Since when did gardens, swimming pools and gyms cost so much money. Money is chasing money using real estate as the medium. There can only be so many SRT, SRK, Aamir Khans, Bacchans and the Aftab Shivdasani's and so called diamond merchants :). Hurray to black money
Wednesday, 28 May 2008
Saturday, 24 May 2008
Mumbai sinking
Posted on 20:20 by Unknown
Its not just water entering your doorsteps, its salt eating away the foundations of the building structures. Most people dont think about it but nature makes no exceptions between skyscrapers or slums
Bangalore residents cheated by VIP's
Posted on 15:01 by Unknown
Scams comes in all shapes and sizes. We are used to politicians buying land cheap before carrying out major developments like Mr Gowda and company's association with Devanhalli. Now NDTV reports on scams in BDA plots which are bought by poor VIP's. A country of a billion scams. For every scam detected there could be 99% more undetected. Such is the state of the land of the Mahatma
Bangalore VIPs fake poverty for land
Yogesh Pawar
Tuesday, May 20, 2008 10:48 PM (Bangalore)
At the centre of Bangalore's land grab controversy is the very agency that's meant to build a better city, the Bangalore Development Authority (BDA).
They are meant to ensure affordable housing to those who cannot pay the high rates in Bangalore's real estate market.
But instead, BDA finds itself charged with selling the same land to a host of VIPs and politicians.
All the scam needs is, simple paper work to falsely prove that you are eligible for subisided BDA land.
To qualify for the land an applicant needs to prove:
* He/she has been a resident of Bangalore for over 20 years.
* He/she does not own any property in Bangalore.
* Most significantly that their annual family income is not more than Rs 1.20 lakh.
Many VIP's by using false affidavits have managed to get land allotted to them, they have also been passed off as Bangalore's underprivileged to get prime land at very low rates.
List of these ministers and former ministers cut across party lines like, Baburao Chavan, Ramalinga Reddy, M Diwakar Babu, S S Mallikarjuna, M Mallikarjuna Nagappa.
Former Members of Parliament, Vinayakumar Sorkae, R S Patil and Iqbal Ahmed Sardagi.
There are other former Members of Legislative Assembly and Council Venkatrammanappa, Yogesh Bhat, Basantha Reddy, Marilinge Gowda, A Narayanswamy, Sharanappa Thipanna Sunagara, B T Parameshwara, Gopala Pojar, R Narayana, Dinesh Gundu Rao, A S Guruswany, G V Sidappa, D G Shantha Gowda, B S Basavaraju, Katta Subramaniam Naidu, Sirak Shaikh, Vadnal Rajanna, Anasyumma Nataraj, H R Alaguru, M Shankara Reddy, Raja Venkatappa Naik, N Sampangi, Syed Azeem Peer S Khadri and S P Mudda Hanume Gowda Nagappa, Dr M Akbar Ali, K Kushal
T S Mruthyujayappa, V R Sudarshan, C Ramesh, Winfred Fernandes, Jalaja Naik, Profulla Madukar, Vimala Gowda and Nirmala Venkatesh.
S Nagraj, a petitioner said, "The mandate rule is that they should not own sites when they apply for ministers quota. but on the pretext of ministers' quotas, they have taken these plots. People who are standing in queue for getting these sites, have been deceived by the government."
It's a staggering scam and is only possible with the full cooperation of corrupt BDA officials. A scam which exposes the claim that Bangalore, has no land for low cost housing.
Activists have gone to court about this blatant corruption on the part of BDA officials.
R Shivaswamy, advocate and anti-corruption activist said, "BDA have cheated the government by giving the lowest stamp duty and the lowest land cost."
Bangalore VIPs fake poverty for land
Yogesh Pawar
Tuesday, May 20, 2008 10:48 PM (Bangalore)
At the centre of Bangalore's land grab controversy is the very agency that's meant to build a better city, the Bangalore Development Authority (BDA).
They are meant to ensure affordable housing to those who cannot pay the high rates in Bangalore's real estate market.
But instead, BDA finds itself charged with selling the same land to a host of VIPs and politicians.
All the scam needs is, simple paper work to falsely prove that you are eligible for subisided BDA land.
