Bangalore Real Estate

"For the infrastructure development of Bangalore, the state government will spend a total of Rs 5,325 crore to improve city roads and footpaths, construction of fly-overs, service roads, over/under bridges, water tanks, 10 multi-storey vehicle parking centres and on the ongoing metro rail project," Yeddyurappa said during his Budget presentation.

Noting that about Rs 6,000 crore had been spent on the city's infrastructure during the last two years, the chief minister told the legislative assembly that the state government would invest a whopping Rs 18,872 crore over the next three years to improve the transport system by completing the Metro rail project, launching a mono rail and providing drinking water and drainage facility to new areas.

"The state government is prepared to share 50 per cent of the capital required to operate local trains in the city with the central government through the railway ministry by connecting the various stations catering to long-distance trains and building new stations to provide faster and hassle-free travel for the people," Yeddyurappa told the members.

The budget has allocated Rs 600 crore as the state's share of the Metro project, which is in addition to Rs 1,600 crore spent over the last two years in the form of capital and loan. With 34 per cent of the people in the state living in cities and the urban-rural ratio widening every year, the chief minister said there was a need to formulate a systematic plan for providing infrastructure facilities in urban areas.

The budget proposes to spend Rs 600 crore to improve civic amenities in towns and cities across the state under the 'Mukhyamanthri Nagarothana Yojane'.

The best part is, to just share one's knowledge of the real estate scenario in a city like Bangalore, the consultants/experts get paid anywhere between $300 and $500 an hour. Over and above that, if they are required to fill in a market survey, he gets paid around $200 per survey form.

Farook Mahmood, CMD of Silverline Group and the president of the Bangalore Realtors' Association, has been flooded with calls from overseas buyers, who pay $500 an hour for an update on what's happening in the city.

Mahmood, who has been dealing in Bangalore's real estate market for the past 30 years, says that "this trend of overseas clients paying per hour or for a service is a recent phenomenon." According to investment bankers, this demand for knowledge from local real estate consultants is also happening in other markets such as Mumbai, Delhi and Chennai.

Real estate consultants say they receive around two/ three calls a month, with some consultants doing more. "I get calls one month in advance, where a date and time is fixed for telephonic interview to happen," says Mahmood.

Questions frequently asked are about the real estate climate whether or not it's a suitable time to invest; about specific micro markets within the city; about developers and their standing in the market; and the trends in the commercial and residential space.

One such global firm actively calling real estate consultants is Gerson Lehrman Group. The company is a network of consultants, physicians, scientists, engineers, attorneys, market researchers, and other professionals from around the world.

"Most of the local property consultants and experts have a very sound knowledge of the local market, they have great access to developers and know what's going on," says an investment banker.

Godrej Industries' real estate arm has lined up Rs 2,000 crore of investments for developing five projects over 30 million sq ft in Bangalore, the DNA has reported.

According to the report, these projects will be a mix of residential and commercial ventures and would be developed in partnership with other investors. The company has already launched its 2 million sq ft residential project -- Woodsman Estate -- and will soon start its second one, which is joint venture with late actor Feroze Khan and his son Fardeen Khan for gated villas.

"Property development is a major focus area for us. We are also betting big on affordable housing costing less than Rs 20 lakh," said Adi Godrej, chairman, Godrej group.

The firm, which operates on a JV model with land owners, recently signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to develop 50 acres of land in North Bangalore. Godrej, however, did not share details of the project. The company is also developing a project with actor Sanjay Khan's Skystar group.

Source: Realty Plus Godrej Properties in Rs 2,000 crore Bangalore plan

The company wants to keep the asset monetisation option open through sale of land. "We don't mind buying land, creating a basic infrastructure, both legally and physically, and making it marketable," said J C Sharma, managing director, Sobha Developers.

The company plans to look at it as a normal business activity. "Since we know how to buy land, we could also look at selling lands as a normal business activity," Sharma added.

With sales picking up this year, the company's liquidity position too looks better. The company has sold 2.5 lakh sq ft in the first quarter, 3.9 lakh sq ft in the second quarter and 8 lakh sq ft in the third quarter, said Sharma. "Incremental sales have resulted in an improved liquidity position, and this coupled with improved cash flows has given us the comfort of not only meeting our obligation but also launch new projects," Sharma added.

Meanwhile, the company plans to launch eight projects -- four in Bangalore, two in Coimbatore and one each in Chennai and Pune.

Only 3,000 units are expected to come up in the first phase and the company plans to invest Rs 3,000 crore on the projects, said Sushil Mantri, MD, Mantri Developers.

