Tracing The Boom…

The structural adjustment programme of the early 1990s initiated the liberalization of the Indian economy. The roots of the high appreciation rates on India’s property market witnessed during the boom period lie in the reduction of interest rates that were instituted from year 2001 by Government’s continued policy of liberalization of economy initiated in 1991. In early 2004, home loan rates sank to a record low of under 7.5%, and this paved the way for the spiking that typified the country’s property rates in many Indian cities.

The very amenable borrowing rates encouraged individuals to avail of home loans to buy residences, where actual property purchase had only been an option for the considerably rich before that. This also brought down the average age of a home purchaser from late 50s to mid-20s, a big change in the way India was buying houses before.

This resulted in a huge demand for real estate all over the country post 2003. After March 2005, Indian real estate rates displayed a seemingly unstoppable upward curve. This was also related to the opening up of FDI in real estate. The market then proceeded to expand at an unbelievable rate, both size-wise and price-wise – in three years, prices were doubled, and so was the construction activity. Adding to this was purchases of large land parcels by developers all over the country. Land banks of this size were never created before. Developers were going places and exploring new territories, and a sense of national players was building up.

This continued right until the slowdown that manifested itself in 2008. The Lehman debacle and the subsequent foundering of global economies were indeed hugely operative factors in this, but the fact remains that India’s real estate sector had also reached a stage where maturity was of the essence. In any case, the slowdown served the purpose of bringing many a location and its overenthusiastic rates to its knees.

Tracing The Bust…

The slowdown was predominantly brought on by the sharp rise in property rates seen over the preceding 2-4 years, and a large proportion of investor purchases (at times as much as end user purchases) eventually added to the supply of houses. The result was a misleading demand assessment. An adjustment of such irrational growth was therefore natural and expected.

Today, real estate prices have corrected in most overheated locations. Residential, office and retail were all impacted at various levels, but the greatest need for correction was in the residential sector, which had seen the highest price appreciations and as a segment is more sensitive to non-amenable lending norms. The exact degree of impact varied across locations, influenced by local market dynamics and property formats.

In ‘Real’ Terms…

The current market dynamics have served the purpose of bringing about a renaissance in the Indian real estate sector. Realistic retail and commercial spaces which are in tune with actual market demand dynamics are now becoming a reality. In the residential space, developers who had previously focused largely on luxury spaces for the cash-rich IT/ITeS and HNI buyer segments have begun launching housing projects for the common man.

Granted, this dynamic is a fluid one which is primarily influenced by the overall performance of the economy. In other words, developers have in the past reacted to upward movements by diluting their focus on affordable housing and going back to higher-priced formats and offerings. However, the incumbent Government’s determined drive towards ‘Housing for All by 2022’ has made its mark with several new incentives for developers and buyers of budget housing. This will ensure that a good cross-section of Indian builders will retain their focus on affordable housing and mid-income housing for at least a few more years.

Even today, the dominant trend in India is a huge demand-supply mismatch in the housing sector. This would indicate that residential property prices will rise again – and we are indeed witnessing the first signs of this happening already. The corrections that have taken place in overheated cities were required, since developers had priced themselves out of the market. The fact that the slowdown forced them to rationalize their rates has been working to the developers’ advantage, and one would have assumed that the recent market dynamics had delivered a clear and unequivocal message.

That said, the rollercoaster ride that Indian real estate was on will not see the same exhilarating twists and turns for some time to come. The onus from now on will be on affordable housing and mid income housing in the residential sector, efficient buildings – in terms of both energy consumption and space utility, at infrastructure serviced locations in the office sector and well-researched expansion plans in the retail sector. The present market vagaries have force-fed transparency into Indian real estate.

RERA – Ushering In A New Era Of Transparency

The passing of the long-pending Real Estate Regulatory Bill, which was being hotly debated and second-guessed for far too long, is an unequivocal victory for the Indian real estate sector. Its enactment as a law will almost single-handedly revamp the way this sector works across the board, from developers to end-users and investors, to lending institutions and property consultants and brokers – and hopefully government agencies involved in the buying and selling of property, too. It is by far the most decisive step the sector has taken towards transparency and reaching towards the kind of standardized processes, procedures and accountability guidelines that the industry requires to progress.

The real estate industry has welcomed this major reform, which promises to bring in much-needed transparency and accountability to the rather opaque sector. It will create a much-needed consumer right protection umbrella for buyers of real estate, thereby increasing consumer confidence as well as creating lasting developer brands strong on quality and timely delivery of their projects.