To qualify for the land an applicant needs to prove:
* He/she has been a resident of Bangalore for over 20 years.
* He/she does not own any property in Bangalore.
* Most significantly that their annual family income is not more than Rs 1.20 lakh.
Many VIP's by using false affidavits have managed to get land allotted to them, they have also been passed off as Bangalore's underprivileged to get prime land at very low rates.
List of these ministers and former ministers cut across party lines like, Baburao Chavan, Ramalinga Reddy, M Diwakar Babu, S S Mallikarjuna, M Mallikarjuna Nagappa.
Former Members of Parliament, Vinayakumar Sorkae, R S Patil and Iqbal Ahmed Sardagi.
There are other former Members of Legislative Assembly and Council Venkatrammanappa, Yogesh Bhat, Basantha Reddy, Marilinge Gowda, A Narayanswamy, Sharanappa Thipanna Sunagara, B T Parameshwara, Gopala Pojar, R Narayana, Dinesh Gundu Rao, A S Guruswany, G V Sidappa, D G Shantha Gowda, B S Basavaraju, Katta Subramaniam Naidu, Sirak Shaikh, Vadnal Rajanna, Anasyumma Nataraj, H R Alaguru, M Shankara Reddy, Raja Venkatappa Naik, N Sampangi, Syed Azeem Peer S Khadri and S P Mudda Hanume Gowda Nagappa, Dr M Akbar Ali, K Kushal
T S Mruthyujayappa, V R Sudarshan, C Ramesh, Winfred Fernandes, Jalaja Naik, Profulla Madukar, Vimala Gowda and Nirmala Venkatesh.
S Nagraj, a petitioner said, "The mandate rule is that they should not own sites when they apply for ministers quota. but on the pretext of ministers' quotas, they have taken these plots. People who are standing in queue for getting these sites, have been deceived by the government."
It's a staggering scam and is only possible with the full cooperation of corrupt BDA officials. A scam which exposes the claim that Bangalore, has no land for low cost housing.
Activists have gone to court about this blatant corruption on the part of BDA officials.
R Shivaswamy, advocate and anti-corruption activist said, "BDA have cheated the government by giving the lowest stamp duty and the lowest land cost."
Times of India and Builders desparate to raise prices
Posted on 14:53 by Unknown
First it is the Times of India which predicted a rise in housing prices due to higher input costs. The very next day the KOAPP has said an 8% rise in prices is inevitable due to the same reasons. The bottom line is that builders are trying to create a FUD (Fear, Uncertainity and Death) phenomenon in the bangalore market. Similar things happened in Pune last month where PBAP has gone on record saying they will hike prices. Instead of passing the increased costs to the consumer, why dont the builders lower the land bank prices which are quoted by the land owners. In a heavily politicized business the builders are beginning to feel the pinch.
Below is the Times article
Realty prices may go up in Bangalore TIMES NEWS NETWORK
Bangalore: A bullish inflationary scenario, ever-rising commodity prices, hardening of interest rates and strengthening of the rupee. These are the key factors that are making real estate developers in the city wake up to hard realities. Despite all these odds, realty players, so far, have been trying to have their feet on the ground shielding severe competition in terms of price pressures and uneven demand and supply conditions.
City realty developers have now decided to pass a portion of their burden to their patrons, realising the fact that they cannot afford to bleed anymore.
According to well-informed realty sources, the developer community is mulling a end-buyer price hike of 3% to 7%, to take a bit of respite. The price rise will impact all kinds of projects across the city in various stages of development. “Depending on stage of construction, the percentage price hike will vary. First only an incremental rise will be passed on. If the market situation continues to remain the way it is, another rise will take place,’’ said a source.
In the last 9 to 12 months developers in city have borne an input cost rise between 20% and 30%. Rising prices of steel, cement and labour have been driving input cost higher.
REALTY CHECK
Inputs costs rise between 20% and 30%
Rising prices of steel, cement, labour drive input costs higher
Real estate price may therefore go up between 3% and 7%
Below is the Times article
Realty prices may go up in Bangalore TIMES NEWS NETWORK
Bangalore: A bullish inflationary scenario, ever-rising commodity prices, hardening of interest rates and strengthening of the rupee. These are the key factors that are making real estate developers in the city wake up to hard realities. Despite all these odds, realty players, so far, have been trying to have their feet on the ground shielding severe competition in terms of price pressures and uneven demand and supply conditions.