Mantri also plans to launch four new projects in Bangalore to address the mid-income segment in the next six months. Demand for apartments in the Rs 30-40 lakh range is expected to spurt by 10-15 per cent in Bangalore alone, said Mantri.

With only 1,200 apartments expected to hit the market in the coming months, Mantri hopes to cash in on this demand spurt. "There has been a change in customer profile. Earlier, demand was driven mainly by IT professionals, which led to a price rise," Mantri added.

At present, Mantri has six projects in different stages of construction in Hyderabad, Bangalore and Chennai.

Meanwhile, the company launched its high-end residential project -- Prestige White Meadows -- at Whitefield, Bangalore on Thursday. Sprawled over 28 acres, the project comprises 214 sky villas in four high rise towers and 66 villas set in scenic grounds.

Speaking on the occasion, Irfan Razack, chairman and managing director, Prestige Group, said, "We are launching several projects within the next two quarters this year across sectors including residential, commercial, retail and hospitality. We are targeting cities in south India like Chennai, Mysore, Mangalore, Cochin, Hyderabad and Bangalore. Total investment of about Rs 7,000 crore will be made for these projects and the funds will be generated through internal accruals (almost 50-60 per cent), bank debt and IPO."

In the residential domain the group has seven projects in the pipeline with a total investment of about Rs 2,000 crore. These projects will be a mix of luxury, mid-segment and affordable housing.

Source: Realty plus Prestige earmarks Rs 7,000 crore to launch new projects

Bangalore's real estate has seen it all... the IT boom of the early 90s, the stabilisation at the turn of the century and more recently the real estate crash. Not unscathed, the industry now is steadily climbing the growth charts. A home of a crore is no longer the privilege of the rich but rather the want of the average IT manager. Apartments rule the roost and to give the average builder competition, big names in the development fraternity now incorporate shopping complexes, multiplexes and even schools and clinics into their projects. Present day real estate present independent homes styled on European and western world lines... your very own piece of the world in Namma Bengaluru.

A step up for developers
The construction industry is not a fledgling one. Until recently the sector was filled with fragmented players and lacked a corporate approach and look. It is only now that the construction industry has taken on a more corporate and organised approach. This gives it better potential to get into real estate funding venture.

Those observing the real estate market find that the market for real estate finance has grown in leaps and bounds in the recent past. Funding for construction of newer housing projects was earlier accrued by developers pre-selling their houses. Potential buyers had to shell out the money, often times before the ground-breaking ceremony even took place.

Source: www.deccanherald.com By Ruth Dsouza Prabhu Now, tie-ups a realty

• A win-win situation

• Minimising risks

• Cost involved

In the next financial year, it plans to raise another Rs 250 crore through further monetisation of its land assets, the DNA has reported.

JC Sharma, managing director of Sobha Developers Ltd, said his company was able to sell 431 units in last quarter and 1.45 million sq ft in the nine-month ended December. For the current fiscal, Shobha is expecting to sell 2.2 million sq ft and another 2 million sq ft in the next.

"We will have six residential projects in the next 12 months over 8 million sq ft. These will be in Bangalore, Chennai, Coimbatore, Mysore and the NCR districts. Total worth of the projects would be around Rs 1,500-1,600 crore. We plan to monetise around 100-125 acres through land sale," Sharma was quoted as saying.

According to the report, the company is currently working on 27 projects and expects to complete 1.4 million sq ft of residential projects in the next 3-4 months. The cash required to complete the ongoing projects would be close to Rs 971 crore.

The company, which primarily focuses on premium segment, is planning to launch projects in the value home segment by changing its specifications, the report added.

"The firm has decided not to go ahead with the mall project. It had earlier planned to build a retail mall on this particular land parcel, but has now decided to hive it off," the official added.

According to the report, the move once again highlights the Gurgaon-based company's travails in the southern states. DLF has had a run in the two states of Karnataka and Tamil Nadu where it had announced projects in the heady days of 2006-07. The developer had pulled out of Bidadi Knowledge City project, estimated to cost a whopping Rs 60,000 crore, last year, citing difficult market conditions. With the project failing to take off, Karnataka government returned Rs 400 crore on May Day last year to DLF.

DLF has other projects in Karnataka such as a township in Bidadi (9,000 acres), development project in Jigani Industrial area (100 acres), 2 hotels in Mysore (around 5acres) and a retail mall in Whitefield (around 15 acres). Difficult market conditions have made the realty major's Chennai project `Garden City' run into trouble, with the realtor announcing price cuts. In February 2009, DLF had reduced sticker prices for its existing customers to Rs 2,500-Rs 2,600 per sq ft against the launch price of Rs 2,800-Rs 3,200. DLF had to refund money to around 200 buyers last year.

