Worried that property prices may cool down? With India tipped to become the most sought after real estate market among emerging economies, you may not really have to fasten your safety belts just yet. In fact, just 10 land deals in India over the past 12 months were valued at over a whopping Rs 15,000 cr. Evidence enough to prove that reports citing office rentals in Delhi and Mumbai being costlier than more developed real estate markets such as New York City, Dubai and Singapore, are not off the mark. While realty giants such as DLF, Unitech and Hiranandani Developers were the obvious names that featured on the ‘mega deal’ list, Sunday stumbled upon some interesting trends. The list not only stands testimony to how India’s corporate bigwigs such as Reliance Industries and JSW have jumped into the realty bandwagon, but also marks the entry of hospitality major Leela Group into the Delhi market with a hefty tag of Rs 611 cr for a 3 acre plot! Although Delhi and Mumbai still held on to seven out of top 10 mega realty deals in the country, Hyderabad and Chennai too emerged as hotspots for big ticket transactions. Meanwhile in January this year, Essar Group acquired Peninsula Land’s Kurla commercial project for about Rs 1,200 crore. Recently, Delhi-based BPTP Developers hogged the limelight by outbidding realty biggies such as DLF and Omaxe to clinch a 95-acre commercial land in Noida for a record Rs 5006 cr. While opinions may have been mixed on the valuation of the deal, some completely disagree with the view that the deal is over-valued. “I don’t think it is overvalued in any way. The feasibility of such a transaction holds good as the demand for office space in India still remains huge and needs to be met,” feels Rohtas Goel, CMD, Omaxe. However, if the BPTP deal is the costliest in terms of total valuation, it is the JSW deal that stands out as the most expensive at Rs 365.45 cr per acre. This was followed by hospitality major Leela Group’s Rs 203.6-cr per acre deal for a plot in the Capital. Another valuable deal was that of Wadhwa Builders who shelled out Rs 203.6 cr per acre for a commercial development in Bandra-Kurla Complex (BKC) in Mumbai. RIL’s giant deal that amounts to Rs 121.5 cr per acre in BKC, will see construction of a multi-storeyed car park as well as a commercial complex. Says Manish Aggarwal, director, Land & Industrial, Cushman & Wakefield India, “Many real estate players like to start their flagship projects from prominent cities and this had led to large number of players eyeing some limited prime land parcels in metros. However, as the market matures, many of these players will look at creating large land banks which has a mix of prime and sub prime land parcels across tier II and tier III cities.” With an acute shortage of land in metro cities and escalating land costs, it will not be long before other locations such as Hyderabad, Chennai, Bangalore, Coimbatore and Pune will grow as centres of major land deals in the near future. Realty major Unitech hogged the limelight last year when it bagged a 1,750 acre plot near Vishakapatnam for Rs 3,328 cr. Bangalore-based Purvankara Developers and Nitesh Estates clinched major deals in Hyderabad and Chennai, respectively. In fact, both Hyderabad and Chennai have witnessed a huge interest from various segments of real estate investors, including funds and developers. “Due to paucity of ready space and rising real estate prices in Delhi and Mumbai, cities such as Hyderabad, Chennai and Pune have seen a steady rise in demand for both IT and residential space. Many companies in IT, ITeS, BPO, software and manufacturing sectors are increasingly looking at the aforesaid cities and other emerging destinations as attractive centers,” adds Aggarwal. Another interesting observation was on the plans that developers had for the purchased piece of land. While most of the transactions were for commercial purposes, a few of them were of mixed-use nature as well. Purvankara’s Hi-Tech city project in Hyderabad will make use of the land for mixed development of high-end ultra luxury retail, residential, commercial and hospitality complexes. DLF’s giant Rs 1,675 cr deal last year in the heart of Delhi is a proposed integrated township project comprising offices, shopping malls and residential units.
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