Overall, the sector is gaining maturity, and over the next decade we will see increasing transparency via the introduction of sector regulators, professionalism and international best practices in real estate.

The Advent Of Transparency

JLL’S biannual Global Transparency Index, which was released last week, underscores that India’s tier I cities secured the 36th rank globally. India has made improvements in overall transparency scores across all markets and achieved higher ranks for Tier I and II markets. Improved market fundamentals, policy reforms (LARR Act, liberalization of FDI into realty sector), and strengthening of information in public domain were main influencers, along with digitization of land records and opening up of REITs.

India’s low score in transaction process (e.g. high costs of investment transactions and weak professional standards for local agents) will improve during 2016-2018 assessment period of JLL’s next Transparency Index release on account of enactment of the Real Estate (Regulation & Development) Act and the consequent establishing of a real estate regulator. Unethical practices will be phased out, and smaller operators will merge into larger, more sustainable entities. All this will be to the benefit of the consumer – who, at the end of the day, is the most important stakeholder on the Indian real estate market.

The post Indian Real Estate – Looking Back… And Forward:  Anuj Puri, Chairman & Country Head, JLL India appeared first on Core Sector Communique.

Kishor Pate, CMD – Amit Enterprises Housing Ltd

Pune’s real estate market held its own in 2014 and its residential sector in fact out-performed most other markets in India. Appreciation in both mid-range and high-end properties was in excess of 30%, which was much higher than Bangalore, Delhi and Mumbai. However, it was not all smooth sailing. For instance, there was an increase of unauthorized construction on the city’s peripheries, which the city authorities have to begin clamping down on earnestly. However, the fact that the authorities are taking such action is a good thing for the market in general and has added to Pune’s credibility quotient.

We saw rapid development of the city’s suburban and even peri-urban markets. More national-level players launched projects in these areas, which were previously the stronghold of local builders. Another interesting trend in 2014 was that some established areas like Koregaon Park and Sahakarnagar, which had next to no new options for luxury home buyers, saw new augmentation of supply once more.

There will be a bit of a shake-up on the Pune real estate market in 2015 as it aligns itself to various new regulations, but this is a necessary process which will be seen in most cities of Maharashtra. The benefits given to both developers and buyers in the last Union Budget will kick in during the upcoming fiscal, and this will add to the already positive sentiment. We will see increased purchasing activity in areas like Undri, Wagholi and Ambegaon, where affordability is driving demand. Most of the city’s rapidly developing areas will see healthy appreciation in residential values.

Arvind Jain, Managing Director – Pride Group

2014 was a good year for Pune’s real estate market. In fact, it was one of the few cities that were not seriously impacted even during the slowdown. When most markets went back into recovery mode post the general elections, Pune garnered the most attention from investors. Commercial real estate absorption increased visibly during the year, led by the IT/ITeS, BFSI and manufacturing sectors. Residential properties in both established and new locations were in big demand during the latter part of 2014, and luxury projects did especially well. Also, project launches across categories were toned down so as to aid absorption of existing stock.

In 2014, Pune ramped up its reputation as India’s new ‘Township City’, and the new trend of township properties being seen as the hottest new concept for both the city’s end users and property investors from all over took further hold. Living in these projects has become the latest lifestyle statement. Though townships generally take a longer time to be completed, most developers in Pune with such projects on the anvil were able to maintain a full-on pace of construction. As a result, buyers were encouraged by the fact that they were able to obtain possession dates within attractively shorter periods. This fact also increased investor interest in this category.

The single-most influential factor that will drive Pune’s real estate market in 2015 is job creation. A lot of large domestic and multi-national companies will either be entering or expanding their operations in Pune during 2015. This will result in a lot of commercial space absorption from IT/ITeS and manufacturing companies, which will directly influence residential sales as well. Areas that were still emerging in 2014 will see rapid further establishment in 2015 thanks to accelerated infrastructure development.

Sachin Agarwal, CMD – Maple Shelters

The State elections did not have much of an effect on the city’s real estate market as a whole. Historically, Pune’s real estate market has never been very affected by political influences at the State level. Pune is a very steady market and buyer decisions are not dictated by political sentiment, but rather on perceived value. Though very politically aware and enthusiastically wired into the electoral process, Pune’s property buyers saw the State elections as a separate event which had little or no correlation to their investment decisions.

However, the overall momentum of the market always depends to an extent on factors such a pending clearances being granted. There was definitely more momentum to be seen on the residential side after the State elections – especially in terms of affordable housing, since this has now become a political platform.