Source: Realty Plus DLF sells 15-acre Bangalore property for 120 crore

"The firm has decided not to go ahead with the mall project. It had earlier planned to build a retail mall on this particular land parcel, but has now decided to hive it off," said an official privy to the development.

The move once again highlights the Gurgaon-based company's travails in the southern states. DLF has had a run in with the two states of Karnataka and Tamil Nadu where it announced projects in the heady days of 2006-07. The developer has pulled out of the Bidadi Knowledge City project, estimated to cost a whopping Rs 60,000 crore last year citing difficult market conditions. With the project failing to take off, the Karnataka government returned Rs 400 crore on May day last year to DLF.

DLF has other projects in Karnataka such as a township in Bidadi (9,000 acre), development project in Jigani industrial area (100 acre), two hotels in Mysore (around 5 acre) and a retail mall in Whitefield (around 15 acre). Difficult market conditions has made realty major's Chennai project `Garden City' run into trouble, with the realtor announcing price cuts.

Source: Economic Times By Sobia Khan & Shruti Sabharwal DLF nixes mall plans, offloads Bangalore property

Unaffordable Housing?

• Around 15% price escalation in last six months hitting demand for affordable housing projects

• Low appetite for risk, commute distance or drawbacks in infrastructure is holding back buyers

• Perceptions of affordable housing differs across cities and income groups

• Price is a starting  point, but most consumers are also seeking quality and infrastructure

    With demand rising for bigger projects, there's fear that builders may soon move away from the `affordable' sector.

"Property prices have risen 15-20 per cent in the past six months. If there is a rise in home prices, people will get out of the market, as it is the middle-income group that is driving sales," warns Renu Sud Karnad, managing director, HDFC ltd. As property prices firm up, there's a ripple effect on the lower segment. Now, there are fears that a further 25-30 per cent rise in residential property prices might strangle the demand from those seeking low-priced housing.

The apprehension seems justified. During the year-long liquidity crunch from mid-2008, the government had stepped in to offer a helping hand: it partnered private development and provided incentives for affordable housing in the sub-Rs 20 lakh bracket. Yet, either there aren't enough appealing projects available or there aren't enough takers for `affordable' housing in cities like Mumbai, Greater Noida or New Gurgaon. "During the downturn, when supply was more than the demand, there was a decline in prices," says a spokesperson for developer Parsvnath. "Now, as the demand has started picking up, there's a cascading impact on the prices."

Source: www.outlookindia.com By Lola Nayar Reaching The Roof: There's A Cloud Over Middle-Class Dreams Of Affordable Homes

Right now, there's no visible hint yet of a full-scale construction.

Bangalore-based QVC Realty Co. was formed in early 2007, at the peak of the realty boom in India. It announced its project, QVC Hills, in November 2008 after it got a funding of about $100 million (Rs455 crore today) from IL&FS Investment Managers Ltd. It had priced its villas at Rs1.5-3.4 crore then.

Prakash Gurbaxani, founder and chief executive of QVC Realty, said the firm needs to raise more funds for its maiden project, delayed by a year, and others in the pipeline.

"On hindsight, we shouldn't have committed in such huge projects--which typically have long gestation periods--at the beginning," said Gurbaxani, who spent nearly 15 years in the US construction sector and was previously CEO of TSI Ventures (India) Pvt. Ltd--a joint venture (JV) between New York-based Tishman Speyer Properties and private equity (PE) firm ICICI Venture, a subsidiary of ICICI Bank Ltd.

Even after the developer scaled down a part of its signature project in 2009 to make it more price-friendly at Rs72-94 lakh a villa, it only got a lukewarm response from investors, say property consultants close to the project.

Prestige has a 45 per cent stake in the development -- a 33-storey complex, with six levels of parking, multiple tennis courts, swimming pools, and the additional benefit of the liquor baron for a neighbor, the Mint has reported.

Mallya will take the top three floors of the building, which will have 125 flats of 3,000 sq ft and 6,000 sq ft.

According to the report, the development is already making waves in a city that remains a conservative and price-sensitive realty market where flats sell for Rs 3,000-4,000 per sq ft. In contrast, apartments in K2, which is a working name for the project and may be changed later, will sell for at least Rs 20,000 per sq ft, say property consultants. At that rate, a 3,000 sq ft apartment will cost Rs 6 crore and a 6,000 sq ft one Rs 12 crore.

Source: Realty Plus Mallya, Prestige Estates join hands to build luxury apartment in Bangalore

Good times have rolled in for globe-trotting executives. As business travel is picking up, the hospitality sector is back on its feet after a hiatus. The rebound in corporate bookings has put a raft of service apartments back in green. A clutch of realty players in Bangalore are looking to add more keys cashing in on this demand.
According to real estate consultancy Cushman & Wakefield's hospitality report, service apartments are 20% cheaper vis-à-vis hotels for long stays.

