoters are taking up the marketing of plots in some other country," V Santhanraman, Director of the firm, told PTI.
The firm has taken up marketing of the plots offered by some prominent developers in London, including UK Land Investments and Marc Properties.
The firm, which has been into the marketing of hotels in countries like China, Malaysia and Singapore and that of buildings for educational and other purposes and plantations, was approached by the London developers, said Santhanraman.
"The outside world has come to know about the buying capacity of Indians and the globalised economy has facilitated the free purchase and sale of land anywhere across the globe," he said.
The firm also claims to help the customer in completing all government and legal formalities regarding the purchase, resale and construction of houses in the plots.
Santhanaraman said his firm would offer site visits to the customer after collecting 20 per cent of the total cost of the plot as advance. The firm would arrange the visiting visa, accommodation and air ticket of the customer.
"He (customer) could then have a look at all the transaction and ownership details of the land. Once registered in his name, we will have a unique account in the government department UK Land Registry's website, which he can access from here also," he said, adding unlike in India, owners need not worry about encroachments as the land laws are strict there.
The customer can sell it off as and when the prices appreciate or construct a house, for which he has to reside in the UK for four to five years.

Santhanraman claimed that the appreciation of real estate prices in the UK was excellent. "We have been keeping track of the prices and it is projected to appreciate 300-400 per cent in two years."

The company was also coming up with similar projects in Dubai and New Zealand.
Ace would soon announce the sale of 1000 sq ft flats in Dubai at the rate of 25-30 lakh, he said adding, the firm has associated itself with some of the leading developers in Dubai like Emaar Highrise and Damac Properties for the purpose.
Another project is an enclave of seven bungalows in New Zealand, construction of which were underway.
"The appreciation of prices in New Zealand stand at 15-20 per cent", he added.
According to Santhanraman, the company was receiving good response to the London project after an advertisement was put up in a leading newspaper. He hoped to sell out all the plots in London within a month.
"The demand for real estate is so high here and the prices in London are so tempting when compared to sky-rocketing land prices in India, especially in Chennai," he said.
Echoing his view, R V Sundar, a senior official of leading developer Ceebros said that the buying capacity of Indians, especially IT professionals, has pushed the real estate prices in the country to new highs.
"During the past one-and-a half year, the prices escalated at a rate of more than 50 per cent. Even a 4000 sq ft plot in the Chennai suburbs will cost you around Rs 40 lakh," he said.
The shortage of lands within the city areas has also contributed to the price rise, he added.
With real-estate prices in Indian cities escalating and becoming out of reach for the middle class people, cities like London and Dubai seem to come in handy for them, quipped Santhanraman.

Mumbai may see land price correction

Business Standard reports

Raghavendra Kamath / Mumbai June 4, 2007
Land prices in some parts of Mumbai could a correction of up to 25 per cent, if the new initiatives planned by the Maharashtra government to improve land supply in the city fructify.

Repeal of the Urban Land Ceiling Act (ULCA), redevelopment of Dharavi, salt pan redevelopment and a new housing policy with incentives for rental housing and carpet area norms are among some of the new initiatives planned to increase the supply of land.

According to a study by international property consultant Knight Frank, the per-capita land availability for housing in Mumbai is 103 sq feet, which is one-tenth of international standards.

The study pointed out that out of the 475.07 sq km land mass in Mumbai, only 120.55 sq km is available for housing, which forms 25. 26 per cent of the total.


CORRECTIVE STEPS

Measure


Land to be freed


Expected price correction

ULCRA


25,000 acres


25-30 per cent

Dharavi redev


360 acres


25 per cent

Salt pan redev


5,500 acres


15-20 per cent

The first signs of a slow down in prices have already emerged after redevelopment of Dharavi was announced.

With this projecct, expected to cost Rs 9,300 crore the government aims to develop 14 million sq feet of commercial space and 30 million sq feet of residential space in the next seven years.

The industry experts believe that once developed, the area could have a cooling effect on the surrounding areas including the Bandra Kurla Complex, Sion Bandra, Khar and Santacruz.

According to Knight Frank chairman,Pranay Vakil, the mere announcement of Dharavi redevelopment itself would have a salutary effect on the sobering of prices. "You would see the impact on prices in 7-8 days. Even in Bandra Kurla Complex (BKC), where prices go up to as high as Rs 30,000 per sq ft the prices could slump to Rs 7,000 per sq ft”

The next major factor which could contribute to land supply is repeal of Urban Land Ceiling and Regulation Act (ULCRA) in the monsoon session of the legislature. Mumbai alongwith its suburbs could see around 25,000 acres of land being freed up for development.

Industry analysts expect a 25 per cent-30 per cent price correction when this kind of land supply hits the market. "If this happens, there will be a slowdown in property prices. Since there is acute shortage of land, developers will benefit," says Rajesh Mehta, chairman, Raha Realtors.

Salt pan land redevelopment is also expected to free up 5,500 acres of land in the island city and could see a correction of up to 15 per cent-20 per cent in surrounding areas. Salt pan land exists in Vikhorli, Kanjurmarg, Trombay, Bhandup etc.

Maharashtra Chamber of Housing Industry president Mohan Deshmukh believes that the measures could yield the results in two years time. "Today not much land is available for developers due to multiple approvals, ULCRA, salt pans, Rent Control Act and so on. The crucial factor is that you can not increase the land but the demand for it is growing.”

He added that the government should increase the land supply by repealing the ULCRA and amending the Rent Control Act."

If the state government announces amendments to the housing policy with incentives for rental housing and carpet area norms, nearly 100,000 housing units could be freed up and 500,000 people could get housing.

"If the government amends the Rent Control Act, people will come forward to give their houses on rent; it could lessen the demand for housing and indirectly have a impact on spiralling prices," said Deshmukh.

Though the Confederation of Real Estate Developers' Associations of India (CREDAI) president RS Ajmera denies any major correction in prices across the city, he believes that in the areas where supply is released, prices could correct.

Centre Plans 1% Penalty Per Month for Builder project delay

Times reports

Bangalore: S Kamath, Balasubramanyam and A Pattar are among a group of 18 individuals who have just served a legal notice on a major Bangalore-based property developer for not completing a project near Hebbal which should have been ready by March.
In fact, only the foundation layer has been done. Even if the work takes off now, it will be at least another year before their block is up. Most have already paid Rs 6-9 lakh to the builder, with a good part from bank loans. Sampath, who booked his flat in early 2005, says he is paying a pre-EMI of Rs 4,000 every month. Their mental agony is unbelievable. “We do not even get a proper response from the builder on the project delay,’’ says Balasubramanyam.
The Bangalore property boom is increasingly showing up its downsides. Many projects are delayed — some by as long as nine months to a year or more. Builders and real estate observers attribute the delays partly to the shortage of manpower, material and construction equipment, given the mammoth property development happening across the country.
The Centre is said to be now proposing to mandate payment of a penalty at the rate of 1% of the value of the property for every month of delay. A Balakrishna Hegde, president of Karnataka Ownership Apartments Promoters Association (KOAPA), welcomes the move, though he thinks 1% may be a little too high.

“Delays also occur because builders try to build a bank of captive customers,” says an observer. Customers are sold properties in land under litigation in the belief that the disputes would be resolved soon; in the green belt, in the belief that the new Comprehensive Development Plan (CDP) for Bangalore would lift the restrictions in those areas; and often without getting all permissions. “By this, they prevent buyers from moving to rival builders. Invariably, they go wrong in their calculations about the time it takes to get all clearances,” says the observer. Nilima Malhotra of Cooke Town and Dr Murthy P S, both of whom booked villas off the Outer Ring Road near Marathahalli, have harrowing stories to tell. Murthy believes the builder didn’t get all the permissions when he sold the villa due to which the project was inordinately delayed.
Most major builders incorporate clauses in agreements that lay down penalties for every month of delay. But, as Sushil Mantri, MD, Mantri Developers, says, “Many builders find excuses not to pay up those obligatory amounts.’’ Besides, even when paid, they hardly compensate for the loss of rental income or the mental agony.
Till the time the Centre’s proposal is legislated, and maybe even after that, keep a close eye on what you buy and who you buy from.

