Indian Property

by Kishor Pate, CMD – Amit Enterprises Housing Ltd. Thanks to the fact that prices in the residential property sector have bottomed out across most cities, real estate as an investment class is back on the radar. The investment angle aside, buying a property is also on every end user's wish list. While looking for a suitable property either for investment or personal use, there are many factors that should be on one’s checklist before arriving at any decision. One way or the other, location plays an important role in all of them: Look for a safe neighborhood Certainly, you should look for the basic amenities that will provide comfort and convenience to your family or tenants. However, it is even more important to gauge the safety of the neighbourhood. A safe neighbourhood is one where one can move about freely and not remain confined indoors, regardless of the time of day. Pertaining to today’s job environment and also social preferences in terms of enjoying the night

By Ashutosh Limaye, Head - Research & Real Estate Intelligence Service, JLL India There is a lot of opacity in India’s real estate market. The industry is highly fragmented, and availability of data/ information in the public domain is limited. Moreover, the real estate industry is very locally orientated and in India, with every market behaving in its own unique way. In fact, there is more diversity in Indian real estate than in most other countries. Nevertheless, mapping the terrain and making sense of it is vital for investors and end users, corporate occupiers and developers, and this is where international property consultants (IPCs) like JLL come in.  It is important for all real estate stakeholders to be able to understand and adapt to local market dynamics, and at the same time remain attuned to global trends. All these factors highlight the importance of market research consultants in today’s market. Thanks to these consultants and their deployment of expert teams to

By Sarita Hunt, Managing Director – Chennai & Coimbatore, JLL India Average city-level price forecasted to rise by about 2% this year Known to be a market driven more by end-user demand than speculative investors, Chennai has never seen runaway price escalations unlike some of the more speculative markets in India. As the southern city matures, the size of its residential market has been expanding over the past few years. The residential market witnessed a price appreciation of 2.2% (y-o-y) in 2015 and is expected to see about 2% price hike in 2016. Many sceptics were expecting prices to be in the negative range at the end of the year. However, the office market witnessed a spike in demand by about 33% and this had a direct correlation with the residential prices which also witnessed a marginal growth. The demand remained stable in the middle and low- middle segments where the affordability was higher. Meanwhile, the luxury condominium demand dropped in 2015 as a result

By Anuj Puri, Chairman & Country head, JLL India The retail real estate industry in India is gradually maturing and going towards the next wave of evolution. With the rapidly changing aspirations of Indian consumers, influx of international brands - and, importantly, increased competition from e-commerce, there is now a pressing need for physical retailers to evolve. Within this process, shopping outlets will have to provide a more specialized shopping experience. The Indian Mall Arrives Let’s start from the beginning. The first Indian malls started springing up in the 1990s, and from then on began more or less taking over the retail landscape. These shopping malls were suburban, lacked adequate parking facilities, and had a standard line-up of mass arcade chain stores and food courts featuring all the usual suspects. Until then, department stores and high streets were the main shopping attraction and provided consumers with restricted options. With the liberalisation and

By Ashwinder Raj Singh, CEO - Residential Services, JLL India All indicators are towards a convincing revival by the end of the year India’s residential property market has been going through turbulent times for past few years. However, things are looking up now with changes in the economy and various initiatives announced by the Government. To understand how various market forces have been making an impact, it is essential to look at the overall economic scenario in the country. Economic Performance: ·         FY 2015-16 saw Indian economy become the fastest-growing in the world with a GDP growth of 7.6%. This, despite adverse global economic circumstances that put a lot of pressure on earnings, exports and overall development. ·         The Government was able to contain the fiscal deficit to the budgetary target of 3.9%, and is working on lowering it further to 3.5% in FY 2016-17 ·         RBI has cut the key interest rates by 1.5% since January 2015, an

By Anuj Puri, Chairman & Country Head, JLL India Demand in 2016 pegged at around 10 mn sq ft, supply at 8-8.5 mn sq ft Bengaluru, which has a total stock of 96 million sq ft of grade-A (non-captive) office space, is currently staring at a shortfall in the supply of office space. Barely 4-5% of the total space is vacant for leasing as the tech city has witnessed strong leasing activity in the last few years. Even the existing vacancy is mostly in peripheral areas. In 2015, 14-15 million sq ft got leased out. This includes a good volume of pre-committed space too, which will be occupied over the next two-three years. Interestingly, the trend of leasing remains strong. Although there is demand for 10 mn sq ft, supply of only 8-8.5 million sq ft non-captive office space is expected to come up in 2016. Around 4 million sq ft were leased out by occupiers in 1Q16 alone. Compared to the total leased area in 2015, completion in the city stood at 7.2 mn sq ft last year. Bengaluru