Mumbai-based real estate major Sunil Mantri Group plans to enter management contracts with 4-star and 5-star hotels to launch service apartments across the country. This is included in the Rs 2,000 crore tranche the group has lined up for the current year. It also wants to set up 3-star service apartments under its own banner. The firm plans to have an inventory of 750 rooms across Mumbai, Goa, Ahmedabad and Pune. The projects will be rolled out by 2010-11. Param Desai, a research analyst with Mumbai-based Angel Broking, said there is a demand for service apartments in cities like Delhi, which has a large base of non-IT clients. He also added that Bangalore and Kochi would take a while to see a revival in demand.

Average market occupancies for the serviced apartment market are likely to grow from an estimated 55% in 2009 to approximately 72% by 2010. The room inventory would increase from 1,995,000 rooms in 2009 to 2,485,000 in 2010, stated the report.

Global hospitality chain Accor had entered a management contract with the city-based Brigade Group to launch its mid-scale brand Mercure Homestead Residences. The 126 suite service apartment will be managed by Accor and owned by Brigade, which has invested Rs 100 crore in the venture. Kailash Advani, CEO of the group, said, "With a revival in the economy, I am bullish on the demand for service apartments."

Source: dnaindia.com Realty cos check into service apartments, add keys

It started with a big bang. Affordable housing ventures by popular realty groups promised what the middle-class could not even dream of. Owning a flat in one of the metros, at rates which were within their reach, was a dream too good to be true. But after the initial blitzkrieg, the real picture emerging is far from promising.

Here is a view of the current affordable realty landscape. Bangalore-based Golden Gate Properties, which planned to launch 2,500 affordable apartments under the Commune brand, has called off its project. The firm, which planned to invest Rs 2,000 crore in its affordable ventures in Bangalore and Hyderabad, has done so mainly because of low bookings, states an employee at the company. The fate of its other ventures in Bangalore and Hyderabad also hangs in limbo.

Similarly, Gurgaon-based Omaxe, which had set up a subsidiary--National Affordable Housing and Infrastructure--to build cheap houses, is yet to launch its Bangalore project. The firm had plans to roll out apartments in the Rs 3-18 lakh range around Bangalore during the first phase. An email query to the company remains unanswered.

Omaxe had announced that it would roll out 10 lakh units across India. But only two projects in Faridabad have taken off. Its plans to invest Rs 8,000 crore in affordable housing projects across India seem to remain only on paper.

And for groups like Ozone, floated by the promoters of Reliance Industries and HDFC Venture Fund, the going has been slow.

Sources say the company has managed to sell just 30% of its apartments (in the range of Rs 29-30 lakh) since its launch in January 2009. Despite the attractive price range, it has sold only 280 of its 912 units in Ozone Evergreen in Bangalore. S Vasudevan, MD, Ozone Group, however, insists that the off-take has not been that slow.

Source: The Economics Times Affordable housing: Boom or bust?

Kotak Realty Fund, an $800 million (Rs3,672 crore) real estate private equity (PE) fund from Kotak Mahindra Group, will invest Rs270 crore to acquire stakes in a Mumbai-based realty firm and a slum rehabilitation project and a Bangalore-based developer, chief executive S. Sriniwasan said.

The fund will spend Rs100 crore to acquire a 60% stake in Star Light Developers Pvt. Ltd and another Rs100 crore for 50% of the slum rehabilitation project undertaken by Ackruti City Ltd near Mumbai's international airport, Sriniwasan said. It will spend Rs70 crore to purchase a 60% stake in Bangalore-based Lalith Gangadhar Constructions Pvt. Ltd.

The PE fund had in 2007 bought an 11% stake, then worth Rs145 crore, in Sunteck Realty Ltd, the parent company of Star Light, which is developing a residential complex in Mumbai's Bandra neighbourhood that's being sold at Rs35,000 per sq. ft. Residential space sells for Rs30,000-35,000 per sq. ft in the area.

Source: Live Mint Kotak Realty Fund to invest Rs270 crore in several projects

As part of its IT initiatives in improving quantity and quality of services, the Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) has deployed the system to ensure real-time monitoring of progress of work at remote construction sites, said Bharat Lal Meena, the BBMP commissioner.

This would help provide proactive alerts by detecting any slippages early and thereby help in applying mid-course correction. The progress of work at these sites can be independently uploaded to the website by the contractor and the inspection agency stationed there, said Meena.

The central monitoring cell can instantly access this data from the website and take appropriate action to minimise time and cost overruns.

