India Real Estate Monitor

JP Morgan financed $30 million in Parsvnath Developer’s residential project La Tropicana launching in Civil Lines area of New Delhi. The deal contains of an additional funding for the real estate group through JP Morgan’s local NBFC in India. The part of the funds raised has been used by Parsvnath to provide an exit to Red Fort Capital, which had put in Rs 115 crore in the project in 2009. Red Fort has made a 30 percent return on its investment in the project. Ernst and JP Morgan did not comment on the deal.

Parsvnath sold 18 percent stake in its 16.8-acre high-end residential La Tropicana project to private equity firm Red Fort Capital for 90 crore in 2009 and later in the same year sold another 4percent to the fund for Rupees 25 crore. The 400 apartment project, which was launched in 2008, has been much delayed and is now estimated to be completed by 2013. The developer is still selling apartments in this project at 14,000 per sq ft. The project was launched at Rs 8,000 per sq ft. Last year, Parsvnath had sold 24.5% stake for 120 crore to Red Fort Capital in an office project that it is building on land it received from the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation. The project is being made on a build-operate-transfer basis. January this year, Sun-Apollo India Real Estate Fund invested Rs 100 crore for a 49.9 percent stake in a residential project, Parsvnath Exotica, in Ghaziabad near Delhi.

India’s business capital, Mumbai, is witnessing a decline in demand for office and commercial space with dealings down by more than half since last year. Classy office space in the center of Mumbai, but it looks there are few buyers. According to a report, need for commercial real estate is lingering. Dealings of 0.88 million square feet were recorded in the fourth quarter i.e. January to March of Fiscal 11, against the 2.81 million square feet transacted in quarter 4th of Fiscal 10, that’s a 68 percent decrease in demand.

Though sale connections showed marginal progress from 13 to 23, the number of properties leased dropped from 54 to just 28 at the same time. A Consulting agency Cushman and Wakefield points to the high level of vacancy rate of 20 percent. Usually it is the BFSI and the IT and ITeS sectors that habitually drive demand in the commercial real estate space. Also since starting of this year the market has been polluted by several scams and that has unfavorably obstructed plans of several corporates.

Still, industry experts says in 2011 demand for commercial real estate across the country is expected to be around 42 million square feet. So, 2011 will be a pretty interesting year in terms of demand. The challenge on pricing will continue to stay. As the demand & supply disparity continues, most developers have so far desisted from hikking rental values. But still, market sentiment continues to be gentle with players expecting large developers to minimise prices further.

Summer indicates a calmness for the real estate sector as transaction volumes take a downward leap. The trend is clear seeing that estate project launches have been the least during the second quarter from 01st April 2011 to 30th June 2011. As many as 46,093 high rise apartments were launched between January 2005 till December 2010. Of these, the highest launches were during the third quarter (July to September) when over 41% highrise homes were announced in the city. In contrast, the lowest launches came in the second quarter when the launch of only 5,448 apartments that is 11.82 % were launched.

When asked why home buyers postpone purchases, real estate analysts blames it on the roasting heat and summer vacations. “It is true that transaction volumes are lesser during the summer months. This is a time when the weather is not inspiring for buyers. Moreover, since summer vacations are the longest, many families go out of town for holidays. People wait for the Navratras and Diwali as they consider this time to be auspicious which falling in the third and fourth quarters respectively. Also, as the weather is acute, many people feel this is not an appropriate time to shift into a new home. Also, since children are already into their new academic year, parents do not want to make a change.

According to the launch figures, the next highest number of launches of 13,814 apartments comes in the first quarter. Also, over 16 per cent announces were seen in the last quarter from October to December. The phase from January to March is the time for financial closures and, hence, it boosts transaction volumes. On the other hand, the winter months see a large inflow of non-resident Indians arriving back in India to visit relatives. The transaction volumes at this time are mainly due to NRI purchases.

LIC Housing Finance focuses to have a all India-presence for its senior citizens homes business as the increase in demand from senior citizens provokes the company to scale-up presence in other cities across the country. The 4^th largest mortgage lender has finished two projects, one in Bangalore and the other in Bhubaneswar, They believe this “futuristic idea” will lead to the home finance company eventually spinning off its care home business into a listed body as early as 2014.

“We expect to make the care homes business a fully listed body in coming three to five years,” CEO of LIC Housing finance said. LIC H.F., promoted by the country’s largest insurer, the LIC of India, is looking for an existence in up to 07 cities, which it says are more “friendly to the senior citizens” and also can get land at discounted rates. The company lately finished a 98-unit project and a bigger 200-unit project in Bangalore and Bhubaneswar respectivly.

