Real-Estate Blog

Malls Heating Up Space In Chennai

John — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 09:52:24 +0000

Though Chennai has been a major growth market for organized retail, the mail sector has only just started heating up up with numerous projects in the pipeline. About 12 million sq. ft. of retail space is expected to enter the market in the next 12 to 18 months. The demand for space in both the high street and malls is on the rise as they are spread pretty evenly across the city.
Increased demand for prime retail space mainly from new retailers seeking to establish their presence in the Chennai market, has pushed rental values up 50-65 percent ($2.5 to $3 per sq. ft ground floor) in the high street and up to 80 percent in the luxury zones ($4 - $5 per sq. ft.) in the past year alone.
Besides the central business district areas, suburban markets like East Coast Road (a residential and leisure stretch) have also seen an increase in retail activities. The parallel IT Highway is expected to get at least four or five malls, the result of the increased IT/ITES activity and related residential boom in that area has generated a phenomenal retail potential.
The demand for retail space is buoyant with high street rentals not showing any slackening. The rentals at proposed mall projects have also risen steeply with average rentals starting from $2 per sq. ft. in the suburbs to $4 in the central business district.
Chennai has seen considerable growth in IT, automobiles and some other industry segments, leading to an increase in spending capacities and dual household incomes. This, more than any other factor, has been responsible for the increased spending in the retail sector.

Leveraging Your Properties Better

John — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 08:37:46 +0000

Emergencies come unannounced! So to what can you look for an immediate, reliable fund source during an emergency? A good option is your own property. Loan against property is taken against mortgage of property you own provided it has not been already put up security for any other purpose.
You can have choices of what kind of fund you need – as you can get either a lump sum amount repaying it as an EMI – or take it as an overdraft amount. It depends on your choice and needs. But overdraft allows you to save on interests as it comes little cheaper than lump sum loans and also lets you use the funds when needed. But one should always keep in mind that the loan taken is properly utilized.
While personal loans are costly and also have a cap, one can avail mortgage loans of up to 75% of the present market value of the property. Its tenure is also much longer than personal loans. So it gives ample opportunity to utilize the fund in appreciating properties like real estate. (more…)

Summary Of India’s Real Estate Market

John — Sat, 09 Aug 2008 11:42:26 +0000

The Indian real estate sector has seen some unprecedented expansion in the last two-three years in terms of demand, supply and prices. While the overall outlook in the medium/long-term remains strong, the next 12-18 months are expected to witness some pronounced movements that could mature the market. There is already some price correction and rationalization taking place in certain parts. Further consolidation is likely, whereby marginal players will be further marginalized.

In the commercial office sector rentals are stabilizing, and in certain pockets even correcting. The co-relation to an unstable US economy is strong, as is the uncertainty on the demand side this year. While pure corporate office space remain in short supply across most cities, an abundant supply of IT parks (non SEZ), in conjunction with the STPI sunset clause, is cooling IT space rentals in these locations. Simultaneously, the demand for IT SEZs has picked up, but while demand may not be met in 2008, a larger supply for IT SEZs in 2009 and onwards could lead to some correction in rentals for these spaces. For IT parks however, the situation look bleak, with non-occupancy likely to increase, which will cause rentals to slow down.

The residential sector is starting to see a constriction in demand, mainly due to extremely high values which is effecting affordability for end-users and rising mortgage rates that are making it dearer to own a home. Hence, most suburban locations have been witnessing a lower-off-take. while the face purchase prices have held, developers are looking at innovative techniques to attract customers through disguised discounts. (more…)

Technology Park For Small And Medium Enterprises

John — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 12:13:54 +0000

The phenomenon of software Technology Park has made revelation in the field of IT and Indian economy has highly benefited by them. The young Indian work forces for IT and IT enabled services (ITes) are an asset for the development of the nation. However, to accelerate the economic growth of the whole nation, more small cities in India need to come to the core and important infrastructure like software technology parks need to be developed to provide more opportunities for the educated youths from non-metro cities. The software technology parks are suitable place for establishing small and medium enterprises and investors too get more benefit form these types of infrastructure projects.