SC: Building sanction can be withdrawn

New Delhi: Permission for construction of buildings can be cancelled in public interest even after they are sanctioned, the Supreme Court has held. “Rules framed for the purpose of protecting the heritage and ecology are fully justified as such regulations are framed in public interest which must override the private interest,” a Bench of Justices S B Sinha and Markandeya Katju said.

Cushman Wakefield survey of Bangalore office space

They mention Whitefield has excess capacity and better connectivity. I wonder what has changed w.r.t the access roads to Whitefield. I have a friend who is renting out his Brookefield apartment and living in another rental apartment closer to the city, since the 14km commute to his workplace on Richmond road takes him 2+ hours. So much for better connectivity. It seems to be a pump-up job to create a positive buzz for Whitefield.

Sustained demand for office space

Demand continues to outstrip supply in most micro markets

This Office Snapshot of Bangalore from Cushman & Wakefield, International Real Estate Consultants, is for the first quarter of 2007.
Demand

The city continues to witness sustained demand, primarily from IT and ITES sectors. Approximately 1.5 million sq. ft of office space absorption was recorded in Quarter 1, 2007. Peripheral locations like Whitefield, Outer Ring Road and Electronic City accounted for approximately 90 per cent of the total absorption.

Micro markets like Koramangala, C.V. Raman Nagar, Bannerghatta Road and also locations on the Outer Ring Road (South-East and North Bangalore) continue to be active office space destinations.

Across the city leasing activity is considerably marked by transaction sizes’ varying from 150,000 sq. ft. to 450,000 sq. ft. and this robust trend is expected to continue through the year.
Supply

Demand continues to outstrip supply in most of the micro markets, except Whitefield, resulting in very limited availability. Of the projected 14.6 million sq. ft in 2007, the ready supply at the end of Quarter 1 is estimated at 2.7 million sq. ft., majority being in Whitefield.

Across Bangalore, about 1.2 million sq. ft. is expected to be completed by Quarter 2.
Vacancy rates

The average estimated vacancy rate across all micro markets is less than 5 per cent with the exception of Whitefield where vacancy is 15-20 per cent. Minimal stock infusion and sustained demand have led to the vacancy rate in CBD, Off CBD and suburban locations being below 3 per cent.

In peripheral locations such as Electronic city (South), Hosur Road and Outer Ring Road (South East), vacancy levels are approximately 6 per cent.
Rentals

Given the excess supply of approximately 2.5 million sq. ft. in Whitefield, lease rentals have been stable for the last two quarters.

CBD/ Off CBD and suburban locations have witnessed rental escalations of about 7-10 per cent over the last quarter due to lack of quality real estate and limited availability of land parcels for construction.
Outlook

Sustained demand is expected to cause upward pressure on the rentals in the suburban and peripheral locations.

Whilst the rental and capital values may increase marginally over the next quarter, it is expected that these would stabilise by the end of this year.

Peripheral location of ORR is expected to continue drawing corporate interest and witness price escalations in the short term.

In line with our earlier prognosis, Whitefield is expected to witness active leasing over the next quarters.

This area is being evaluated by corporates for their IT/ ITES and R&D operations owing to low costs and improved traffic accessibility, as it is the only location in the country today that can offer ample ready office space.

Native Goans priced out of Goa

CNN IBN reports on Paradise lost in Goa.
Panaji (Goa): Simon Hayward quit his job in New Zealand and flew to Goa for a holiday. Today, he's quite at home in the little villa he bought and now runs as an exclusive hotel.

A beautiful Portuguese villa, a beach nearby and it seems like Simon is living the dream of every tourist who visits Goa and falls in love. But it's also the nightmare of every Goan who finds his land being taken over by outsiders.

Take Dr Gary Cardozo for example. He just got married and wants to start his own household. But looking at the way thing are, he might just have to postpone his plans.

“When you are earning Rs 30,000 and a two-bedroom flat costs you Rs 28,000 I can't see where from you will get an EMI to pay that and manage your house,” says Cardazo.

So what's drawing people from the rest of India and from around the world to invest in Goa? Most says it’s the quality of life.

“Most of the people who are retiring want a home out here. When they retire the pension is not enough to live in the UK,” says a builder Joe Colaso.

Which is why new constructions now dot the Goan landscape and plots are often sold even without being seen. The Goans who feel discriminated against because they are unwilling to pay the newly inflated rates are now complaining of a far more dangerous fall out.

“People of all denominations specially from countries like Russians and Israelites having made little townships of their own where even locals fear to go,” says Managing Director of Alcon (Victor) Constructions Victor Albuquerque.

With their backing to every shady land deal in the state, it's no surprise that all politicians are tiptoeing around the issue. However, voters seem to be mindful of the fact this election.

Realty show indicates boom in Mysore

Times Of India reports

The real estate fair My Realty 2007 held in Mysore last week drew a good many visitors looking at buying property in Mysore. The exhibition was organised by the Builder's Association of India (BAI), Mysore Chapter and Times Property.

BAI, Mysore Chapter Secretary M B Nagakumar said that a whopping 22 lakh square feet of housing is expected to be created by the more than 100 new apartment projects which were on display at the show. Visitors from other places evinced keen interest in the show. Darshan Prabhu, a realty investor from Mumbai, who was at the show, said that since Mysore is a growing city the realty segment is in for a boom.

Exhibitors said they got many enquiries and were quite happy with the response. The show was used by some builders to launch their new projects in the city. Some Bangalore and Dubai-based builders, who chose this platform to showcase their projects in the city, were happy with the leverage the show gave them.
Mysore's Deputy Commissioner and Chairman of Mysore Urban Development Authority, S Selva Kumar who inaugurated the show noted that the city has been growing by leaps and bounds in the last three years, and this calls for a lot of thinking from administrators and builders. "We need to focus on satellite towns and vertical growth to meet the requirements of the future and decongest the core city area", he said.

B R Badarinath, Chairman, BAI, said that the BAI's focus has always been on developing Mysore gracefully. Over 40 developers put up their stalls at the fully air-conditioned venue, showcasing their projects in the city. Financial institutions too were at the exhibition, to provide immediate approvals for home loans. A Ravindra, Chairman, My Realty 07 said more than 14,000 people visited the show, out of which 30 percent consisted of the IT workforce from Bangalore. According to K Sriram, State Chairman, BAI, this year will see a lot of developments happening in the realty sector. "Many foreign realty firms were found to be showing interest in the city's growth and they are quite bullish about Mysore's real estate trajectory", he said.

Rebates in slowing housing market

CNN-IBN reports

Mumbai: For the first time in years, there are signs that real estate market may finally be levelling off with property developers actually offering discounts.

Booming economy and high disposable income coupled with low interest rates had fueled the real estate boom in the last few years.

But the recent spurt in home loan rates is forcing potential home buyers to postpone their purchases and as a result builders are finding it difficult to find buyers.

"The volumes are nowhere near, what volume should be in this two months period. Because this is the best two-month period of the year when residential plots are sold in primary market. And that is where the demand has slackened to an extent, where even counting a percentage becomes very difficult," said Knight Frank Chairman Pranay Vakil.

Developers refuse to admit to a slowdown. And while no one is promising an outright discount, the buyer just needs to push hard as numerous freebies come tumbling out of the builder's treasure chest.

Hoardings in Mumbai offering various schemes are now becoming common in Mumbai and Thane. Developers are tying up with banks to offer lower interest rates.

So you might get a portion of your loan at just 8 per cent fixed and the rest at the market rate or save on stamp duty, which adds upto 5 per cent of the cost.

Builders say that confusion on whether to go for a fixed or floating rate loan is what is slowing consumer decision.

"They are happy with our offers but there is a confusion regarding interest rates. If they take fixed and if it moves down or if they take floating and interest rates move up, they will be in soup. So lack of stability in interest rates is preventing customers from taking final decision," said Swastik Group Chairman Raju Khetwani.

Experts say that if sales do not pick up by June, more discounts may be on their way. But a smart home buyer can get a good deal even now through some tough bargaining.

