Author Archives: Rachna Ranjan

Demonetisation and the real estate industry

To better understand the effect of demonetisation it is necessary to segregate the real estate market into primary and secondary. Primary market will constitute of the new apartments and flats that are being constructed and sold by prominent real estate developers. Secondary market involves the resale of existing residential flats, land and commercial properties. Secondary markets are likely to face some initial hiccups, should the demonetisation scheme be successful. Unlike their primary counterparts, secondary market transactions usually have 30-40% cash component especially more so in non-tier 1 areas.

Lack of quality spaces driving up office rentals in Delhi, Mumbai and Bengaluru

Office rentals are rising in India’s top three cities as premium buildings run out of space due to rising demand and the lack of fresh supply of quality spaces. Most premium office buildings in Mumbai, Delhi and the National Capital Region (NCR), and Bengaluru are fully leased out, while a few of them have vacancies of 2-5%. In Mumbai’s financial hub of Bandra Kurla Complex (BKC), prime office buildings such as One BKC, The Capital, Trade Centre and Platina are 90-100% leased out, company executives and property advisors said. Cybercity and Two Horizon Center, DLF’s office space buildings in Gurgaon are 95% occupied, an executive at the developer said, asking not to be identified.

Slash stamp duty to clean up real estate sector: Assocham

To further intensify the crackdown on black money, Assocham has suggested the Centre to impress upon states to “drastically” lower stamp duty on residential and commercial property deals to dissuade people from undervaluing purchases. The industry body said that the biggest beneficiary of the move would be buyers of residential or commercial properties.
“One of the biggest reasons for the cash forming 30-40 per cent of the real estate transactions is the high level of s ..

Read more: Economic Times

Co-working spaces are becoming a new asset class in commercial realty

It’s becoming hard to differentiate between an office and a café. Mumbai’s co-working spaces are a mix of work and play, with conference rooms, printers and wi-fi, but also the sweet aroma of coffee in the air, and areas for napping, showering and even indoor sports.

As these co-working spaces draw a steady mix of consultants, freelancers, entrepreneurs and small business owners, they are changing the way certain pockets of the commercial real-estate market work, in India’s commercial capital.

Irish commercial property surge will make room for Brexit

New office space planned for Dublin over the next five years can accommodate more than 100,000 extra workers and any companies seeking to relocate as a result of Britain’s vote to leave the European Union, property group Savills said on Thursday. Ireland has called the prospect of Brexit the greatest economic and social challenge it has faced in 50 years, so the potential to attract businesses from Britain could help to offset some of the damage.

Already the European home for the likes of Facebook, Google and Microsoft, Dublin is competing with other major European Union cities to attract companies seeking to relocate as a result of Brexit.

Read more: Economic Times

Co-working office spaces: Can Mumbai match the mounting demand?

The start-up ecosystem in the country, which for long depended solely on angel investors and venture capitalists, has today been buoyed by a slew of initiatives, like the central government’s Startup India. Along with funding and ease of doing business, a critical factor in creating an enabling environment for entrepreneurial ventures, is an office that matches the start-up’s evolving requirements. Flexibility, convenience, technology and cost, have been the primary focal areas for start-ups, while looking at potential offices. Today, however, with a rise in the number of freelance professionals and small and medium enterprises, community and collaboration have become integral needs – and collaborative or co-working spaces, have become the new buzzword. The Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR) has fuelled a start-up boom over the last three to four years.

Link Intime leases 60,000 sq ft office space in Mumbai’s 247 Park

Registry and financial services provider Link Intime India has picked up nearly 60,000 sq ft office space in commercial complex 247 Park — now owned by Blackstone Group — in the Vikhroli suburb of Mumbai on lease, said two persons familiar with the development. The total lease tenure is nine years with a clause of rental reset with 15% appreciation every three years. The company will be paying Rs 115 rental per sq ft a month, taking the annual lease to Rs 9 crore. “The deal is concluded and was registered recently. Link Intime will start operating from this space in the next few months,” said a person mentioned above.

Read more: Economic Times

Square Yards opens offices in Toronto & Vancouver

Square Yards is opening new offices in Toronto and Vancouver in Canada. This is company’s 12th international office. The company plans to use Canada offices as a gateway to the US markets.
“Using Canada as focal point, we aim to delve deep into North American markets. Economic recovery in conjunction with higher demands has made Canada, one of the most sought after real estate markets, across the globe,” said Kanika Gupta Shori, Co-Founder & COO, Square Yards.
Canada is one of the major destinations on the global real estate map. The growth is led by cities such as Toronto and Vancouver, wherein capital appreciation in real estate has been in tune of 15-20% annually, in recent times.

Read more: Economic Times

Banks tightened lending standards for commercial real estate in Q3: Fed survey

Banks tightened standards on commercial real estate loans during the third quarter but left lending practices for commercial and industrial loans virtually unchanged overall, according to a survey of loan officers released on Monday by the Federal Reserve. For households, some banks reported easing lending standards on mortgages eligible for purchase by government-sponsored enterprises and some other types of mortgages. However, consumer loans remained much like the previous quarter.

On commercial real estate, “significant net fractions of banks reported tightening standards for construction and land development loans and loans secured by multifamily residential properties,” the survey said.

Read more: Economic Times

Flipkart goes lean on office space as part of austerity drive

Flipkart has decided not to take up 40% of the office space in its new campus in Embassy tech village in Bengaluru even as the country’s biggest ecommerce company looks to cut costs and reduce losses, said multiple people aware of the matter. Flipkart, which is undergoing a restructuring drive, will now take 1.2 million sq ft office space in the new campus as opposed to the earlier plan of occupying 2 million sq ft in two phases.
“Flipkart in a recent meeting with top executives of Embassy Group has communicated they do not want to go ahead with the entire 2 million sq ft. The meeting was attended by Flipkart cofounder and CEO Binny Bansal and CFO Sanjay Baweja, who recently quit the firm,” said a person aware of the development. Flipkart did not comment on the development.

Read more: Economic Times