Presently the organisation is in the process of acquiring land in Jaipur, Haridwar and Goa. “More cities such as Nagpur and Pune which have historically been friendly to the retired people will be looked at.” India has 65 % of its people aged between 15 and 64 years, so the business model might find many takers. Retirement homes are built in a community format with modern amenities including gymnasium & club houses, music rooms and auditoriums. These projects also come with a house-help which is offered by the developers or owners themselves.

Lodha Group to pay Tax Rupees 60 crore Income Tax department officials seized crores in unaccounted cash from lockers of the employees of real estate king Lodha Group, five months after it has asked the company to pay Rs 60 crore in taxes. In January, the I-T department had raided about 20 premises of Lodha Group on alleged misquoted of income. The surprise visit by IT official was based on a tip off suggesting overestimated expenditure using faux receipts and cash payments from clients. The invade had shielded Mangal Prabhat Lodha the Chairman and his two sons the directors of the company.

While investigating the documents found at the premises, I-T officials came across details of bank lockers in the name of the company’s employees. When these lockers, in all 26, were invaded, unaccounted cash running into crores of rupees were found. In the first raid itself, the department had found unaccounted Rs 6.5 crores in an employee’s Kalbadevi locker. Addition to that Rs 1.5 crore were found in the offices and residential premises of the company’s owners. The I-T officials had also held over 10 note counting machines from the group’s offices. IT officials said the entire exercise was undertaken by the company to escape tax. Now, the I-T department has freezed the company’s annual income at Rs 200 crore and asked the Lodha Group to pay Rs 60 crore.

Real Estate business needs lots of  investigation before investing money into it. Certain companies, some projects, some builders are fraud, and sometimes our luck is fraud. We need a trustworthy agent who is legaly certified and is not a fraud.

Investors clinic is an ISO 9001:2000 certified company, which has gained a huge respect in the industry with esteemed patrons and lots of awards, one award Times Research Service Excellence Award 2010 is honored to Investors clinic by respected Kapil Dev in 2010. Investors clinic also achieved an award by Buildecon Publisher for the Best Property Consultants in Delhi/NCR. Investors clinic deals with legal and genuine builders with all approved projects only to avoid any case of fraud deal. Investors clinic believe “customer is king and one can never hoax with King.”

Surprisingly, Investors clinic found some wrong and fake comments on some mediums, which are confusing as Investors clinic fraud. Investor clinic is genuine customer handler and immediately started contacting the contacts given on those mediums to solve their problem. Honey Katiyal personally look into the matter to find the complaints and try to rectify the problems. However, none of the e-mail id or phone number were correct. Investors clinic tried other ways out to contact them but, not to surprise, all complaints were fake. This is a clear justification on its own that Investors clinic is not fraud but those who are trying to insult and defame it as fraud are themselves frauds. May be Investor clinic’s smart growth, with thousands of satisfied customers, has made its competitors to do such actions and squel Investors clinic fraud. If these fake people will continue to do such a cheap tricks, then Investors clinic may have to consider taking a legal action against these frauds. In real estate business , the first reputed name comes is “Investors clinic” who are geniune.

Foreign direct investment in India refused for the third consecutive month in March, dropping by 11 per cent year-on-year to 1.07 billion Dollars in the backdrop of financial havoc in Europe. The country received 1.2 billion Dollars in FDI in the consistent period last year. During the financial year 2010—11, the inflows droped by 25 % to 19.43 billion Dollars, which makes it vital for the country to fine tune its policies to attract overseas investment, sources told.

The FDI during 2009—10 had totalled 25.83 billion Dollars during 2009—10, which, too, was lower than 27.33 billion Dollars invested in the previous financial year. “The numbers are not enough, the govt. has to take more steps,” sources said. The Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion, the nodal agency on FDI policies, has initiated steps, including merging of all related rules and regulations into a single document. In January and February FDI drowned by 48 per cent (1.2 billion Dollars) and 30 per cent (1.04 billion Dollars), respectively, over the same period previous year. The sectors that attracted FDI include services, telecommunications, housing and real estate, construction activities and power.

The major investors in India are US, UK, Singapore, Netherlands, Japan, Germany and UAE. Foreign institutional Investors have invested 3.6 billion Dollars since January 01 till May 5, 2011.

MUMBAI

An apartment, measuring approx. 3000 sqft, recently was dealt for about Rupees 20 crore on Carmichael Road. This large apartment has a huge entrance lobby, living room with an adjoining dining area and a separate study room. The master bedroom has an en suit bathroom with a walk-in closet and beautiful sea views. The apartment has separate servant’s quarters and a covered and an open car parking. The building is equipped with amenities like a garden, pool table and a gym . Carmichael Road is one of the most posh localities of Mumbai with several oldstyle bungalows and apartment buildings.