Unscruplous Builders in Bangalore

Adarsh Builders, one of the premier builders in Bangalore seem to have made it to this infamous list. Few years ago they started selling plots and villa's in their Adarsh Palm retreat complex for upto 1.1crs per Villa. Little did customers know that they layout was unsanctioned and Adarsh would cancel their bookings after 2 years. The rates all over Banglaore have gone through the roof and the customers are holding the bag for the lost opportunity cost. Some customers have paid upto 70lakhs and they are being returned the money with no accured interest. Next time you buy from Adarsh keep this in mind.

New Airport for Chennai near Sriperumbudur

Chennai: After Bangalore and Hyderabad it's Chennai's turn to get two new spanking world-class airports. Tamil Nadu Chief Minister gave a final “go ahead” to the Rs 2000 crore plan at the All Party meet on Tuesday. The expansion plan and renovation of the existing airports has given Chennai passengers a reason to smile.

"We are ready to invest Rs 2,000 crore for both the airports. Its time we go in for some expansion and world class development in Chennai,” Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M Karunanidhi said.

Chief Minister announced two new airports—one an expanded and renovated version of the existing airport and brand new airport called the Greenfield in Tiruvallur district.

The ambitious expansion though is facing some bottlenecks. The local residents are protesting the project since it will mean razing trees and the slum clusters form the area. Also some quarters of the ruling Democratic Progressive Alliance are opposing the mammoth investment. The All-Party meet held Tuesday however managed to assuage the ruling coalition, leaving only the opposition AIADMK discontent.

Karunanidhi promises that suburbs like Pozhichalur will not be affected by the modernization plan. Instead 1,000 acres will be acquired in areas like Girugambakkam, Manappakkam and Thuraippakkam. And the Greenfield airport will come up on 4,200 acres of land near Sriperumbudur.

Residents of areas like Pozhichalur who had protested vehemently against the airport expansion can now breathe easy. And Chennai's residents too have reason to smile. Although a trip to the new airport will mean a longer drive, it will offer much better facilities than the existing one.

Mumbai world's 7th most costly place

Mumbai: As India witnesses a rise in property prices, its financial capital Mumbai has been ranked as one of the world's top 10 expensive locations in terms of accommodation cost.

Mumbai, which is ranked seventh, is followed by Shanghai, on whose lines the government is planning to develop the Indian financial hub.

The list comprises of Hong Kong, Tokyo, New York, Moscow, Seoul, London, Mumbai, Shanghai, Caracas (Venezuela) and Paris, according to a study by International Human Resource organisation ECA International.

"High rentals in Tokyo, New York, Seoul, Moscow, London and Paris largely reflect high living costs in these locations, while Mumbai, Shanghai and Beijing suffer from a shortage of modern and well-equipped properties, pushing prices up for those properties that do," ECA International Hong Kong General Manager Lee Quane said.

However, Caracas, capital of Venezuela, makes to the list of top 10 expensive cities for renting a three bedroom apartment as people have to spend huge amounts on security, Quane said.

In April, Finance Minister P Chidambaram said the government will shortly set up a committee to lay a roadmap to make the city the heart of international financial activities.

Mumbai is the prime choice for many multinational firms for establishing their base as they expand operations here, which is on the way to be transformed into international financial hub, Quane said.

Though five of the top 10 expensive locations are in Asia, the list of world's cheapest locations to rent a three-bedroom apartment does not include any Asian city.

Goons, forgery rule Maha Mumbai SEZ

Ibnlive reports.

Raigad (Maharashtra): All his life, a farmer in Raigad district in Maharashtra, Naga Bhoir, has been tilling paddy on a patch of land till he got a summon from District Place to collect some cheques.

To his surprise, he was told there that his land had been sold off but this was the bigger shock: all the sale documents had his name and signature.

"They have forged the documents. I have no clue how they did this? They told me to collect the cheque but I refused. I don’t want to sell off my land at any cost,” said Bhoir.

Bhoir is only one among the 1000 other farmers in the area; all of them in constant fear that they too will be cheated of their land because it falls in the area demarcated for the Maha Mumbai Special Economic Zone (SEZ) because this is how easy it is to forge the documents of a land sale.

For instance, there are two copies of Elections Commission's voter identity card: one showing Naga Bhoir and the other an unknown person. In a copy of Bhoirs ration card, the names are all correct, but the copy has different ages. Even the Land Aquisition Ddepartment Notice is forged. This all indicates that such fraud could only have been carried out with the help of government officials.

“The CM is saying that no forceful aquisitions will be done. The PM is saying no irrigated land will be acquired. Then what is this happening? Infact, the revenue department is working to help out the company,” said a member of the SEZ Virodhi Sangharsha Sameeti, Vaishali Patil.

Four such cases of forgery has been registered with the police but activists have 73 such incidences across the three Talukas.

CNN IBN had earlier reported how the district collector had assured the protesting farmers that irrigated land would not be acquired for the SEZ.

But clearly, on the ground the situation seems to be different.

Banks get stringent on home loans

Source : IBnlive

Mumbai: Banks are playing it safe when it comes to home loans. They're putting in stringent safeguards against possible defaults, which means financing your dream homes may get tougher now. With hardening home loan rates, banks are putting stringent mechanisms to check defaults. Bank of Baroda has recently introduced variable eligibility criteria for its home loans.

The eligibility for people earning above Rs 1 lakh a month has been increased from 60 to 70 percent making it possible for them to take more loans than earlier. But for those earning below Rs 20,000 a month the eligibility has been decreased from 60 to 50 percent.

“We want to ensure that they have enough money left for other expenses after paying their EMIs,” said Ajay Kumar General Manager, Bank Of Baroda.

Private banks, which already had differential eligibility in place, are becoming more conservative in amount of loans given out. Kotak bank has reduced its loan to value ratio. Earlier it stood at 90 percent however now its been reduced to 80 to 85 per cent. HDFC too has reduced this ratio from 85 to 80 percent for most cases a few months back.

Which means that for a Rs 10 lakh home loan you will now get a loan only upto Rs 8 lakh as against Rs 8.5 lakh that one used to get earlier.

Even ICICI bank has now become more conservative on property valuation for home loans. Home loan rates have gone up by 3 to 4 percent in the last 18 months. With EMIs swelling and eligibility declining, customers are losing out on both fronts.

Realty companies wont be able to sustain margins

Devina Mehra of First Global feels that property prices seem to be peaking and the rising rates are adding to the worry. She adds that the EBITDA margins of real estate companies are not sustainable and could come down to 20% from the current 40%.

Excerpts from CNBC-TV18's exclusive interview with Devina Mehra:

Q: What is your basic concern? Will the demand-supply situation, or the interest rate, which has gone up that will hurt margins?

A: Actually, it is a combination of both because property prices do seem to be peaking and in fact have come off a bit from the peaks in few of the hotspots.

The interest rate is going up and this time around you may not get land at the same low cost that was available a year or two ago. That is how you have seen these big expansions in margins.

If you look at the real estate sector and go back four years, the margins were much lower than what they are today; EBITDA margin for Unitech and Sobha Developers were all in single digits and even DFL was somewhat around 14-15%, and suddenly 50-60% EBITDA margins don’t look sustainable.

Q: So, do you think there will be a meaningful compression in the margins of companies like Unitech and Sobha Developers?

A: Our numbers are making small correction in the property prices; maybe about 10-15% and plus the interest rates hike will bring you to an EBITDA margin about halving, let us say an average of 40% down to 20-22%. But for real estate companies, talking of margins only; in some sense, is doing paper exercise, because for any other industry you can say I am predicting this EBITDA margin of 22%.

For real estate, there is a real danger of ill liquidity. So if you are a steel company, you know it. Maybe the hot roll prices will fall from USD 550-450 maybe to USD 400. That is how you know that at least you will be able to sell most of what you produce. But in real estate you can have inventory lying there.

If you have been to Belapur, for instance - the mid 1990s boom, there was whole CBD built-up and all those buildings remained completely unoccupied. So, that is the kind of gender in real estate, which is compounded by the fact that most developers are highly leveraged which is a cause of concern. If you look at DFL, the last reported number was close to Rs 10,000 crore of debt.

Q: What do you think then will be the biggest challenge for these companies in the next two-four quarters, they will have to leave with lower price points so that there will be a genuine change in the demand-supply situation?