City realty developers have now decided to pass a portion of their burden to their patrons, realising the fact that they cannot afford to bleed anymore.
According to well-informed realty sources, the developer community is mulling a end-buyer price hike of 3% to 7%, to take a bit of respite. The price rise will impact all kinds of projects across the city in various stages of development. “Depending on stage of construction, the percentage price hike will vary. First only an incremental rise will be passed on. If the market situation continues to remain the way it is, another rise will take place,’’ said a source.
In the last 9 to 12 months developers in city have borne an input cost rise between 20% and 30%. Rising prices of steel, cement and labour have been driving input cost higher.
REALTY CHECK
Inputs costs rise between 20% and 30%
Rising prices of steel, cement, labour drive input costs higher
Real estate price may therefore go up between 3% and 7%
Saturday, 17 May 2008
Land price correct all over the country
Posted on 10:29 by Unknown
Now that the acreage cost seem to be dropping, the sq/ft price drop should follow.
Economic times reports...
Land prices in the national capital region (NCR), Mumbai suburbs, Bangalore and Hyderabad have corrected by up to 25% as property developers slow down their land purchases. Poor sales and lower availability of credit at higher cost have prompted property developers to end the mad rush to acquire land. Some of the developers have even backed out of land deals which were agreed upon as the slowdown hit the sector.
Prices have come down by up to 25% in Mumbai's distant suburbs, including Thane and Belapur, and pockets of Hyderabad and Bangalore, according to property consultancy firm Knight Frank India. Prices in the NCR, with an exception of Faridabad and Delhi, too have witnessed a correction of up to 25%, says a senior Unitech executive, adding that transaction volume has dried up. Land prices in Faridabad have risen 10-30% in the past 3-4 months.
However, Faridabad is just catching up with its neighbouring locations. The prices in Faridabad are still lower than in Gurgaon or Noida and the current price rise is more towards building a parity with them. Land prices in Delhi are said to be stable.
But a recent land deal struck in Delhi's prime commercial centre Connaught Place indicates that prices in the capital too are cooling off. Parsvnath Developers bought 1.18 acre, jointly owned by Mahajan Industries and Videocon Industries, for Rs 200 crore. The deal came at a discount of almost 17% at Rs 169 crore per acre, compared to what hotel major Leela Group paid for acquiring 3 acres in Chanakyapuri last year for Rs 611 crore.
"Real estate sector is facing a major cash crunch. That's why the companies are focusing on completing the project at hand, instead of adding to their landbanks," says Omaxe executive director Vipin Aggarwal.
Till recently, real estate players were in a land acquisition frenzy, with some players even pledging their equity shares to acquire land. A large landbank was showcased as the biggest asset for a company tapping the capital market. "Most real estate firms have formed big landbanks. So, there is hardly any need for them to go for further acquisition, especially in these times, when money is expensive," said Anshuman Magazine South Asia chairman CB Richard Ellis. Developers are also showing lower interest in agriculture land, once their prime target because of the substantial margins it offered.
At the same time, given the slowdown in the sector, some of the land deals which were earlier agreed upon have also fallen through. "The situation has completely changed since January. The developers are now exiting the deals because they do not think that the project can fetch them the profits they had originally expected," says Knight Frank India chairman Pranay Vakil. The correction is more pronounced in plots of less than 25 acre in size, since they are not FDI-compliant. "For a larger piece of land, there is FDI. But for smaller size projects, there are very few takers," he adds.
Economic times reports...
Land prices in the national capital region (NCR), Mumbai suburbs, Bangalore and Hyderabad have corrected by up to 25% as property developers slow down their land purchases. Poor sales and lower availability of credit at higher cost have prompted property developers to end the mad rush to acquire land. Some of the developers have even backed out of land deals which were agreed upon as the slowdown hit the sector.
