Good News On Its Way For Realty Sector

Rakesh Pathak is an MBA and works in Tata Forum. He is planning to buy a house in the range of Rs 30 lakh to 40 lakh. When he calculated the EMI on a loan for the prospective property, he cancelled the plan.

A house that suits his requirements is way beyond his budget - he is waiting for the home loans interest rates to come down. Like Rakesh, many middle class salaried people would like to buy a property through home loan - while others put money in shares, rather than invest in property.

Dr Mamta Chaubey, reader in Delhi University, wishes to buy a house through home loan. Though she is of the opinion that for middle class people a home loan is affordable, she is nevertheless reluctant to take the plunge as high interest rates have put a dampener on everything.

Sakshi Malhotra, working in an MNC, has been planning to buy a house for a long time She used to wait for prices to come down every year and would keep deferring her plans each year. This year, she was determined to buy property but the thought of paying a hefty EMI dampened her spirit.

One wants property price or interest rates to go down because real estate market is uncertain. With the worldwide financial crisis showing no signs of ending, India too, is keeping its fingers crossed.

Tremors are being felt everywhere - from the volatile stock market to the unpredictable rupee, and from the spiralling inflation to rising home loan interest rates.

Property is of two kinds - movable and immovable property. While movable property, also called chattels , such as money, securities and goods, which can be moved from one place to the other, immovable property such as land and the objects permanently attached to it such as buildings, constitute immovable property.

There also exists another property called intellectual property, which refers to the right over artistic creations or inventions.

Immovable properties have the essential characteristic that only the title to the property changes by virtue of the transfer, whereas, the physical location of it does not change. Property investment is usually referred to as real estate investment or investment in immovable properties or assets.

The investment in property essentially depends on the risks associated with it, that is to say, even if the venture succeeds when the future stream of income will accrue to the investor and the alternative investment opportunities.

Real estate investment can be attractive if viewed as a business opportunity ; it can generate rental income, using it as collateral to secure a loan for a business venture, to offset otherwise taxable income through cash savings on tax-deductible interest rate losses, or simply from the profits garnered from its resale.

Investment in property is treated as a long-term gain and investment professionals argue that 5%-20 % of investment portfolio should be directed towards property or real estate . So, everyone in this sector is waiting for some good news, to pick up the threads from where they left, at the beginning of the year.

Source:Economics Times

Tatas, Birlas to Invest in Real Estate

Two of India’s large business houses, the Birlas and the Tatas, are looking at real estate as a major investment area, albeit in different ways.

While the Birlas, through a financial services arm, are offering real estate as an alternative investment option to clients, the Tatas are planning to develop surplus land held by group companies. The Tatas may also invest in the sector part of funds raised through recent public offerings.

These moves come at a time when real estate prices are correcting and low demand for projects has prompted large developers to default on financial commitments and project deadlines.

Aditya Birla Management director Ajay Srinivasan, who also heads the financial services business, said the conglomerate is merely gearing up for the future. “We are now putting a team in place and want to be ready when the time is right,” he told ET.

The financial services arm of the group is setting up a real estate and private equity arm for its wealth management units. To be headed by Sashi Kumar, the real estate business would be managed through Birla Sun Life Asset Management. The Birlas plan to subsequently launch two real estate funds, one offshore and the other local, for the sector.

Although funds will be raised overseas as well, the investment destinations will be in India and can include distressed real estate assets. Tata Housing Development, a real estate player, has already said that it plans to leverage its tie-ups with banks by developing properties on surplus land owned by other Tata group companies.

Tata Housing is now identifying excess landbanks owned by companies such as TCS, Voltas, Rallis India, Tata Motors, Tata Coffee and Tata Tea. Tata Capital, the financial services arm of the Tatas, is scheduled to close a largely successful non-convertible debenture issue on Tuesday; it has so far raised Rs 2,300 crore against a targeted Rs 1,500 crore. Although Tata Capital has said that it won’t lend to group companies, it has proposed to invest in most asset classes.

Anticipating a large value erosion in the realty space, Indian corporates are planning to float new funds to acquire assets in the domestic property market. Real estate funds such as Saffron Advisors have either floated or are in the process of floating funds with corpus ranging between Rs 500 crore and Rs 1,000 crore.

“As far as Indian realty is concerned, for the right projects, funds are still available,” said Saffron Advisors MD Ajoy Kapoor. “Conservative European investors, after conducting extensive due diligence and research, are more comfortable with investing in Indian real estate, provided they are able to align with right partners,” he added.

A few months ago, Munich-based retail aggregator Deutsche Capital Management underwrote $20 million for Saffron India Real Estate Fund I, an India-focussed real estate fund. DCM is raising a specific fund for investing in Indian real estate through Saffron Advisors.

Tough lending norms, unfavourable primary market and global financial worries have affected fund flow into the Indian property market. Real estate deals have fallen and fancy valuations by developers are being corrected to a large extent.

Source: Economics Times

Investment in Gold and Real Estate

Investment in gold and in real estate both has their fair share of pros and cons. Following are some of the advantages and disadvantages of investing in gold and real estate.

Gold: Gold is best suited for a long time investment. The demand for gold has always been robust. The process of buying and selling with gold is quite quick. It offers near zero risk of value depreciation.

One can even invest in gold online, nowadays. Investors can now buy, sell and virtually trade in gold commodity just like any other stock or equities. This has been a driving factor for many to invest in gold because investing online reduces the risk of actually owning the metal.

Gold prices are generally not affected by the fluctuation in the currency. The gold price does not rely on potency of the currency. Also, the price of gold is not influenced by any kind of political instabilities or crisis.

However, gold doesn't provide any immediate appreciable income. The value of the income has to be seen over the long term.

Real Estate: There are multiple ways of earnings in real estate. Investment in real estate can be long term and short term. It also ensures regular inflows by way of rentals. It can be used as collateral to secure a loan and to counterbalance taxable incomes. The profits earned from property resale are apparent.

But like any other investment option this too comes with a tag of risk. The real estate market is unpredictable and comes with no guarantee. Although a large number of investors have been successful and earned huge profits with real estate investing, there is no guarantee that it is going to be same for everyone. However, one can be and should be careful and aware. Take time to familiarize yourself with the real estate market, the market terminology and investment options and processes.

Investing is a crucial decision, it has money on stake. The risk factor is common. But knowledge, awareness and clarity of your own requirements are the keys to decide upon which investment to opt for. Both of the stated investments can offer lucrative returns. Choosing one of them as an investment option requires assessment of the money one can outlay and the objective of the investment. Understanding of the market is very important.

For buying, selling or renting Property and Real Estate in India, visit Magicbricks. Also find Real Estate Agents in India at Magicbricks.