A: I think it will be a bit of both, because in real estate, the ill-liquidity comes in at point, which is that you just cannot sell, the prices go down. The other one is, some of the low cost funds you were getting because the customers were willing to pay in advance for buildings get built up goes away, which means you have to fund the whole building and the customer only looks at a ready building. So there are combination of both.

Besides the inherent danger or rather the difficulty of evaluating real estate plays per se because they are taking many things just on faith that the land is there. The title is clear so on and many of those things become question marks because many time if you talk to the large housing loan companies, they will tell you titles, litigation and things like that there are a lot of causes for worry.

Q: The point on ill liquidity, which one is more vulnerable in that case. Is it the company, which has gone out for big-ticket growth or projects in the metro cities, or are those smaller ones?

A: You will have to go company-by-company and project-by-project for that, but there will be some areas which are already showing signs of strain; some parts of Noida, Greater Noida or White Field in Bangalore where you have already seen price corrections. But you cannot put the blanket thing saying that non-metros will do well, as it really depends on specific project. Real estate ultimately comes down to a local business, which makes it little more difficult to evaluate.

Q: The stocks have been rallying as the general perception is that interest rates will not harden. But if interest rates remain at these levels for the next three-four quarters with no meaningful dip, do you think its bad enough to dent a lot of things in the real estate space?

A: From the buyer’s point of view, we do not think interest rates will harden at least significantly from here on. But EMIs of the average borrower has already gone up significantly in spite of the fact that urban salaries have increased.

To understand this better, one should look at the ratio of income to EMI. Two years ago the average salary was 4.2 times the EMI, let’s say an Rs 20 lakh loan and at present it is 2.7 times. There has been a significant drop from about 24% of your income going towards EMI to about 38% now. Obviously, it’s going to have an impact on demand.

Q: From these valuation levels, after the pullback, you do not find compelling reasons to go out and buy most real estate stocks?

A: Individual companies are hard to value in this space given the many things that you have. One cannot go in depth into whether it’s the land bank or the titles, etc. We still do not have ratings on many of the real estate stocks, but it is the broad concerns that remain a risk area.

Q: Your report indicated that you are concerned about the leveraged position as well for some of these companies. If you had to compare DLF and Unitech on a balance sheet basis, which one holds higher?

A: The risk appears little higher in DLF. We do not have a final rating out, so I would not like to give a final comparative comment on the two.

Q: What is First Global’s take on the public sector banking space after the pullback, which has taken many banks close to new-highs?

A: We have placed a market performer on most of them. We were expecting rates to peak out and start correcting and that is what happening as real interest rates have gone completely out of whack. Inflation was not that much at high when rates were high last time around.

We were expecting some kind of correction. The public sector banks are the most highly leveraged because of their investment portfolio to the rate cycle.

Q: What is about the other rate sensitive - reacting to things other than interest rates on Friday - Bajaj Auto?

A: We like the Bajaj Auto demerger story more than the two-wheeler story. The results were a bit disappointing on the two-wheeler side. Ten years back we were probably the first one to point out that Bajaj Auto’s return on operating assets was getting clouded over by the huge cash on its balance sheet. It’s a good thing that it is getting separated out.

The market never values an operating-cum-holding company and values it much better when it splits. Currently, some parts of the valuation for Bajaj Auto would be somewhere in the Rs 2,800-2,900 range.

Q: Are you a bit disappointed like the rest of the market on the whole insurance call option business because that is what lead to a Rs 400 sell-off from Thursday?

A: That means you cannot capture the entire upside. What would have also worked on the market are the results themselves on the operating side.

Q: What is the call on the market from here; this week it has been quite strong for it?

A: Some time back our call was that the market would touch a new high before correcting. Then in the middle, we were unsure whether the new high would come. Now, it looks like new highs would be made, but the bias still remains towards softness thereafter.

Unscruplous builders in Pune

Park Street and Pride and Purple properties in Pune seem to be crooks as documented by the buyers of their properties. The owners have documented Park's Street's greed and blatant disregard for the laws at this site. The builder lobby in cahoots with the corrupt politicians and administrative officers is abusing the system to the full extent. The best way to tackle these guys is to spread the message to as many people as possible and boycott them. This is the only way the consumers can teach these cheats a lesson

New Housing policy in M'rashtra in one month

Mumbai, May 18: The Maharashtra Chief Minister, Vilasrao Deshmukh has announced that the new housing policy will be implemented by the next month.

It may be recalled that the state government announced a draft housing policy on November 1 last year to mark the two years of Democratic Front in the office.

For some aspects of the policy, like creating a housing regulator which needed consent from state legislature, bill will be introduced in the monsoon session of the state legislature, Deshmukh said.

Deshmukh was speaking to reporters after the meeting of elected representatives from large cities of the state like Mumbai, Pune, Nagpur, Nashik and the other places on the state government's new housing policy.

The housing policy is aimed at making available affordable housing to common man and increasing the housing stock.

First of all we had given two months for citizens to file their suggestions and objections on the policy, subsequently due to the model code of conduct for municipal election and budget session of the state legislature, we could not finalise the policy, the Chief Minister said while justifying the delay in implementing the policy.

The new housing policy will include a single window system for clearing projects. The new policy will give priority to redeveloping old and dilapidated buildings and ensure the rights of the 'sons of soil', the CM said.

"There will be a separate chapter outlining a time-bound program for redeveloping such buildings in the new policy," he added.

"We will ensure that the sons of the soil — the original inhabitants — get their home. Why should they be left in a limbo, when slum dwellers get a house despite coming to the city years later," he said.

City legislators had earlier voiced their grievance at the slow pace of redeveloping the 16,000-odd old and dilapidated buildings.

The government reassured that redevelopment of such buildings will be given priority.

However, Deshmukh voiced its helplessness saying the Supreme Court is yet to give its order on a petition on Development Control Rule 33 (7) which was framed by the state to redevelop old buildings.

The state will set up a regulatory commission under the new housing policy which will decide on the cost of flat in a particular area. The commission will be a quasi-judiciary authority which will function on the same lines as the Maharashtra Electricity Regulatory Commission. The Housing Regulatory Commission will be the first such body to control property prices to be set up in the country.

Deshmukh has ruled out broad changes in the draft policy which was declared on November 1, 2006.

"The final policy won't be much different from the draft. There could be some changes, but the spirit of the policy to increase housing stock and facilitate affordable housing for the lower- and middle-income groups would be retained," Deshmukh said.

A significant addition to the draft policy would be a chapter on redevelopment of old housing colonies and buildings in the island city.

Builders to take a hit as realty prices fall

Hindustan Times and Mint/Wall Street Journal both have articles on the slowdown in Indian housing.

Hindustan Times

India’s once-buoyant real-estate market has gone into a deep freeze with more than a 50 per cent drop in actual transactions over the last two months, developers and real-estate analysts have said.

For the first time in three years some developers have dropped rates to bolster demand. A nation-wide survey reports a drop of between 5 to 10 per cent in rates across edge suburbs like Kharghar, in Navi Mumbai, Greater Noida in the National Capital Region and Bangalore’s Hosur Road.

Developers on the fringes of the big cities have found it hard to hold the price line. Cheaper land also allows them greater freedom in fixing profit margins. However, within the metropolitan cities, developers have withstood the plunge in sales and held their price lines. In prime locations and exclusive buildings, the price spiral is intact.

“Small developers who cannot hold out anymore have cut their rates by 8 to 10 per cent so that they get buyers,” said Vijay Wadhwa, chief promoter of the Mumbai-based Rs 2,000-crore Wadhwa Group.

He explained how Kharghar on Navi Mumbai’s edges is reporting a price decline up to 20 per cent, but there have been no price cuts on prime land, like the eight-lane coastal promenade of Palm Beach Road or land leading to the proposed new international airport.

In Delhi, Stanchart’s Regional Manager-Home Assist and Home Loans, Vikram Dhamija, said there had been a 50 per cent fall in transactions since mid-February.

“Potential buyers have backed off because of confusion over zoning norms and FAR (the floor area ratio or FSI) in Delhi’s Master Plan and higher interest rates for home loans,” Dhamija said.