PUNE

Lately, a 3-BHK apartment was sold at a price of Rupees 44,33,000 in Rich Woods, a new project by Rama Developers in Chikhli in the city. The price included of the car parking charges . Rich Woods is a project of 180 large 2 & 3 BHK apartments in 07 imposing towers with high-tech amenities and facilities. Chikhli is directly accessible from the Nashik highway and has great connectivity to the Pimpri Chinchwad area. This Group has made its mark in the city with two well executed projects to its credit. The base rates are being quoted at  3,100 per sqft, while the general residential rates in the area range between Rs 2,600 per sqft and Rs 3,100 per sqft. Chikhli area has grown as a feasible residential locality. It has become a perfect option for investors as well as ultimate users.

DELHI

In a latest deal in Delhi , a 600 square yard plot was dealt at a range of Rupees 61.5 crore. This old Ground+01 property is located in Shanti Niketan which is  a rich residential micromarket in South Delhi. The property has been purchased by a well-known builder of NCR for redevelopment. The builder plans to build a Ground+Three storied structure and construction activity will start soon. The builder has already started marketing the project . The first floor is been quoted for Rs 20 crore, the second floor for Rupees 20.5 crore, and the third floor for Rs 21 crore. The project commands a premium in terms of price, due to its South Delhi location which is well connected to all the major business complexes in the NCR and most of the foreign embassies are in the neighbourhood in the location.

The hike in interest rates may have a waving effect on the real estate sector with construction cost moving up. This announcement by RBI will have a negative impact on real estate developers already spining under pressure from lack of capital from financial institutions. It comes as bad news even for those looking to buy a house as loans would become more costlier. Several banks like ICICI Bank, SBI and IDBI indicated that they would increase interest rates on loans in near future.

Pradeep Jain, Chairman of Credai said, “The 50 BPs hike is harsh. This will deepen the cash crunch scenario which industry is facing right now. Taking out funds of the market cannot be the only solution to overcome inflation. The current pressure on prices is global in character and reflects supply side bottleneck. The solution is not monetary tightening. To me it is surprising and anti-housing policy.” Ashok Tyagi, group CFO, DLF said, “hiking interest rate has never been a tool to fight inflation. This could start impacting supply side investment.”

NEW DELHI: The Income Tax Department became one of the largest purchasers of real estate properties last year as it embarked on a mega expansion fling to spread its establishment for enhancing taxpayer services in the country.

The department, which has recently started a special drive to check frequency of black money in the country’s real estate sector, has acquired high-worth properties worth about 2,500 crore in more than 20 cities in the last year alone.

The largest possession by the department has been at the cost of more than 2,000 crore for the purchase of office space in the civic centre near the national capital’s marketing hub, Connaught Place. The civic centre is the tallest building in Delhi. The department has likewise purchased 56 staff quarters worth more than 89 crore at the pricey Bandra-Kurla complex in Mumbai.

“All the purchases have been done in order to inflate taxpayer facilities and to provide better living and working facilities for the department staff. No doubt the department’s purchasing power has been the largest in the last financial year.”  The  department, with these possessions in the real estate sector has probably become the largest government department to acquire and create real estate in the country, the Income Tax commissioner said.

The shopping bucket of the department, has other high-profile acquires and possessions like creation of a training centre and hostel facilities for new comers of the Indian Revenue Service (IRS) at their alma mater – National Academy of Direct
Taxes (NADT) in Nagpur at the cost of Rupees100 crore.

In Chandigarh, the I-T department has purchased 5,000 acres of land for office space at the cost of more than Rupees 33 crore, a centralized air conditioned I-T office at Udaipur at the cost of more than Rupees 16 crore, acquisition of land for creation of office building for the department in Mumbai at about Rupees 23 crore and land measuring more than 9,500 sq m at Jamnagar, Gujarat for office building at  Rupees 8 crore.

Another set includes office building at Siliguri for 5.5 crore and a separate creation of 49 residential sectors and guest houses at Siliguri in excess of 10 crore. One more big acquirement by the department has been made at Muzzafarpur in Bihar for building staff quarters at the cost of more than 21 crore.

The department has also been sustained by the success of direct taxes (income tax) collection which was about 4.50 lakh crore in the financial year 2010-11. Despite the department paying 72,000 crore in refunds, the stout direct tax collection is the highest in any financial year.