Prices have come down by up to 25% in Mumbai's distant suburbs, including Thane and Belapur, and pockets of Hyderabad and Bangalore, according to property consultancy firm Knight Frank India. Prices in the NCR, with an exception of Faridabad and Delhi, too have witnessed a correction of up to 25%, says a senior Unitech executive, adding that transaction volume has dried up. Land prices in Faridabad have risen 10-30% in the past 3-4 months.
However, Faridabad is just catching up with its neighbouring locations. The prices in Faridabad are still lower than in Gurgaon or Noida and the current price rise is more towards building a parity with them. Land prices in Delhi are said to be stable.
But a recent land deal struck in Delhi's prime commercial centre Connaught Place indicates that prices in the capital too are cooling off. Parsvnath Developers bought 1.18 acre, jointly owned by Mahajan Industries and Videocon Industries, for Rs 200 crore. The deal came at a discount of almost 17% at Rs 169 crore per acre, compared to what hotel major Leela Group paid for acquiring 3 acres in Chanakyapuri last year for Rs 611 crore.
"Real estate sector is facing a major cash crunch. That's why the companies are focusing on completing the project at hand, instead of adding to their landbanks," says Omaxe executive director Vipin Aggarwal.
Till recently, real estate players were in a land acquisition frenzy, with some players even pledging their equity shares to acquire land. A large landbank was showcased as the biggest asset for a company tapping the capital market. "Most real estate firms have formed big landbanks. So, there is hardly any need for them to go for further acquisition, especially in these times, when money is expensive," said Anshuman Magazine South Asia chairman CB Richard Ellis. Developers are also showing lower interest in agriculture land, once their prime target because of the substantial margins it offered.
At the same time, given the slowdown in the sector, some of the land deals which were earlier agreed upon have also fallen through. "The situation has completely changed since January. The developers are now exiting the deals because they do not think that the project can fetch them the profits they had originally expected," says Knight Frank India chairman Pranay Vakil. The correction is more pronounced in plots of less than 25 acre in size, since they are not FDI-compliant. "For a larger piece of land, there is FDI. But for smaller size projects, there are very few takers," he adds.
Friday, 16 May 2008
Some sense returning to the real estate market
Posted on 11:53 by Unknown
Mint reporting on the slowdown in PE deals.
New Delhi: India’s real estate party may be cooling down rapidly. Global private equity firms say that they would rather invest in the US realty market than in the Indian one because US property prices have fallen so sharply that yields on investments there will be more attractive—without the hassle.
Private equity firms made a beeline for India after the government allowed foreign direct investment in real estate in 2005. They were attracted by returns of 25-30%, but with home prices falling in the US, global private equity firms now believe it makes more sense to park their investments in that country.
See:Realty deals
“Last year, Japan was a more attractive market to put money in. If you look at the US, we can now get an internal rate of return of 25% there, so why would anyone want to come to India?” asked a senior executive at an international financial services group, who did not wish to be named.
Four out of six private equity funds Mint spoke to said they are no longer investing in India. They didn’t want to be identified.
The US, reeling from a subprime lending crisis, is seeing the worst housing slump since the 1930s. The median price for a single-family home has dropped 7.7% in the first quarter of the year, the biggest decline in at least 29 years, as values tumbled in two out of every three US cities, according to the National Association of Realtors.
Sales of single-family houses and condominiums also fell 22% to 4.95 million at an annualized pace, the slowest in a decade.
“It is true that there are certain transactions in the US where you can get similar returns (as in India) of 25%, such as buying a condominium project or a commercial project,” said Subhash Bedi, director at Red Fort Capital Advisors Ltd, a private equity firm. “When you can get similar returns in India and in the US, global private equity firms which have a mandate to invest anywhere in the world, will prefer the US market because there are lesser risks associated with investments there.”
The Indian market is riskier to invest in because government approvals for projects here take a long time and there is also an execution risk because Indian developers do not have a history of completing projects on time, Bedi said.
Project delays can sometimes run to two to three years and there aren’t enough laws in place to effectively protect investors. There is also no central registry of land titles in India, because land is a state subject and the system of record-keeping and rules vary from state to state, making investing compelling only if the returns are high. In the US, there is a central registry of titles and title insurance can be purchased to protect investors.