“Developers like Parsvnath and MGF have cut rates by 15-20 percent in Greater Noida. On Hosur Road (in Bangalore), average rates are down from Rs 2,700 a sq ft to Rs 2,300 a sq ft,” said Shashi Kumar, CFO of the realty fund IndiaReits.

But don’t expect a drop in prices of high-end properties in mid-town locations. That’s because there aren’t enough upscale properties both in commercial and residential segments to fuel continuing demand.

“South Mumbai’s Cuffe Parade residential properties are not coming down from the Rs 25,000-30,000 per sq ft range. The asking rate for the new, swanky 32-story DSK Durgamata Towers is around Rs 35,000 a sq ft,” said south Mumbai broker Prakash Kanuga. “However, there are hardly any transactions at these levels.”

The slowdown is beginning to hit loan disbursals of banks and home-finance companies.

ICICI Bank’s growth in home-loan disbursals has fallen from 32 per cent to around 20 per cent, while the State Bank of India said it would not be able to sustain its current growth rate of 25-27 per cent and expects it to settle around 20 per cent. In the upscale property market of south Mumbai, the freeze in sales has ironically given the leasing market a push.

Mint/Wall Street Journal reports

Real-estate developers could see their operating margins, fattened by a two-year housing boom, shrivel this year by half as property prices soften and consumers postpone buying decisions, according to a new report by multinational broking firm First Global.
The report said it expects housing prices to fall by about 15%, which is in line with what some other analysts say they’re expecting. First Global said developer margins, which jumped from about 13% two years ago to about 40%, could drop to about 22% this year largely because fewer people can afford homes. Salaries have not kept up with real-estate prices and interest rate hikes, said Hitesh Kuvelkar, associate director (research) for First Global. And investors are pulling out of the market, further reducing the pool of buyers and adding to the number of sellers, he added.

Residential units account for about 75% of the real-estate market and have a strong impact on developers’ profitability. First Global said developers’ expansion plans could result in an oversupply of houses in some markets. Some 10 large Indian builders expect to construct about nine times as much as they built in the past by 2011, according to a First Global analysis.
“If buyers for real estate are not there, then things become tough because there is no liquid market for properties,” Kuvelkar said. “If one buyer doe-sn’t come, you have to wait a long time for another to come. It brings pressure to prices.”

Malvika Chandra, head of research (western India), Knight Frank India, said residential prices since December have fallen by about 5-8% in major cities. Prices had been increasing by about 30% a year. She said prices this year could drop by another 5%.

“Locations where there is too much supply, where there are too many projects planned, you will see a correction,” Chandra said referring to areas such as Delhi’s Gurgaon suburb, Navi Mumbai and Mumbai’s central suburbs, and the Outer Ring Road in Bangalore.

First Global, which surveyed property dealers, said real-estate prices have dropped by 10-15% in some pockets of Ghaziabad, Noida, Gurgaon and Bangalore.
Anshuman Magazine, managing director of CB Richard Ellis South Asia, said the prices are softening in the suburbs where a large supply of homes is coming up. He said small developers have already been hurt by the slowdown because they were expecting to finance projects by pre-selling houses. Larger developers have staying power and can more easily secure financing and stagger projects so they all don’t reach the market at once, he added.
“It will impact everybody, but it should not be a major problem,” Magazine said.
Arvind Parakh, CEO of Omaxe Ltd, which is planning an initial public offering, said he expects a 15-20% drop in prices, but doesn’t see a rapid reduction in developers’ margins. It will likely be a few quarters before the slowing market is reflected in developers’ financial results. Sales revenues includes money that was collected from buyers long before the market showed signs of weakening.
Omaxe also plans to offer incentives, such as kitchen and floor upgrades and extended pay schedules, to keep buyers interested in slow markets, Parakh said. It is keeping prices stable for now.
“Marketing skills now come into play,” he added.

And Flooding woes in Mumbai

What is the country coming to :). 1 crore match box apts with a potential to be zero when it floods. Something is not right

Water woes in Sarjapur road Bangalore

Fancy houses with basic amenities missing. Without water what is the point of the granite counter-top

Govt shuts door on foreign money for realtors

Moneycontrol.com

It's become tougher for real estate companies to raise foreign capital. CNBC-TV18 reports on how that will impact realty prices.

There seems to be no room here for dollars anymore. The government has shut the door on realty companies raising foreign funds via preference shares.

The Finance Ministry has notified that all foreign funds coming in via non-convertible, optionally convertible or partially convertible preference shares would be considered as debt.

Realty companies are not allowed to raise foreign debt. Sanjay Bansal, Partner, Ambit, ''The quantum of money coming through the non-convertible preference share route was sizeable so far and that will trickle down or shutdown given the regulations."

Sizeable is right - at USD 4 billion foreign funds make up a fifth of the total investments in the real estate sector. Half those dollars coming in are via preference shares. To seal the deal - the Finance Minister has also categorized fully convertible preference shares as equity. This makes it tough for foreign funds to repatriate their cash.

It also could activate FDI limits - especially in land-oriented deals. Net - the dollar flow may calm down and that could be good news for prices.

Akshaya Kumar, CEO, Park Lane Property, said, ''The mad frenzy, which was happening on chasing land anywhere, at any price anyhow, anytime is going to slowdown and effectively that will cool the land market.''

It adds up to a triple whammy - first banks were stopped from funding developers to buy land. Then real estate companies were barred from raising external commercial borrowings or foreign debt and now there are roadblocks on the popular preference share route. Fund raising is going to be a tall task for real estate developers in Mumbai.

Tier 2 cities in bubble now

Hectic builder activity in small towns
Source : Moneycontrol.com

A snapshot of the real estate scenario in Vishakapatnam, Mangalore, Mysore, Coimbatore and Cochin.

Vishakapatnam

A number of Grade A integrated townships are springing up in the city - mostly in the peripheries towards the north east - in Madurawada and Rishikonda.

Apartment prices here are up 33% over the last three months. Vepagunta is another area in the northern outskirts where the housing board has taken the initiative to develop a 52 acre township.

Mangalore

In Mangalore, the area between Bijai in the northeast to the KS Rao Road continues to be in demand but industry watchers say that the demand is primarily from investors at this point.

Nantoor too has witnessed an increase in demand with an appreciation of 5% in two and a half months.

Bangalore based Purvankara Group plans to develop between a 40 to 75 acre township near Bondel in the city's western outskirts, while the Raheja Group from Mumbai is developing a 100-acre township in Kulai in north Mangalore. Thirty acres of the township has already been handed over to a Singapore based software company for their set up.

Mysore

In Mysore, the north and northwest belt of the city is where all the residential activity is concentrated. Jayalaxmipyram has seen the maximum growth over the last two months with an increase of 10% in apartment prices. Vijaynagar too is in demand. The Prestige Group from Bangalore has its project underway here.

Further north, the Sankalp Group is developing a 28-acre township in Yadavgiri. In the south of the city, development of villas is being proposed in Koodanahalli and Nanjangud. The average price quoted for villas is about Rs 3000 per sq ft today.

Coimbatore

Avinashi Road continues to be in huge demand in Coimbatore. Apartment prices have touched Rs 3,500 per sq ft now - up 9% in two months. The Peelamed area along Avinashi Road is also witnessing some demand now. Shreeram Properties have launched their project in Pellamed at Rs 2100 per sq ft and villas are priced at Rs 2,600 per sq ft.

Sai Baba colony too has seen a significant increase over the last two months, with close to a 50% appreciation, and higher end projects now command Rs 4000 per sq ft.

According to estimates, approximately 3,000 apartments are under construction in Coimbatore. Major development is also underway on Trichy Road and Mettupalayam Road where many developers hold large land parcels.

Cochin

Lastly, in Cochin, new developments continue to spring up along the suburban belt of Kakkanad, Edappally and Kalamasery. The demand for residential space has increased significantly here and national level players like Puravankara, Shobha, Brigade Group, DLF, Prestige and Dubai-based Emaar groups have now joined the development bandwagon in the region.

