Indian realty has come a long way from being unorganized and scattered to being regulated (ratified by cabinet) and contributing 5% to the GDP. Commercial and residential boom in realty sector has partially been an outcome of growing FDI and investments from consolidated developer groups. Real estate substantially relies upon the mounting demand of housing and increasing disposable incomes of working class. However, many niche sectors of realty array remains undiscovered till date.

Housing for elders is a pleasant addition in sector of housing in India. The elders owing to their age and vulnerability have come across to be the novel target for realtors to cash upon. Retirement housing in India is an awaited relief as unlike the west, this segment of society has no social security bills that they can avail.  The realtors have projected this sector to have immense potential in next few years. Demographic composition of India is in favor of young strata as more than 55% of population is below the age of 35 years. However, Jones Lang LaSalle accounts that by 2025, the seniors above 60 years of age will be 173 million in count. The senior housing is $25 billion industry worldwide and India stands to be comparatively younger than US and Japan. This implies the growth in this sector as the age graph for seniors is supposed to grow more than 100% in the next decade.  

The target buyers from elder section of society are a mix of people from all walks of life. Specifically targeting them, developers are planning to cater the senior citizens with amenities, not delivered till date. Intricately designing these homes, the builders are providing from hooters to antiskid tiles for safety and security of elderlies. Thus, practices of construction and price mechanism in real estate are ordained to undergo a paradigm shift while catering the elder citizens. These schemes and projects aim the group of citizens with limited capital and no recurring source of income. Therefore, retirement housing will witness the builders taking special care for social security of citizens following gradation of western countries.

Location and specifications for such projects will be a critical tangent that would affect the investment prospects for builders. The target group of buyers will predominantly comprise of end-users. So, the developers have to strategize localizing these residential projects where land is cheaper yet the connectivity is seamless. Proximity to hospitals and recreational centers is exigent for comfortable habilitation of old people. Financing will also be tricky for this segment as the risk factor climbs up parallel to the growing age. However, collaboration between the developers and NBFCs is seen as one of the solutions where developers would play key role.

Looking at the demographic mix and forecast for next decade, real estate in India has a lot to cater and flourish. Realty sector is currently cashing upon growing incomes of working class. However, real estate would overcome speculative investments with retirement housing projects which will stabilize with bulk of end-users.

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Are you thinking of buying an apartment in the hottest locations in Kolkata? The following information will give you a snapshot of the hottest real estate destinations in Kolkata. Explore the viability of different locations in Kolkata and make an informed choice:

Behala

Behala is one of the best known suburbs in Kolkata. The locality offers a blend of modern living with the never-dying traditional nerve of the city. Spread into the sprawling lush green surrounding and open spaces, Behala offers great property buying deals in South Kolkata. Being located at the crossroads of the city, commuting is easy from Behala. Herein, you can find a wide choice of residential apartments, penthouses, duplexes, and villas, fully-equipped with all kinds of amenities. Luring all middle and upper classes, Behala is also a suitable host for the planned IT hub in the southwestern suburb. All these factors evolve Behala as a promising locality for buying a dream home in Kolkata.

Rajarhat

Rajarhat is a well-developed township located near the Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose International Airport. The area is increasingly becoming the next IT destination as many of the prominent multinationals are setting their premises in Rajarhat. This locality houses many of high-profile industrialists of national and international repute. You can find some of the best residential projects offering a wide choice of apartments, villas, flats and duplexes. Rajarhat is the host of new residential townships that is extended to the extreme southern part of the city, inviting a number of real estate developers to construct mesmerizing buildings.

Garia

Garia is another posh locality in South Kolkata. Best known as the retirement hub of this traditional city, Garia has seen a dramatic demographic transition in the last few years. Offering a range of housing options amidst the natural beauty, the locality is flocked in by both occupants and elder populace. Sensing the craze for residential properties in Garia, eminent real estate developers have unveiled lucrative residential options in Garia.

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Lowering interest slabs for home loans and increasing demand of budget-houses has interestingly placed the prices of homes in India as most affordable in last 3 decades reported by the leading bank, HDFC. This data contests the statistics of rising inflation and density of population in the country. Moreover, demand for luxury residential units and posh commercial addresses in upmarket locations have lately been the vogue in this sector. However, this research has imposing facts that have been incorporated into a comparative analysis report, elaborating present price structure in Indian realty.

