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Reality Check: Govt Seeks Home Loan Data Ahead of acting finance minister Pranab Mukherjee's meeting with public sector bank chiefs on Monday, the government has asked state-owned lenders to submit data on home loans sanctioned by them since December 15. On December 15, the public sector banks had announced lower interest rates on home loans up to Rs 20 lakh following government intervention to boost demand. Bankers acknowledge that despite a reduction in interest rates to 9.25 per cent for loans up to Rs 20 lakh and 8.5 per cent for home loans up to Rs 5 lakh, the response has been lukewarm. Interest rates under the package are fixed for five years and the loans come with a free property insurance cover. "The flow of home loans has not picked even after the special package as there is a perception that real estate prices will fall further. Banks have explained this to the finance ministry, but it has asked for fortnightly data," said a senior executive at a public sector

Navin M Raheja, MD of Raheja Builders, feels that the current prices cannot further go down, as it can only be possible through builders paying from his own pockets. Running one of the fastest growing companies in the realty sector, Raheja Builders in the past three years have posted more than 300 per cent growth. He suggests, the buyers should not wait as there is no possibility of further reduction and go ahead with purchasing their property, in an interview to Praveen K Singh. How do you see the downturn in the real estate sector? Over the last 3 years, the entire real estate marketing in India was mainly driven by investors and speculators in a way to gain more profit and money. They were rotating their investments and everyone probably thought that India has emerged to this level and is going to be the actual demand which can be feeded with the speculative prices. The time has taught a lesson and the developers should know that they are not invulnerable to financial bustles. A per

The government’s recent stimulus package and the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) interest rate cuts have once again raised hopes that buying a house would become feasible. But while banks have complied and brought down their home loan rates, the response from developers, in the form of price cuts, has not been forthcoming. According to Asha Lata, a Delhi resident, who presently lives in a rented flat and plans to buy one soon, “After the announcement of the two stimulus packages by the government, I thought it would become easier to buy a flat in the National Capital Region (NCR). Several builders have announced price cuts in newspaper advertisements. But when I went to the booking office of Gardenia Square in Indrapuram, I found that they were asking for additional amounts for finishing the flats and for parking space. Together these charges amounted to an additional Rs 6 lakh over and above the advertised rate of Rs 32 lakh.” Like Asha Lata, thousands of potential buyers across the co

UP Govt Tells SC Cancellation Of Hotel Site Auction Justified The UP government has submitted before the Supreme Court that the process for allotment of land to hospitality companies, including ITC and Indian Hotels Company Ltd, by the previous Mulayam Singh regime was illegal as the transfer of land would have caused a loss of over Rs 4,721 crore to the public exchequer. Land leases given to various hospitality companies for setting up 14 hotels in Noida for the 2010 Commonwealth Games were scrapped by the Mayawati government citing corruption in land auction. Stating that the allotments were against public interest as it would have resulted in a loss of more then Rs 4,712 crore, the state government said that the commercial plots could not have been given without resorting to tender process. "While allotting the plots to the petitioner (ITC) there was also a violation of the Master Plan, Statutory regulations of 1991 and the Building Regulations of 2006 and various provisions of

No Wealth For Commonwealth, Development In Limbo Less than 18 months to go, but there's no guarantee that the projects for the Commonwealth Games will be completed on time. The economic recession has stalled several plans as developers grapple with a huge finance crunch. Of the 39 plots auctioned by the DDA to private builders, work is progressing only on 19. Tirupati Infra Projects and Divine Infracom responsible for building five star hotels for the games have defaulted on their payments and have asked the Urban Development Ministry to extend their deadline. Secretary Union Urban Development Ministry, Ramachandran says, "There are two cases where the DDA has asked the Ministry and a decision is yet to be made. DDA had targetted 6,000 rooms but it is doubtful but then compensated by asking for 5,000 rooms. Of course not all plot holders will be able to construct due to various reasons. Action will be taken against them." The construction of the Games Village itself has r

Current Sceniero Forced Devlopers To Turn Their Attention From Affluent Segment To Mass Segment The escalating cost of housing coupled with the current economic slowdown has forced developers to turn their attention from the affluent segment to the mass segment. This is the story that is slowly spreading across the country. scenario Be it the distant suburbs of Mumbai or for Greater Noida or Faridabad or even tier-II cities like Indore one is seeing a flurry of housing projects with a price tag of less than Rs 20 lakhs - this segment is typically referred to the affordable segment. Others in the business admit to the trend. "Ever since interest rates and property prices have fallen, there have been enquiries for affordable houses," said Nirmal Lifestyles managing director Dharmesh Jain. His company plans to offer apartments in the range of Rs 10-50 lakh which will be located outside Mumbai in places such as Kalyan, Dombivli and Thane. In addition to Nirmal, others like Marath