Source: Realty Plus New web system to detect erring building contractors in Bangalore

Think real estate and most people think of residential spaces. However, playing a big part in the realty scene is commercial and office space.  This year, the commercial office market in Bangalore took a cautious approach with a relatively limited infusion of new space. "While the beginning of the year saw supply forecasts of approximately eight million sq ft for 2009, only about 60 per cent of this was delivered in the first three calendar quarters (up to September) i.e. 4.8 million sq ft of supply. The last quarter (Oct - Dec) is expected to see a new supply of approx two million sq ft taking the year's total to 6.8 million sq ft - a marked reduction from the last few years.

Supply in 2008 was approx 11.2 million sq ft and in the year 2007 it was 9.6 million sq ft. Office space absorption gained momentum particularly during the third quarter of 2009; however, volumes were much lower compared to the previous years. While absorption up to the third quarter of 2009 was recorded at four million sq ft, the year is expected to close at approx five million sq ft thereby recording 52 per cent drop from the absorption witnessed in 2008. Further, most of the absorption was observed in the older vacant stock and second-generation buildings indicating sufficient available supply in the market," says Sumit Rakshit, Executive Director, Occupier Services, Cushman & Wakefield India.

Market dynamics
Says Goutam Chakraborty, Regional Director, Office Leasing & Sales, Colliers International, "the first two-and-a-half quarters of 2009 were really bad for the commercial space in the city. For the last three to four months, things started getting better. The demand is back in the market. There is a positive sentiment across the market. Multinational companies have some visibility in their growth; now that is translating into restricted demand. In the Bangalore market, we have more than two million sq ft requirement floating at present, which is a very positive sign for the industry." With the economy gaining more confidence, a number of multinationals have again begun to reconsider their expansion plans.

In most cases, these would have been part of their expansion strategy for the last couple of years (that was put on hold owing to the downturn). Rentals in the Bangalore office market segment underwent a drop in the range of 13-19 per cent during 2009 compared to year-end of 2008. Most of the markets in Bangalore peaked in the second half of the year 2008 with the exception of ITPL that peaked in 2005.

"The market is expected to record more small and medium-sized transactions, particularly in the CBD/Off CBD locations. Pre-commitments are likely to be less on account of significant ready supply. Bangalore might see relatively increased activity from other sectors in the times to come. The first two quarters of 2010 are likely to see reduced infusion of new supply. We expect demand to gain momentum by the third quarter of 2010. Existing projects are likely to see accelerated pace of construction activities hereon," adds Chakraborty.

• Office market trends

• Impact of Dubai crisis

• Brightening up

Corporates are re-evaluating their expansion plans that were put on hold. The early signs of this revival are being felt in the real-estate marketespecially in the Bangalore market, primarily driven by the IT and ITeS sectors with much of this demand comes from large corporates and multinationals.

According to Mr Anshuman Magazine, Chairman and Managing Director, CB Richard Ellis (CBRE), real-estate services firm, says, "Corporates have now started to seriously evaluate growth/expansion opportunities and are actively seeking out good deals in the market."

Though some significant transactions have happened in the last few quarters; in general, "closure seems to be slow, with corporate clients choosing to deliberate and sometimes wait till they can negotiate the best possible commercial and non-commercial terms," he adds.

During 2009, the Bangalore commercial office market adopted a cautious approach with relatively limited infusion of new space, says Mr Sumit Rakshit, Executive Director, Occupier Services at Cushman & Wakefield India. The supply forecast for the year was approximately 8 million sq.ft but only about 60 per cent - 4.8 million sq.ft was delivered up to September. The last quarter is expected to see new supply of approximately 2 million sq.ft.

• Late start

• Lease, rental values

"Japanese companies would like to have an industrial park. So, they have asked for an area. We have in-principle agreed to that and will locate," said Raj Kumar Khatri commissioner for industrial development and director for industries and commerce.

A meeting of the dialogue and monitoring committee, chaired by chief secretary S V Ranganath, comprising senior officials from the State Government, five Japanese companies and JETRO (Japan External Trade Organisation), would be held here on December 10 to discuss the modalities.

The committee was formed after a meeting between chief minister B S Yeddyurappa and a Japanese delegation last month to discuss steps necessary for smooth and speedy Japanese investment, officials said.

Khatri said the proposed industrial park for Japanese investment would be on the lines of one existing in Thailand and Neemrana in Haryana.

'Over 50 percent of the flats (3,042) will be built in Bangalore to meet the growing demand for affordable housing,' Shriram managing director M. Murali told reporters here Wednesday.

'With the sentiment turning positive and speculation diminishing, we are seeing genuine buyers coming back to us for their dream house,' he said.