The traditional prime area of Marine Drive is also not loosing steam � in fact, prices have touched a high of Rs 6,500 per sq ft there, compared to Rs 2,000 per sq ft last year.

Bangalore IT majors eye Mysore option

Business Standard reports

Migration of IT companies to Mysore due to its proximity to Bangalore (150 km) is driving residential and retail real estate developments and pushing up prices in some parts of the city.

Mysore is to get heritage funding under the 'Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission' and in addition to this, a number of other infrastructure projects like the completion of the Bangalore-Mysore expressway, upgradation of the existing airport and doubling of the Bangalore-Mysore railway track, are expected to boost the city's growth.

Once the commuting time between Bangalore and Mysore is reduced, the scope for office market development will increase in the city in the view of increasing number of corporates planning to expand their operations in Mysore.

As real estate cost is rising in Bangalore and its suburbs, many corporates have already begun to turn their attention to this tier II city. Here, Mysore fits in well for it provides a good alternative with easy availability of land and growth potential.

Due to demand for industrial land in the city, especially in the north-west, the Karnataka Industrial Area Development Board, the nodal agency to develop industrial layouts, is busy acquiring land to facilitate investments.

"Currently, due to numerous policy measures (to deflate the property bubble) by the central and state governments, land transactions have come down by 25 to 30 percent in Mysore," said Dhirendra Mehta, advocate, familiar with land registrations in Mysore.

"This is a temporary phase but in long term, the city is expected to emerge as an extension of Bangalore and may attract investors once the key infrastructure is in place," he added.

Due to the availability of land at relatively competitive rates, a number of Bangalore-based developers have entered the real estate market in Mysore, said Knight Frank, a international property consultant in its report on 'Emerging growth centres'.

Besides Brigade Group and Sankalp who already have ongoing projects in Mysore, other leading developers like Sobha and Purvankara are considering setting up their residential projects in the city.

But it is local players who are already working on strategies to promote Mysore as a second home to individuals and corporates in Bangalore. What helps is Mysore being an important educational, commercial and administrative centre with a high literacy rate of 84.5 percent, greater than the state average.

According to Knight Frank, "The city's growing attractiveness as a commercial and IT destination offers vast potential for development. Till now the city has not seen much development on the retail front, but with an increase in population, there exists significant potential for retailers. A number of mall developments are currently in the pipeline and private developers such as Sankalp, Brigade, Premier Properties and Mittal Builders are developing mall space of about 1.7 million square feet over the next two years."

As for the capital values in Mysore, prime residential property are in the range of Rs 2,000-3,000 per square feet, while residential projects in the suburban locations are quoted in the range of Rs 1,400-1,900 per square feet.

Developments of villas are being proposed in Koodanahalli and Nanjangud. The average prices quoted for villas are about Rs 3,000 per square feet and rentals for office space in the CBD of the city are charged at Rs 46-51 per square feet per month while capital values exist at Rs 4,500 per square feet.

In suburban locations, office space rentals are in the range of Rs 25-30 per square feet per month and capital values are quoting at around Rs 2,500 per square feet.

The city currently boasts of major IT and non-IT campuses like Infosys, L&T Infotech, Wipro and Software Paradigm India. In addition to this, Mysore houses many non-IT companies like Reid & Taylor, L&T Electronics, S Kumars, Kirloskar Gensets, Bharat Earth Movers, Venlon Polyster Automobile Axles and South India Paper Mills.

During the last few years, Mysore has been witnessing unprecedented growth in real estate, with a large number of housing co-operative societies having secured land for development of residential colonies. This has set the base for the city to propel on its own.

Housing market trends

From moneycontrol.com

In the near future at least rates are likely to remain stable, since inflation is expected to come under check as the Reserve Bank of India has been taking necessary steps to tame it.

Former SBI Chairman, AK Purwar is optimistic about interest rates and says they have almost peaked. "My perception, as far as interest rates in general are concerned, by and large they have peaked. Inflation numbers have started improving now, and are showing a downward trend. I am very positive and sure that housing loan interest rates have also peaked. As soon as RBI becomes comfortable with inflation numbers and feel that they are in the range which they are targeting, I am very positive that they would look at these rates little more positively."

Chairman of HDFC, Deepak Parekh too believes that interest rates will stabilise looking at a cool down in inflation.

"My view is that interest rates have stabilised and will remain at the present level for atleast the next six months till the new inflation numbers come up because there has been a slight weakening of the inflation numbers that have been recently released," he says.

On the other hand, bankers are also finding that the demand for retail loans has redued a bit owing to the interest rate rise in the past 2 years.

Purwar says, "The demand has to be correlated with interest rates. If you compare the interest rates in housing loan during last two years to what the position is today, there has been a very substantial interest rate hike as far as housing loans are concerned. The middle class which was getting into housing in a very major way, suddenly find that its liabilities in terms of EMIs have gone up substantially. With this naturally the demand will get impacted. But I think in times to come we will have to work out systems that the demand instead of going down goes up provided other things are right."

Parekh does not feel that that the loan demand has come down all that much, but he says that now property prices are seen coming down.

"The demand hasn’t dropped for actual users - for those people who are in the market to buy a house to live in. But the demand has certainly dropped for many investors around the country, who have realised that property prices have peaked and they are unlikely to go up further; so there is no point of putting surplus money into the real estate market."

He adds that, in quite a few places in India, property prices have started weakening and in some areas they have come down 10-20% in the last few months. "Most of the builders are complaining of slow sales and when the sale slows down the only option a developer has is to bring prices down. So I expect prices to come off in the next few months," he claims.

So how soon before one could see some cooling off in interest rates? Purwar says it would be sometime next year, provided inflation remains low.

"My feeling is, the RBI and government would definitely have a very close watch on how inflation rates move. If the inflation rates come within the manageable limits and the limit which they are attempting to achieve, I am sure that they would start signaling the market where they would like to see interest rates move. Maybe for another six-nine months, it should continue at this level. If inflation starts moving the other way there could be another small hike but after that the interest rate will see the other trend, maybe some time next year interest rates in my view should start moving the other way."

So, while prices in the real estate market may be cooling off a bit, the interest rate scenario over the year would determine the condition of the housing sector in India.

NICE work kicks off

If there was a parallel the Mumbai-Pune expressway is probably a good analogy to the NICE corridor. I hope Mysore doesn't go the Bangalore way.

DH News Service, Bangalore:
The Nandi Infrastructure Corridor Enterprise (NICE) on Friday kicked off work on a village road that would supplement its ongoing Bangalore Mysore Infrastructure Corridor (BMIC) project.

The Nandi Infrastructure Corridor Enterprise (NICE) on Friday kicked off work on a village road that would supplement its ongoing Bangalore Mysore Infrastructure Corridor (BMIC) project.
Work on the road has been taken up following a request from residents of Doddabele, a village that falls on the BMIC route, near its clover-leaf interchange.
The new 800-metre road will connect Doddabele and Mysore Road, sources said. The road used by villagers has been in a bad shape for years, they said. On Friday, the project was kicked off with a pooja by residents of Doddabele.

Townships or green belts? Anxiety rules the roost

It has been almost a week since the Bangalore Metropolitan Region Development Authority (BMRDA) called for the genereal publics objections any or suggestions with respect to its Interim Master Plan (IMP) for the development of Anekal, Nelamangala, Magadi, Hoskote and Kanakapura areas surrounding Bangalore. A large section of the people who have had a look in at the BMRDA office to check out the interim plan are shocked: for, their entire villages or layouts have been converted into a township or backetted as green belt in their respective interim master plan.

Jagadish K, a villager from Anekal, said that he has visited the BMRDA office for four days now to try and figure out the status of his land measuring two acres. "I agree that this is just an interim plan and not the final one. But as I saw in the map entire village and surrounding five other villages have been marked under commercial space. We have been living in this area for decades and now, if they want us to vacate the place, there is no meaning in it," he said.

Others among the public were worried whether they will get good prices for their land if the government was to acquire them. Shivashankar from Gudemaranahalli, which comes under Magadi taluk, noted that their entire village has been marked for a township. A representative group of 50 villagers has now filed a complaint before the BMRDA, he said. "Even if the government is acquiring our lands, we should be given the market value. Many of us in this village and the surrounding ones are small farmers and have lands not more than an acre each. We cant make a living with the sum that the government will give," he said.