Owing to the growing number of educated and skilled class of workers, the employment statistics have come a long way from where it stood a decade ago. More number of employees in the earning class of society have disposable incomes now.  To complement this, NBFCs, housing cooperative sector, public private partnerships (PPP) and other joint ventures are the novel stakeholders in Indian real estate.

The affordability quotient accounts for the annual income of buyer and the cost of house. Now looking at the income levels, there has been a substantial swell especially in the last 5 years, correspondingly more number of people aspire to own residential units. Supportive to the growing income, there has been an acute demand for cheaper houses in the 1 & 2 cities in India. Revamped land use policies in favor of commercial and residential use have complimented the ongoing augmentation of construction spree in the realty sector.

FY 2013 would rely on the demand-supply mechanism and the favorable demographics in India. With more than half of the population below 50 years, the demand side is envisioned to be bullish. As far as the demographics stand today, majority of the target population for real estate sector would include the working class. Currently, home loan interest rates are stabling at lower levels and the banking sector is offering various incentives. Therefore, buyers have been empowered with choices of investments and attractive returns in the present set-up. Moreover, the tax incentives also affect the mortgage loan’s interest rates, settling down in favor of the buyers.

The role played by the banking sector has been of utmost prominence in the recent past. Payment plans like subvention and joint funding schemes by banks and NBFCs have cheered the masses. The demand for residences is expected to be robust with investors underwriting projects right at time of launch. The push factors to the graph of realty’s growth have seen consolidation in the years from 2010 till date.  They have worked in tandem to the government rulings and regional topographic features which are determinant for investments and growth in any sector.

Developers bank on the government measures to reduce the inflation rate and rationalization of pricing in the economy. In conclusion, the economic and demographic spectacle looks favorable for the real estate sector providing there is enough support by the government to sustain the development.

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To begin with the Good news; the Indian real estate market is expected to perform better in FY 2013-14 in comparison to FY 2012-13. According to the connoisseurs of real estate, that breaches the general fear of the ongoing slowdown, the Indian real estate market is expected to be flooded with more number of low-cost housing units in the FY 2013-14. This upscale graph is purely inspired by increased employment opportunities and rise in the number of young home buyers in the Delhi NCR region.

FY 2012-13: A Glance

Owning to the changing macroeconomic environment that kept promising buyers and investors in a dilemma in deciding on property buying, the residential segment of the Indian real estate market did not have a good year in 2012. In fact, other key factors such as mounting interest rates, increased labor costs and high inflation played a vital role in influencing buyers’ sentiments and subsequently led to a fall in sales. The Year Ahead in FY 2013-14

Thanks to the changing market scenario, the downtrend seems to be stabilizing at the moment. With the announcement of a reduction in interest rates, more buyers will be encouraged to explore the home loan options available today. In fact, favorable macroeconomic conditions are pushing back the demand in residential property market. This happy picture is not only reflected in the residential segment but in the commercial property segment too. Sensing the on-going market mood, there will be a hike in prices of office space and office rentals too. This will have an impact the overall performance of the economy.

However, reports from Cushman and Wakefield suggest that there will be a setback in the returns on investment in the FY 2013-14. This year’s returns from residential real estate were calculated at 10-20%. The percentage of returns on residential investment was 30-40% in the FY 2012-13. The slide in the return percentage is primarily caused by the slowdown in the economy, the report explains. This downward push in the returns on the residential segment is also due to the piling up of the inventory of unsold property. The cautious buying approach and investor sensibility across major micro markets in all cities has brought down the return percentage in the current fiscal year.

In summation, it is expected that the real estate investors and buyers can look for a positive picture in FY 2013-14. In fact, the commercial property segment will get a boost and there will be a considerable demand for office spaces, retail spaces and others.

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The rising population and escalating costs of residential projects in India is a foremost concern not only to the estate development council but to the developers and buyers as well. It is imperative to consider the complications being faced by housing sector and implement the reforms required to bridge the demand and supply gaps.

Growing population has been a consistent feature in this part of the world, however the mounting cost of residential projects is alarming as no reprieve is foreseen in the near future. A detailed analysis of statutory norms in the sector implies that the red-tapism has been a major cause of growing cost to affordable accommodation. Fore mostly, conforming to prescribed rules has proved redundant to rationalize the cost structure and hindered decision-making procedures in the industry. The unbearable price level in realty market is a consequence of oppressively complex and time-consuming procedures required to gain bureaucratic approvals.  Secondly, in most of states, present FAR (floor area ratio) and population density norms do not support the creation of affordable housing.