Of the remaining apartments, 1,640 units will be built in Chennai, 1,632 in Visakhapatnam and 1,020 in Kolkata in two-three phases.

The company has identified four locations in southern and eastern suburbs of Bangalore to build 3,042 units, measuring 600-1,200 square feet, in three phases.

The project will come up at Guduvanchery in Chennai, Uttarpara town off Kolkata and Madurawada in Visakhapatnam.

Source: Sify.com Shriram Properties to build 7,300 flats in four cities

Early this year, Bangalore realtor Prestige Group sold 60,000 square feet of prime property to media conglomerate Sun Network.

Confirming this, Irfan Razack, chairman and MD of Prestige Estate Projects said, "We had constructed built-to-suit spaces and now corporates with long term business plans are willing to buy built-up properties."

IT giant Oracle plans to buy one million square feet of office space in one of the upcoming projects of Bangalore-based real estate developer, Brigade Enterprises, for Rs650 crore.
In Q3 of 2009, Godrej Properties sold 52,000 square feet in Godrej waterside in Kolkata to city-based diversified business group Rose Valley. Early this year, Standard Chartered Bank also moved into new properties in Gurgaon, Bangalore and Mumbai.

According to an analyst, cash-strapped developers too are finding this a better prospect to improve cash flows than keep vacant properties. But, according to Anuj Puri, chairman and country head of Jones Lang LaSalle Meghraj, corporates are taking advantage of the fact that valuations could pick up and are making hay while the sun shines.

Goutam Chakraborty, regional director-commercial lease, Colliers International said almost all developers are willing to offload commercial properties. Buyers too are bargaining hard. It will not be too far fetched to say that the slowdown has actually proved to be a boon of sorts for companies looking at cost-effective commercial spaces.

Realty major DLF is understood to have sold a 15-acre patch of land in Whitefield, one of Bangalore's IT suburb in the east, to NetApp India, the arm of US-based data storage equipment maker NetApp Inc, in a deal valued at Rs 120 crore, a source familiar with the transaction was quoted as saying.

According to the report, Prestige Group has, through an SPV, sold 60,000 sq ft prime property on Brunton Road in downtown Bangalore to Sun Network family for a consideration of Rs 60-crore deal. This transaction, which was in the making for some months, was clinched in recent weeks, with the buyers expected to use the property as a corporate office for Sun Network.

And, Embassy Group is close to divesting a prime patch just off Kasturba Road, in close proximity to UB City and Bangalore's lungs-Cubbon Park, in favour of HDFC Realty Fund for a sum of Rs 60-70 crore, the report added.

Source: Realty Plus Corporates strike realty deals in Bangalore

"There is a huge demand for cost effective and quality rooms from both corporates and individual travellers,'' said Aly Shariff, managing director, Premier Inn India.

The 105-room-hotel has facilities like a multi-cuisine restaurant, gymnasium, bar and conference rooms to target IT corporates.

Premier Inn, part of Whitbread Plc, UK's leading hotel and restaurant group, plans to launch properties in New Delhi in late 2010 (142 rooms) and Pune in early 2011 (125 rooms). It has also confirmed two other properties, he said but did not elaborate.

"We also subsequently plan to look at other metros and tier two cities," said Aly.

The group plans to invest Rs 400 crore in the next three to five years for developing these properties.

The fund would be sourced through equity and debt in future, Aly added.

The price point per room for the Bangalore property would be at an introductory price of Rs 2,600 plus taxes.

For the first time since December last year, the monthly revenue from stamp duty and registration fee, which had dipped to Rs 169.40 crore in May this year, crossed Rs 250 crore in October. The department collected Rs 258 crore in October by registering 39,711 documents although the amount is far lower when compared to the corresponding month in 2008 when, riding on a real-estate boom, revenue of Rs 309.44 crore was collected, the report added.

"The registration of properties was far less than expected during these months though the department collected good revenue in the corresponding period last year, which coincided with the boom period in the real-estate sector," an official was quoted as saying.

Revenue declined after December 2008 because of the recession. According to the statistics provided by the department, the monthly revenue stood at Rs 174.44 crore in January 2009, Rs 217 crore in February, Rs 172 crore in March, Rs 172.62 crore in April, Rs 169.40 crore in May, Rs 204.91 crore in June, Rs 210.28 crore in July, Rs 223.54 crore in August and Rs 197.55 crore in September.

Source: Realty Plus Bangalore's housing sector shows signs of recovery

Customising their offerings, builders are keen to capture these segments, which are witnessing increasing demand.

For Mantri Developers Pvt Ltd, "the recession for all practical purposes is over as far as the real estate sector in the city is concerned".