India, where property values doubled in a year and, in some cases, tripled in less than two years, is now starting to see some cooling off after values shot up so high that they bordered on the unaffordable, eroding returns and turning away investors. Realty values in Mumbai rival that in Manhattan, New York.
To be sure, while global private equity firms might choose to move their investments to the US, nothing changes for funds dedicated to India as they can only invest in Indian real estate.
There are around 125 private equity funds for real estate in the country, out of which 60% are global funds, according to Venture Intelligence, an agency that tracks private equity.
“It can become increasingly difficult for the local team of a global fund to justify investment in India when you can get the same return for lesser risks elsewhere,” Bedi said. “So, for the short term, say a year, global funds might decide to invest in the US real estate market instead of India.”
“There is a big liquidity crunch in the US,” Bedi said. “It is much less in India when compared with the US because banks here are at least not turning away all borrowers.”
While private equity investment will continue to come into Indian realty, the number of firms chasing developers will be fewer, another senior official at one of the world’s leading financial management and advisory companies said.
“We will see fewer private equity firms, say two or three, chasing a developer unlike last year, when 8-10 private equity players were chasing the same set of companies,” he said requesting anonymity.
New Delhi: India’s real estate party may be cooling down rapidly. Global private equity firms say that they would rather invest in the US realty market than in the Indian one because US property prices have fallen so sharply that yields on investments there will be more attractive—without the hassle.
Private equity firms made a beeline for India after the government allowed foreign direct investment in real estate in 2005. They were attracted by returns of 25-30%, but with home prices falling in the US, global private equity firms now believe it makes more sense to park their investments in that country.
See:Realty deals
“Last year, Japan was a more attractive market to put money in. If you look at the US, we can now get an internal rate of return of 25% there, so why would anyone want to come to India?” asked a senior executive at an international financial services group, who did not wish to be named.
Four out of six private equity funds Mint spoke to said they are no longer investing in India. They didn’t want to be identified.
The US, reeling from a subprime lending crisis, is seeing the worst housing slump since the 1930s. The median price for a single-family home has dropped 7.7% in the first quarter of the year, the biggest decline in at least 29 years, as values tumbled in two out of every three US cities, according to the National Association of Realtors.
Sales of single-family houses and condominiums also fell 22% to 4.95 million at an annualized pace, the slowest in a decade.
“It is true that there are certain transactions in the US where you can get similar returns (as in India) of 25%, such as buying a condominium project or a commercial project,” said Subhash Bedi, director at Red Fort Capital Advisors Ltd, a private equity firm. “When you can get similar returns in India and in the US, global private equity firms which have a mandate to invest anywhere in the world, will prefer the US market because there are lesser risks associated with investments there.”
The Indian market is riskier to invest in because government approvals for projects here take a long time and there is also an execution risk because Indian developers do not have a history of completing projects on time, Bedi said.
Project delays can sometimes run to two to three years and there aren’t enough laws in place to effectively protect investors. There is also no central registry of land titles in India, because land is a state subject and the system of record-keeping and rules vary from state to state, making investing compelling only if the returns are high. In the US, there is a central registry of titles and title insurance can be purchased to protect investors.
India, where property values doubled in a year and, in some cases, tripled in less than two years, is now starting to see some cooling off after values shot up so high that they bordered on the unaffordable, eroding returns and turning away investors. Realty values in Mumbai rival that in Manhattan, New York.
To be sure, while global private equity firms might choose to move their investments to the US, nothing changes for funds dedicated to India as they can only invest in Indian real estate.
There are around 125 private equity funds for real estate in the country, out of which 60% are global funds, according to Venture Intelligence, an agency that tracks private equity.
“It can become increasingly difficult for the local team of a global fund to justify investment in India when you can get the same return for lesser risks elsewhere,” Bedi said. “So, for the short term, say a year, global funds might decide to invest in the US real estate market instead of India.”
“There is a big liquidity crunch in the US,” Bedi said. “It is much less in India when compared with the US because banks here are at least not turning away all borrowers.”
While private equity investment will continue to come into Indian realty, the number of firms chasing developers will be fewer, another senior official at one of the world’s leading financial management and advisory companies said.
“We will see fewer private equity firms, say two or three, chasing a developer unlike last year, when 8-10 private equity players were chasing the same set of companies,” he said requesting anonymity.