Market value per acre of land in this village located near NH 48 ranges from Rs 35 lakh to 50 lakh while that of government is Rs 10 lakh. Professor Govindappa, an environmentalist from this area observed that villages like Gudemaranahalli and nearby Koodluru are rich in vegetation. BMRDA officials said that they have received more than 150 objections from the public as on Friday. Most of them are from Anekal, Hoskote and Nelamangala Local Planning Areas, they said.

One officer said that LPAs like Anekal have witnessed haphazard growth in terms of industry and commercial activities and therefore the queries are more from these areas. "From such areas, we are also receiving complaints on overlapping of industrial and residential areas.We will sort out such issues once we come out with the final master plan," he said.

Nagpur in the New York times

Its time for Tier-2 cities to make their mark in India. I've been to Nagpur recently and was surprised at the cleanliness and the lack of traffic and crowds in this winter capital of Maharashtra. The main issue here is not Malls or movies but basic infrastructure like water and power. In nearby Vidarbha villages, farmer suicide rates are at historic levels due to failing crops and drought. In the name of development, under the guise of SEZ's, the Congress govt. is causing a spiral in real estate values in obscure villages and towns of India. When the music stops, I just hope retail investors are not left holding the bag. Looking at the UP result and the rout of Congress, I think the an NDA style govt at the center is a distinct possibility. I think this will be last straw that breaks the camel's back and we will be back to more realistic growth levels of 5-6% in the foreseeable future.

NY Times article below

NAGPUR, India — A year ago, this relatively small, forgettable city in the heart of India did not have an air-conditioned cinema. In the sweltering heat of summer, the rich would fly one hour to Mumbai, India’s financial hub, to see a movie and stock up on Levi’s jeans, Domino’s Pizza and other big-city treats that they could not find at home.

But if the government has its way, Nagpur will become a destination city itself. In an experiment that is highly unusual for this most unplanned of countries, the government is doling out money to Nagpur and other “second tier” cities to help them modernize — fast.

The plan is to provide the kind of modern conveniences, and infrastructure, that will attract more international investors to India. In doing so, the government is following the lead of China, where the government has invested in infrastructure such as roads and airports, taking a build-it-and-they-will-come approach that has drawn foreign corporations helping to fuel the country’s boom.

India’s government is also hoping its plan will stop disasters in the making in its largest, teeming cities as more people move there in search of jobs and a more urban lifestyle.

“One hundred million people are moving to cities in the next 10 years, and it’s important that these 100 million are absorbed into second-tier cities instead of showing up in Delhi or Mumbai,” Montek Singh Ahluwalia, the Indian government’s chief economic planner, said by telephone.

Already, Nagpur, with an estimated population of about 2.5 million, is a changed city. So far, the government has allocated $280 million for projects and has paid for everything from lush parks to new roads. And investors — drawn by the hope of a boom — have built several malls and a multiplex cinema, complete with air-conditioning.

A renovated airport will become the cargo hub of India, with a terminal that will be 100 times larger than the existing one and will handle at least 100 jets at a time instead of the current five.

The government is planning an ecofriendly mass-transit system to absorb an expected surge in road traffic, years before many residents even own a car.

The government is also building a special economic zone with ready-to-use water, electricity and fiber optic cable, in the hope of attracting 100,000 technology jobs to a city long dominated by coal mining. It is providing tax breaks for companies who set up businesses there.

Since its independence from Britain in 1947, the city-building philosophy of India has been, to put it gently, laissez-faire. Except for the recently developed technology hubs of Bangalore and Hyderabad, India has not added cosmopolitan, globally connected metropolises to its old ones: Calcutta, Delhi, Madras and Mumbai.

And those cities have shown the strain as more people have poured in from the countryside in recent years.

In Mumbai, a majority of the more than 15 million residents live in slums, and a river of sewage passes through the middle of the city. Delhi is chronically short of clean drinking water and electricity.

So far, the government has pledged to spend $29 billion over seven years to upgrade 62 cities besides Nagpur. Grants are given only to cities that can show good fiscal controls and enact business-friendly policies like scaling back rent control.

No one knows if India has the stamina to make Nagpur a truly international hub, and then transform scores of other cities. But many experts say that the plan to remake smaller cities could be a key to India’s continued economic growth.

“Much of India’s future will undeniably be made in the second-tier cities,” said Ashutosh Varshney, a specialist on Indian political economy at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. The existing metropolises “will reach saturation points before long, or have already reached such points.”

The second-tier cities could address the needs of local and foreign corporations that have complained about soaring land prices and increasing wages in the country’s most modern cities.

Experts say the government plan could also provide a boost to home-grown businesses. More international airports, for instance, could help raise incomes for the country’s hundreds of millions of farmers by making it easier for their produce to reach export markets.

Nagpur has a head start on most of the other cities expected to receive government money. Because the government selected it as the air cargo hub for the country, skeptical investors have more hope that this obscure city will eventually rank with the busiest air centers in the world.

Today, the Nagpur airport is an airstrip. Visitors deplane and walk across the tarmac to enter the terminal. It takes 30 seconds to traverse the entire terminal from arrival gate to taxi stand.

The blueprints foreshadow radical change. Nagpur got its first international flight just 18 months ago, but it is already planning a second runway long enough for jets like the Airbus A380 superjumbo. A new terminal, already being built, is designed to accommodate 14 million passengers a year.

Next to the airport is a vast special economic zone, an enclave of relative economic freedom designed to attract investors. Boeing is already setting up a maintenance hub there and in an adjoining technology park. Indian companies that do outsourcing work for American and European companies like Satyam Computer Services and HCL Technologies are buying land.

Some worry that all the change — which has already caused real estate prices to soar in the city — is fueling a bubble economy that could burst. Alok Tiwari, the executive editor of The Hitawada, the local newspaper, said a boom cannot last unless more jobs are created, increasing buying power.

“We’ve got to create opportunity, not just take land and build a mall there,” he said.

Yet others say such development will eventually take on a life of its own, driving the economy by raising people’s expectations and willingness to work hard to afford the new luxuries appearing before their eyes.

Vishwas Chaknalwar, a developer, put it this way. “Once you wear Pyramid clothes,” he said, referring to the new Pyramid mall here, “you cannot wear anything else.”

Make property part of your investment portfolio

Circa 1999: The term 'Indian real estate' was a scary one. Investing in real estate for capital appreciation and income was unheard of.
Circa 2005: The consensus was that there is a real estate 'bubble' that can burst anytime.
Circa 2007: Real estate emerged as 'another asset class' ideal for diversification as well as in optimising returns.
This is how perceptions about investing in real estate changed over the years. With real estate markets more vibrant than ever before, and with increasing institutional participation in this market, their scope is proliferating. The result - increased investor confidence and increased investments in the sector.
Investment avenue
Over the past few years, with more investment avenues opening up and offering better returns, investment in real estate had taken a back seat. The reasons - price appreciation in real estate, and markets opening up with more sustainable demand. Half a decade ago, we did not have a vibrant rental market for retail and commercial space. With increasing demand for retail space and office space, these two segments are witnessing improved rental yields and also attractive price appreciation.
With increased buoyancy, the real estate market now falls in league with stocks, bonds, mutual funds, gold and commodities, and insurance policies as a viable investment option for investors in all categories - individuals, corporates, and funds.
Residential property offers appreciation
Residential property is a relatively simple investment route for an individual investor/buyer, who can buy properties both under construction and ready possession for capital appreciation. Returns increase if expected capital appreciation is higher than interest rates on housing loans. In such a scenario, individuals can invest in a house by borrowing from a housing finance company.
Possible returns:
Illustration 1: Returns on investment in a house
Property cost: Rs 100 Loan: Rs 85 Net investment: Rs 15 Appreciation: 15 percent Interest cost: 12 percent Holding period: Two years Net profit: Rs 7.9 Returns: 26 percent
An additional benefit is tax benefits on deduction of interest paid and repayment of loans from gross income. This increases net returns commensurately.
Commercial space
Office and retail space is a more interesting investment option for bigger investors. Here, an investor buys a property and lets it out. He earns a regular rental income and carries the benefits of price appreciation too. Rental income can range between 11 and 12 percent on investment, and there is room for capital gains. Again, investors can leverage much more efficiently by using lease rental discounting (LRD).
In another model, an investor can buy a vacant or under-construction property, invariably available at a lower price than a leased-out asset. The intention is to earn a higher rental income and a higher yield on his investment. He has to take a call on increase in prices and demand. This results in higher rentals. However, the investor undertakes the responsibility and risk of leasing it out. Eventually, basics of investing prevails - higher the risk, higher the return.
Real estate funds
The only risk that a small investor carries while investing in individual properties is risk of concentration of assets in single or few cities or single or few asset classes. An easier way to diversify one's asset portfolio and mitigate this risk is investment in real estate funds. The advantage is that professionals manage such funds - professionals who are current on market developments and who can take proper decisions immediately. Also, given a large fund size, they can diversify across asset categories. For instance, they can invest in retail, office, and residential property. This diversification reduces risk and also helps in optimising returns.
To sum up, the only real investment that one can hold in one's portfolio is real estate. Investors can look at ways and means, and evaluate options to invest in real estate. Adding realty to a portfolio that also features equities, debt, commodities, and insurance will help in diversifying it and optimising overall portfolio returns.