The STP is an autonomous body in India and governed by the department of Information technology. Indian software industry needs a proper infrastructure and other facilities to run their business successfully. The technology parks provide that infrastructures and facilities like 24 hr electricity and high speed data communication services to run a business without any difficulties.

So these facilities are just like value added services for corporate houses who want to set up their new offices in various locations. They can easily provide their services for project management and consultancy services. IT based industrial real estate companies are getting many benefits from the STP phenomenon. (more…)

New Home Security System In Residential Areas of Kolkata

John — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 11:58:40 +0000

Kolkata is known as the city of joy and the city has a long tradition since the British colonial age. Once it even used to be the capital of India and now is a place of choice to live in for many Non-Resident Indians (NRIs). Now Kolkata is an international destination in South–East Asia and daily flights connect it with various other international destinations. Highly developed industrial nations are connecting to Kolkata for out-sourcing their business. If you are not in India you can also chose Kolkata as a business destination. The city is always celebrating all kinds of national and international festivals with great aplomb. The real tastes of Indian or Bengali dishes are the special attraction of the city. You can find many more reasons to live in Kolkata. The only reason that makes us worried about living in this city is the security threat in urban living. Suburban living in the newly developed residential places is not fully secured. Many unusual happenings are recorded in the local newspapers about robbery and murders due to low quality security system. Mainly retired people build their dream houses in the Salt Lake and Rajarhat area using their salary savings. They want a peaceful life after their retirements. The New tradition of Nuclear family doesn’t allow all family members to live together in the same house. As a result old people live in those economic flats. These days however, real estates developers are paying more attention on security matters.

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Eco Friendly Buildings Are The New Fashion In Indian Real Estate Sector

John — Mon, 18 Feb 2008 15:49:16 +0000

For long, many Indians, especially dwellers in big cities have been suffering from sick building syndrome – “a combination of ailments associated with place of work or residence.” But it seems finally developers have woken up and are looking for ways to go green with buildings designs- be in commercial or residential sector. Green buildings – by design try to make the environment inside healthier and better utilization of resources thus making it less stressful on human.

This trend is keeping with what is going on at the global level where scientists and environmentalists are concerned about “invironment” – a new terminology that refers to the quality of air indoor and its effects on health. According to American Society of Heating Refrigeration and Airconditioning Engineers (ashrae)– indoor air quality should provide up to 80% comfort level to people who are exposed to it. According to study figures – American business looses $60 billion every year due to less productivity caused by sick building syndrome. A green building can be termed so only if it meets certain strict parameters set by international leaders in the field like Leadership in Energy and Environment Design (LEED). LEED-India along with the directorate of energy efficiency of the Indian central government (more…)

BPO COMPANIES LOOK FOR IT PARK

John — Mon, 09 Jul 2007 10:57:46 +0000

A few years back, a number of multinational Information Technology (IT) and Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) companies, after taking into account India as a base for their operations, finally decided on cities such as Bangalore, Hyderabad and Pune due to the lack of quality space in the Metros. This trend is fast changing with the entry of national developers and local developers, who are gearing up to meet the potential demand for space from IT companies which is expected to be nearly 2.5 million sq.ft./year.

The metros still need to offer quality ready-built space and developed land, targeting technology and outsourcing companies of different sizes. Over the last two years more than 95 percent of the space absorbed has been by the IT and BPO sectors in major Cities. This is an extremely healthy situation given the fact that the quality of buildings in the metro like Kolkata is still not up to international standards. A number of local, national and international developers are expected to aggressively pitch for this land. Developers of IT real estate space need to realize future trends from an occupier perspective, which includes a more strategic approach to real estate, ongoing search for more flexible solutions, greater focus on security and environmental issues, and global or regional input for decision making. Most international occupiers would favor to lease space as this would involve minimum capital commitment, maximum flexibility, easier exit strategy, and real estate being kept off the balance sheet. (more…)