Thursday, 15 May 2008
Nusli Wadia sues Gopal Raheja for ‘breaching deal’
Posted on 16:32 by Unknown
Something has seriously gone wrong with this deal now that Mr Wadia is sueing the Rahejas. The Raheja's on their part have encroached on mangrove plantations and conducted massive landfills on the swamp adjoining to Mr Wadia's trust. Some of the complexes there were supposed to be sold to middle and low income groups as per the government statutes. 1 bed-room flats were constructed but these flats were never sold individually but they were sold as jodi-flats to different members of the family. The builders gained IT sops due to the nature of the scheme. Mr Wadia is now asking for his pound of flesh since prices have quintupled over the last 5 years.
MUMBAI: Industrialist Nusli Wadia has dragged builder baron Gopal Raheja to court for alleged fraud and breach of agreement regarding the development of over 400 acres of prime land belonging to the estate of late Eduljee Framroze Dinshaw at Malad (west).
Wadia terminated the agreements with Raheja and his 49 companies on May 12. The development agreements were entered into on January 2, 1995, and April 12, 1995 between Wadia, as the sole administrator of the Dinshaw estate, and Raheja.
Wadia has withdrawn all authority given to Raheja including the powers of attorney given Raheja’s children, Sandeep and Sonali, to deal with the various units, flats and other premises built on the contract land.
In a suit filed in the Bombay high court, Wadia has called upon the Rahejas to raze all construction on the 400 acres of prime land at Malad including three buildings at Palm Springs Centre and four at Unique Commercial Centre.
In the interim, Wadia has sought the appointment of a receiver and that the Rahejas be restrained from carrying out further construction and creation of third party rights on the contract land.
In February, Wadia had filed a suit against Gopal Raheja’s brothers Chandru L Raheja and Suresh L Raheja and their sons. He asked the court to stop the Rahejas from carrying on construction on 200 acres of prime land in Malad (west) belonging to the EFD estate and sought demolition of eight of their commercial towers including the Inorbit Mall, Hypercity Mall, Infinity Towers, IV Dimension, Spectrum Towers, Magnum Tower, Intelnet, Prism Paradigm and Athena, all located off Malad Link Road.
Wadia alleged that Chandru and others had “fraudulently” sold or leased properties constructed on the contract land to their “own sister concerns and shell companies created for the purpose” instead of genuine third parties. Wadia demanded damages worth Rs 350 crore from the Raheja brothers.
MUMBAI: Industrialist Nusli Wadia has dragged builder baron Gopal Raheja to court for alleged fraud and breach of agreement regarding the development of over 400 acres of prime land belonging to the estate of late Eduljee Framroze Dinshaw at Malad (west).
Wadia terminated the agreements with Raheja and his 49 companies on May 12. The development agreements were entered into on January 2, 1995, and April 12, 1995 between Wadia, as the sole administrator of the Dinshaw estate, and Raheja.
Wadia has withdrawn all authority given to Raheja including the powers of attorney given Raheja’s children, Sandeep and Sonali, to deal with the various units, flats and other premises built on the contract land.
In a suit filed in the Bombay high court, Wadia has called upon the Rahejas to raze all construction on the 400 acres of prime land at Malad including three buildings at Palm Springs Centre and four at Unique Commercial Centre.
In the interim, Wadia has sought the appointment of a receiver and that the Rahejas be restrained from carrying out further construction and creation of third party rights on the contract land.
In February, Wadia had filed a suit against Gopal Raheja’s brothers Chandru L Raheja and Suresh L Raheja and their sons. He asked the court to stop the Rahejas from carrying on construction on 200 acres of prime land in Malad (west) belonging to the EFD estate and sought demolition of eight of their commercial towers including the Inorbit Mall, Hypercity Mall, Infinity Towers, IV Dimension, Spectrum Towers, Magnum Tower, Intelnet, Prism Paradigm and Athena, all located off Malad Link Road.
Wadia alleged that Chandru and others had “fraudulently” sold or leased properties constructed on the contract land to their “own sister concerns and shell companies created for the purpose” instead of genuine third parties. Wadia demanded damages worth Rs 350 crore from the Raheja brothers.
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