Skyscrapers in Pune

Pune deserves priority mention in the real estate headlines, though not only for all the hyped reasons. On the positive side, Pune's property market is definitely on a roller coaster ride, not least of all because the city is on the verge of seeing its first
high-rises. The in-principle permission granted for this is significant because until now, the maximum permissible height of a building in Pune was 30 meters. With this development, it is 100 meters.
There are some regulations for this, as well - however, it basically means that Pune will see its first skyscrapers with a few years. Many builders are planning in this direction and some landmark projects are scheduled to come up. This will happen sooner (within a year) in special townships that meet the approvals of the Mumbaibased Fire Advisor. It will take longer for the rest of Pune (up to two years) because it still has to come within the Development Control Rules.
On the downside, property sales in Pune are currently rather sluggish and because of this developers are taking it easy. Rates have stabilised, though there might be an upward swing in rates in three or four months in certain areas around the Mumbai Bangalore bypass from Hinjewadi to Dhankawadi, with a minor upswing on the Eastern side in areas like Kharadi and Hadapsar.
On the residential property side, Pune's developers would do well to take a less adamant stand in terms of pricing their projects. There is little justification for the manner in which they persist in pushing the rates up, and they should be aware of the fact that this will eventually have a spiral effect based on outraged buyer sentiments. It would seem like a good time for them to concentrate on adding volume rather than adding to the prices of their existing properties.
On the commercial property front, there is likely to be an oversupply of space in Pune if all or most of the announced projects actually take off. This will naturally have a downward effect on rates. For those intending to buy into potential appreciation in an area where a major mall is scheduled - watch and wait. There is very little happening in terms of actual launch and construction of these developments.

Power cuts galore in Navi-Mumbai, Thane

As Mumbai is spared load-shedding again this month, it is residents of Navi Mumbai and Thane who are feeling the heat. IT parks are exempted altogether and Industrial areas like TBI (Thane Belapur Industries) face power cuts on a weekly basis i.e. every Friday. Meanwhile, Navi Mumbai and certain areas in Thane are facing four and a half to five hours of power cuts daily, areas like Dombivali, Kalyan, Vasai, and Nalasopara are trying hard to put up with eight hours of power cut every day, in two schedules of four hours each.
Bhushan Kadam, Proprietor, Beenstalk Cyber Café located in sector 17, Vashi, says: "My business is completely reliant on electricity. Four hours of load-shedding has meant my revenue receipts have halved. We are all seriously affected by this and are planning to put in inverters and generators which would mean an additional expenditure of 50,000 to 60,000."
Many local residents have already done so. They have installed inverters of 800 watts, keeping in mind a three to three and a half hour power cut. An average 800-watt inverter costs Rs. 13,000 - Rs. 15,000, and since the. demand has suddenly risen, many dealers have increased the cost of these inverters. Consumers of electricity today are resigned to facing power cuts, paying almost double for the power, and then suffering business losses as a result of power shortages.
Sudhir Abbott, Director, Abbott Hotels, Sector 2, Vashi says the 56-room hotel with three banquet halls and restaurant has full power back up. "We have a solar power heater which supplies hot water 310 days of the year," explains Sudhir. He adds: "It is however definitely a serious issue, and has meant hardships for many people. As far as Mumbai is concerned I think they should avoid load-shedding, Mumbai is too huge a metropolis. The power cuts would mean huge amount of investments in
backups, especially in high-rises. It will lead to a lot of confusion given the amount of backups needed, which would have to be recharged."
Are inverters really the solution? Prakash Singh, an inverter dealer explains, "Inverters were made for unexpected short power cuts and not for regular long hours of load-shedding. This will not only reduce the life of inverters but also lead to problems in their working if they are not maintained well i.e. at least every alternate month the batteries should be checked." He also advises that while purchasing an inverter, one should be careful to choose a company which provides good after-sales service, and not be blinded by a brand name.
There are other alternative sources of energy that must be put to use, such as solar power and windmills. Parth Builders have set an example here - they have installed three windmills for the common lighting area in their building Lords at CBD Belapur, Navi Mumbai. They have also installed CNG tanks below the parking to run the elevators and cooking, as back ups during the power cut hours.
"Wind and solar energy resources are complementary in nature. They are useful to create a point of use electrical energy system. Cost saving is achieved by displacing diesel generators, rising costs of conventional utility power and achieving a higher reliability and electric energy availability. Both solar and wind resources are reliable, especially in the days of global warming," says H. C. Joshi from Vistar Electronics, Pune. But the per unit cost of these non-traditional energy resources ranges from Rs. 18-20, whereas our average power consumption costs Rs. 3 and commercially, Rs. 5.
Many households have installed solar water heaters as it saves both energy and money and is one-time investment. Today these water heaters range from Rs. 20,000 for 125 litres/ day to Rs. 1,00,000 for 500 litres/ day. This includes the cost of collectors, storage tank, piping system, instrumentation and other installations. The smaller solar water heater takes up three and a half sq metres of space on a terrace. The maintenance cost is zero, the only thing one has to be careful about is cleaning the surface of the heater. The life of such a heater varies from 20-25 years. Rashmi Collectors and Tata BP Solar are leading brands in solar water heaters.
The good news is that banks like Vijaya Bank, Andhra Bank, Dena Bank, etc. also provide loans on these water heaters, so dealers are expecting a boom in sales on these heaters.
Thane Municipal Coporation (TMC) are using solar power energy for lighting street poles. If these renewable energy sources are put to more such innovative uses then maybe residents will suffer less load-shedding.

SEBI against realty firms disclosing future land value

Market regulator SEBI is against real-estate companies giving futuristic valuation of land with them in their draft prospectus for public offers, a move that can affect the fortunes of many firms.

"There should not be any disclosure of land values based on the future developed value of the land," SEBI said in a note on IPOs by real-estate companies.

As of February 14, there are seven draft offer documents of real-estate companies filed with SEBI. These issues are likely to raise an estimated Rs. 17,400 crore from the market.

"While on one hand, a string of issues by real-estate companies reflects on the ability of Indian primary market to support such huge need for funds, on the other hand, it also, perhaps, reflects on a tendency on the part of issuers to ride on the real-estate boom, thereby pointing to the need for overall caution," the note said.

It was in this context, SEBI said, that a need was felt for a closer scrutiny of disclosures by such companies, especially relating to land bank and its valuation.

According to SEBI, disclosures by real estate companies show that there were no standards.

At times, valuations include certain futuristic assumptions.

While in some cases there are valuations, in some others there is no valuation.

The seven applications for IPOs are DLF with a size of Rs 12,000 crore issue, Omaxe Ltd of Rs 1,200 crore, Purvankara Projects of Rs 1,200 crore, IVR Prime urban Developers Ltd with an issue size of Rs 830 crore and Housing Development and Infrastructure ltd of Rs 2,000 crore. PTI