Some of Pune’s larger developers were a bit over-aggressive in launching luxury projects in 2014, and we will see supply in this segment slowing down in 2015 as existing inventory still needs to be sold. Affordable housing will once again be in full gear in the new year, thanks not only to the new government’s determined push on its ‘Housing For All’ agenda but also because the last Union Budget made budget housing very attractive again. We will see many new launches in this category in 2015, but buyers will be more cautious in their purchase decisions because of the alerts now being sent out about the rash of illegal projects on the city’s outskirts. The highest demand for homes will come from IT employees and industrial workers, since both these sectors will be expanding in the city in 2015.

The post Pune Real Estate – Looking Back On 2014 And Into 2015 appeared first on Core Sector Communique.

They are found almost everywhere now. People carry them like they were carrying their briefcases and handbags. You can find them in different sizes, shapes and colors. They are the present day laptops. About 25 years back, any person seen with a laptop was thought of as a whiz kid. It’s doubtful if you will ever get to see that model of laptop nowadays.

People were in some way expecting that they would sooner or later get more sophisticated and compact since the time personal computers were released in the 1970s. We have been seeing portable computers since 1975 and we also are a witness to the changes in their shape, color, size and functions. The IBM 5100 was the first model of portable computer that had come in the market with a 5 inch CRT screen and a keyboard. The keyboard had a built in number pad. This was the only nearest comparison that could be made with the later day laptops.

The initial models

A few years later, Adam Osborne founded the Osborne 1 in 1981. It weighed 24 pounds, had a 5 inch display with modem port and two 5 ¼ floppy drives with many software programs and a battery pack but the company itself closed down soon.

The TRS-80 Model 100 was developed in 1982 by Microsoft with Kyocera and Tandy. It could be said to be the first step towards evolution of laptops. This Radio Shack TRS-80 model was designed like a notebook and had a LCD display. Though it was not as fast as a micro computer, it was faster than the other laptops that were its competitors. The LCD screen was a tiltable 8 line and 40 character screen with a full keyboard. Had an inbuilt modem and with a good battery support.

IBM came out with the 5155 Portable Personal Computer, which was its version of a laptop in 1984. It had a 640K RAM and two double sided drives. But Radio Shack again came up with their new TRS-80 Model 200 that was better with a larger display and more compact.

Newer Versions

The year 1988 saw the laptops evolution take another stride as the new versions were able to support graphics too, other than the text. They became more popular as they became smaller in size and lighter in weight. VGA resolutions and variety of color screens came and progressed.

Compaq in 1988 came up with its SLT 286 that created a sensation with its speed and VGA graphics. It also had a detachable keyboard. It had storage of 20 MB or 40 MB mounted drives. While the Compaq was creating ripples, Apple Inc came out with its surprise baby, the Mackintosh Portable in 1989. In 1990, it added a bonus for its customers by offering backlit keyboard. With the RAM of 1MB that could be expanded to 9 MB and upgradeable operating system and only 10 cm in thickness.

Apple’s Dominance

Apple dominated the market in the nineties with their Powerbook laptops. The first was the PowerBook 100 series launched in three models – the PowerBook 100, 140 and 170. All three were released in the market simultaneously and created a sensation in the market. The series was replaced with the PowerBook 145, 160 and 180 in 1992. The latter two models had video output that gave them access to an external monitor.

Apple next introduced the PowerBook Duo streamlining the Apple 100 and was much smaller and lighter in weight. Again later in 1994 it came out with the “Blackbird” PowerBook 500 series. Soon the entire PowerBook series was replaced by the Mac series. The year 1999 saw Apple come out with wireless enabled laptop -The iBook

Many of the present day laptops are similar to look at though each has some change or the other. Large screens, with better resolutions, blue tooth, Blu-ray drives, SSD hard discs, and other features like Wi-Fi are all common in most of the laptops.

Netbooks

The second half of the 2000s saw the emergence of netbooks. These are smaller in size but more portable than the normal laptops. Along with the Wi-Fi capabilities, these netbooks have built-in mobile broadband connection options. Asus Eee PC 700 was the first netbook to be launched in the year 2007. They were much cheaper when compared to the other laptops.

iPad a replacement to laptops?

When people saw the iPad, they thought it was a larger iPhone but after three years the tablet market is still blooming. Many feel the tablets would soon replace laptops and PCs. It may not be a fact but the opinion of certain tablet lovers.

Having witnessed the tremendous changes and improvements in the laptops in the past three decades or more, we can just say the day is not far when both tablets and iPhone too grow obsolete.

Story sourced from www.pricedekho.com

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