Kundli-Ghaziabad-Palwal (KGP) Expressway Project Set To Roll By Mid-2009 After extending the deadline for submission of tenders twice, National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has finally received a tender for Kundli-Ghaziabad-Palwal (KGP) Expressway. The 136-km expressway, to be built at the cost of Rs 2,676 crore, is expected to decongest Delhi roads as it will provide a bypass to trucks that use Delhi roads to go to Uttar Pradesh and Haryana. According to NHAI sources, Reliance Infrastructure has emerged as the sole bidder for the green field project, popularly known as Eastern Peripheral Expressway. With transport secretary Brahm Dutt ruling out any further extension to complete the bidding process, it is expected that the final bidder will start the work by mid 2009. The project is expected to be completed by mid 2012. Sources said over 80% of land acquisition for the project has been completed. The project involves construction of a six-lane expressway with access control high

Sector Rates Revised Of Its Residential And Commercial Properties In Ghaziabad The Ghaziabad Development Authority (GDA) in its board meeting held on enhanced sector rates of its residential and commercial properties to the tune of about 20 per cent. Speaking about the decision to enhance the sector rats by the board in the 112th meeting held on January 17th, GDA Vice Chairman (VC) Ram Bahadur said the sector rates of its residential colony of Kaushambi has been revised from Rs 12,000 per square metre to Rs 14,400 per square metre which has emerged as the costliest colony of GDA so far. The cheapest colony is Balmiki Kunj under its new sector rates that have been revised from Rs 3,500 per square metre to Rs 4,000 per square metre. According to new rates, the sector rates in Surya Nagar has been revised from Rs 8,000 per square metre to Rs 9,600 per square metre followed by Rs 9,600 per square metre in Chander Nagar, Vaishali at Rs 12,000, Patel Nagar at Rs 1,09,800, Indirapuram at Rs 1

The Indian IT sector is witnessing slow growth due to the global economic meltdown. Moreover, US companies that had bought stakes in Indian real estate companies are facing crunch, thereby slowing the demand in IT-led real estate development in NCR.. The Real estate market in Delhi-NCR, like in other parts of the country, is witnessing some slowdown and price correction in certain corridors and this trend may continue for sometime. The slowdown may result in: Price rationalisation in real estate products Price correction in select corridors Delay in project completions A continued wait-and-watch sentiment amongst end user and investor alike Reduction in demand for the developments across sectors The booming Indian Information Technology (IT) sector is witnessing a slower growth in the current fiscal (08-09) due to the global economic slowdown and lower technology spending in America and United Kingdom. American companies that had bought stakes in Indian real estate companies are facing

Luxury Realty Mkt Takes A Hit, There Is Visible Dip In Demand Now Being Seen In Luxury Segment The luxury sector may have been perceived as recession proof. But there is a visible dip in demand that is now being seen in the in the luxury segment as well. SundayET's survey with global real estate consultancy Cushman and Wakefield (C&W) revealed that average capital values of luxury properties in posh localities across major metros have taken a dip of 10%-20% during the last three months. Residential rental values for the same segment have also been impacted, with some locations witnessing a drop as high as 20-25%. Take the case of Delhi, for instance, where residential capital values of high-end properties such as Shanti Niketan, Westend and Vasant Vihar, GK I and II and Maharani Bagh have dropped to 10% over the last three months. Rental values have also followed a similar track and have seen a 6% drop over the same period. Rajeev Talwar, executive director, DLF agrees to the f

Noida Authority Launched Open-Ended Scheme For Corporate And VIP Class To Own a farmhouse in Noida The Noida Authority has launched an open-ended scheme for corporate and VIP class for palatial farmhouses in Noida. Anybody from any part of the country can set up his dream farmhouse under the scheme. The application forms will be available from banks from January 19 onwards and a cheque for Rs 31 lakh--10 per cent of the total price will have to be sent as registration fee along with the form. The minimum size of plot to be allotted under this scheme will be of 10,000 sq meters at the rate of Rs 3,100 per sq mt fixed for the land. A sum of Rs 3.10 crore can make the connoisseurs of good living owners of 10,000 sq mt sprawling plot to set up the farmhouse of their choice in Noida area, which has lately emerged as a top address in the country. According to information available, this belt is situated along Yamuna Pushta for 20 km from Kalindi Kunj. The green belt and agricultural land is