Hence forth, the government is in dire straits of formulating fresh procedural statutes which would relieve home buyers from the burden of costs, transferred by developers on them. This can be done by implementing certain reforms such as implementation of single window clearance. It will help developers get quick sanctions compared to two to three-years’ time involved under the present system of approvals. The developers can save up to 35 to 40 percent of project cost if approval timeline comes down to 2-3 months.

Due to FAR and density norms, the builders are obligated to avail hefty loans in ventures of building bigger-sized residential units. Moreover, since high inflation and the mounting cost of construction have been rampant in recent past, it has been unfeasible for builders to create affordable housing. Thus, if, the FAR, density norms are relaxed and single window clearance is implemented, the land and approval cost will come down substantially and that would appeal developers to create affordable housing. 

A systematic revision of land-use policy and a subsequent demarcating of the up-coming residential pockets can be a significant reprieve for buyers.  Whereas, an upward revision of population density norms and FAR can help the developers accommodate more number of residential units which are smaller in size and suitable to low and mid income strata of society.

In the recent past, owing to the liquidity crunch, developers have adopted an approach to invest in building smaller units at lesser prices. Affordable Housing segment is a vogue in the real estate market for the last few months. Banks are now eager to finance apposite projects, provided that monitoring and risk management is right in place. On the other hand, microfinance institutions (MFIs) and non-bank financial companies (NBFCs) can play a crucial role by injecting liquidity in the small and sub-urban residential projects.  Also the government can be encouraging by entering into joint ventures with private developers and set a precedent for future of real estate in India. 

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Samarjit Singh featured on 'Smart Advice' — a real estate show aired on NDTV Profit on May 11, 2013. The show discusses the real estate query of home buyers and provides effective solutions as well. IndiaHomes is a leading real estate advisory that offers buyers all the detailed information on Mumbai Properties.

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Samarjit Singh talks about changing face of the Indian real estate scenario. Smart buyers are now considering online portals as a reliable medium to check the details of property options in their preferred locations. IndiaHomes offers exclusive information about the lucrative property options in Bangalore market. Check http://www.indiahomes.com/india-prope… for more information.

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Green is the buzz word today. It is the most common word that you encounter in every walk of life and home. Truly,  the  concept  of green  homes is getting  popular with every  passing  day. It  has  been  seen as  the need of  the hour since it promotes efficient energy use and assists buildings with  the optimum allocation  of  resources.  The  use  of  natural  elements  like  energy, materials  and  concentrating  on  the improvement of human health through better architecture and aesthetic design are some of the salient eatures of the constructions today. 

Owing  to  the  fact  that green  housing is well-accepted  the world  over, India,  one  of  the  front  runners in  real estate is also  showing its enthusiasm in  this  direction.  This inclination  has worked  to improve the quality  of  human life in every  sphere. Gurgaon  has  been identified as  one  of  those  cities  that are keeping  alive  the  concept  of  green  buildings.  Better  known  as  the  Millennium  City, Gurgaon today houses business parks, IT parks and many others that are constructed on the lines of green housing. Other than ensuring an improved human life, the concept of green housing has also led to the shortage of various necessities like water, power supply and other resources.

Green Architecture: What is it?

Green  architecture  is  that  architecture  that  promotes  solar  power  generation  unit is  used and  design based  on  zero-waste.  It  also  uses  a  defined  water-harvesting  mechanism  that  stores  rainwater  to recharge groundwater. Green buildings feature many concepts such as the wide usage of solar energy, energy-efficient  heating,  cooling  &  lighting,  recycling  of  wastewater,  effective  waste  management, rainwater harvesting and the preservation of bio-diversity.

Developers Excited About Green Concept:

Gurgaon is  a  happening  city  as  many  people  from  different  parts  of  the  globe  are  shifting  here. This  transformation  of  demand  and  supply  has  led  to an  expansion  of the Gurgaon skyline. Various developers in Gurgaon are bringing forth green concept in their construction plan, taking care of all the possible little detail that helps in improving human living. Though expensive, green buildings will fetch remarkable returns in the near future.

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