The Bangalore-headquartered group, which has been in the business for over 10 years, admitted that there was "slackening in demand from October 2008 to 2009. Prices had hit rock bottom and customers were holding back, anticipating further slash in rates".

But post-April, there has been a surge in sales in the industry as customers realised that "there would be no further decrease in prices", an official of the firm said on condition of anonymity.

Source: Economic Times Builders in IT hub to focus on middle, upper middle segments

Bangalore's real estate market continues to groan under the burden of unsold property and sluggish demand, even as a revival in property sales in other cities has encouraged developers to launch a slew of projects.

Nearly one in every five homes scheduled for completion by the end of this year remains unsold, according to a report released last week by DTZ International Property Advisers Pvt. Ltd and Indiareit Fund Advisors Pvt. Ltd, a private equity fund. For projects scheduled for possession in 2011, this figure jumps to 56%.

DLF Ltd, Unitech Ltd and Housing Development and Infrastructure Ltd have started launching projects in Mumbai and New Delhi, particularly in the "affordable category" that has residences priced under Rs30 lakh.

The recovery may take longer in Bangalore, the country's third largest realty market, where big technology firms such as Infosys Technologies Ltd and Wipro Ltd are headquartered.

"Bangalore has continued to witness a correcting trend as the investor community hasn't quite revived activity yet," said Aditi Vijaykar, executive director, residential services, at property advisory Cushman and Wakefield.

While the growth in Mumbai and New Delhi is driven by multiple sectors, growth in Bangalore is largely dependent on the technology sector, she pointed out.

Source: Live Mint Bangalore realty sector fails to benefit from low-cost housing

The group is looking for housing projects in Kolkata and Bangalore in the next phase, Tata Group chairman Ratan Tata said.

Tata said the company's affordable housing projects in Mumbai had evinced keen interest from all parts of the country and some foreign countries as well.

Tata said the government of Maldives had also shown interest in the company's housing project.

Tatas had in September this year announced the launch of its affordable housing project under the name of `New Haven' at Boisar in Mumbai.

The company is building 1,300 apartments, including 2 BHK and 3 BHK homes, prices of which starting from Rs12.73 lakh.

Bangalore, on the other hand, continued to witness correction in prices across micro markets in the city.

With conservative launches and slightly improved sales in Bangalore, prices largely continued to correct, although the rate of correction dropped to a large extent.

Chennai and Hyderabad also saw cautious project launches coupled with a gradual shift to ensure delivery and promotion of previously launched projects to maintain its stable price trend.

End-user interest was better placed over investor interest in Bangalore in the third quarter. This rise in end-user confidence, together with improving economic conditions, favourable borrowing conditions and rationalised capital values cumulatively led to reviving of sales volumes in the housing sector.

In Chennai, the third quarter saw cautious and limited project launches with increased developer focus on the affordable segment as well as a gradual shift to ensure delivery and promotion of previously launched projects at more attractive prices or with different features and positioning.

Suvidha is promoted by Sushruta Vishranthi Dhama, a company formed by a group of well-known doctors of the city, who are also nearing retirement, but do not want to compromise on the lifestyle they have led so far. Promoters of the project include Dr K S Shekar, well-known plastic surgeon and chairman of the company; Dr Subba Rao, a leading cardio thoracic surgeon and managing director; Dr Jinka Subramanya, a pathologist and joint managing director; and Dr Srimani Rajagopalan, a gynaecologist, who is one of the directors, the report added.

About 120 of the 200 cottages have already been taken up by well-known citizens of the city, including architects, senior government officers, professors, writers and corporate executives. "Most people think your lifestyle should change after retirement. We want to disprove that with all our facilities. But we also realise that ageing people would need medical care and sometimes it could be an emergency and we have several doctors living in the village who would extend their support to residents," Dr Subba Rao was quoted as saying in the report.

Source: Realty Plus Retirement home Suvidha coming up in Bangalore

In a setback to infrastructure development, the state government last week withdrew the 1,620-acre Institutional Area Township project, proposed at Ramanagaram. The withdrawal of the project came at a time when the government is talking big on developing infrastructure for the proposed Global Investors' Meet, scheduled in June 2010, the report added.

In the event of the global meltdown and tough economic environment for the real estate sector, the upcoming Request For Qualification (RFQ) document is said to be investor-friendly, and simplified to attract more global investors, it said.

As DLF withdrew from BITP, the government refunded its deposit investment of Rs 400 crore on April 24 this year. "Given the current downturn in the real estate sector, DLF did not want to park its funds in a project that has not moved,'' government sources were quoted as saying in the report.

The market is stagnant as of now," says Raminder Grover, CEO, Homebay Residential, Jones Lang LaSalle Meghraj.

There are two types of buyers, in the second home market, explains Grover. The first category consists of the affluent buyers who purely look at luxury and the second category is the middle and upper class, which looks at second homes as an investment option. "The first category has started showing interest, in the last coupe of months, but the second category of buyers is still playing the waiting game," he adds.

As the demand for second homes dropped, even developers put their projects on hold and only now, are builders completing their pending projects. This trend, says Grover, is not surprising, as projects within the city are the ones that give developers immediate returns and so, most developers concentrated on completing these first. "With DLF launching their luxury home segment in Goa, other players, I believe, will soon join the fray," he expects.

"The industry is still at a nascent stage and those who are planning for second homes, should look at it purely as an instrument of 'value appreciation' . Investors should look at it, in terms of growth, over the next two to five years," says Hemant Shah, chairman , Ackruti City. Investment in the right property will always appreciate in value and with the younger generation earning well and investing intelligently , the second home market has good scope in India, says Abhishek Lodha, director, Lodha Develoers.

Second homes are sought, primarily as a means for a getaway from the city. However, for the larger Indian market, it is also an investment for post-retirement days. Real estate is always an asset and today's generation wants the option of having a home by a hill or a riverside and this is why places like Devnahalli in Bangalore, Coimbatore, Ooty and Kasauli, are springing with second homes. "There is a lot of demand for properties between Pune and Panvel. Even the four main metros and its peripheral areas are in demand, for second homes," reveals Tushar Khatri, GM (sales and marketing), Arihant Universal .

Apart from these, the other hotspots for second homes are hubs in Noida, Hyderabad, Jaipur, Kerala, and Gurgaon. Mumbai is also one of the preferred locations, with Royal Palms being the only second home provider within city limits. The 240-acre Royal Palms Estate is situated in the midst of Mumbai's only green belt and surrounded by a further 20,000 acres of the Borivali Sanjay Gandhi National Park.

Source: Economic Times Investment in a second home

However, supply in these three cities increased by one million sft, up 33 per cent from the second quarter, according to Cushman & Wakefield, a commercial real estate services and research firm.

Alongside this development, rents stabilised in these markets in the third quarter as against the corrections they had witnessed in the last six to seven months.

Rents in major cities and markets are expected to remain stable in the coming few months. Over 60 per cent of the anticipated supply during the quarter was delivered, a marked improvement from previous few months, it said.

There was no fresh mall space in Bangalore. Though leasing activities remained low, vacancy rates dropped as there was no additional supply in the city. The average rentals stabilised indicating a revival of interest in the city's organised retail space.

Source : Realty Plus Mall vacancy in southern cities drops in July-Sept

Each row house was to cost anywhere between Rs 70-80 lakh. The company has altered its plan to exploit potential in mid-segment housing that is sensing robust demand, the report added.

The focus is going to be on mid-income homes and commercial complexes, with deferment of high-margin launches in luxury homes and retail space, the company said in a statement released early this year.

"People are extremely choosy in the current market scenario. It is always better to be in the mid-segment," an official privy to the development was quoted as saying.

Source: Realty Plus DLF may scrap Bangalore row house project

Is India's commercial real estate on the path to recovery? If the recently reported Cushman & Wakefield GRI India Real Estate Investment report 2009: Survival to Revival - Indian realty sector on the path to recovery, is to be believed, Bangalore is expected to see the highest demand for office space in the period 2009 - 2013 with approximately 34 million sq ft.

Karun Varma, Managing Director - Bangalore, Jones Lang LaSalle Meghraj feels, "There has been an increase in enquiries for modestly sized office spaces in the ballpark of 20000-25000 sq ft. However, actual decision-making on behalf of the intending occupiers is extremely slow. This is because Bangalore is primarily about IT/ITeS, which has not seen a very telling recovery as yet. Transaction volumes have yet to show an incremental change, but we expect these to show more activity closer to the end of this year. Most large ticket occupiers looking at Bangalore are multinationals who are currently extremely cautious about incurring any fresh capital expenditure."

Undoubtedly, when ascertaining the growth of commercial real estate, you would also want to know how much of an investment opportunity it gives rise to. Anil Rego, CEO and Founder - Right Horizons, investment advisory and wealth management firm says that the IT / ITeS sector is a key driver of Indian commercial market and accounts for a significant part of the total commercial properties in the country. Estimates state that the IT sector is likely to grow well in the next few years, despite intermediate set-backs; this is essentially a subtle indication that the future of commercial real estate looks promising.

There are also a lot of other emerging opportunities for commercial real estate from industries like Retail, Hospitality, Financial Services, etc.  

Source: deccanherald.com Commercial Real Estate, Back On Track? In Bangalore

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