Anuj Puri News

Q.Can real estate be a reliable hedge against inflation? Prableen Bajpai,Founder,FinFix Research and Analytics: Not always. Real estate growth in India varies widely. Returns often overlook CAGR, with a doubling of returns in 10 years reflecting just 7.2% pre-tax CAGR. While it can outpace inflation, high costs and uneven growth make guaranteed returns uncertain. Anuj Puri,Chairman and Founder, ANAROCK Property Consultants: Yes. Real estate offers inflation protection and stability, with less volatility than stocks or gold. Rising demand, scarcity, and costs drive property values and rental income. As per ANAROCK Research rentals in India’s top seven cities rose over 70% from 2021 to September 2024.

Alternative Investment Funds (AIFs) investments made across sectors in H1 FY2025, real estate’s share was the highest at 17% — nearly Rs 75,468 crore, according to latest SEBI data compiled by Anarock. Rs 12,801 crore were also raised via Qualified Institutional Placements (QIPs) within the same period — again, the 2nd highest among all the major sectors and comprising a 17% overall share. According to the data, other sectors benefiting from AIF investments are IT/ITeS, financial services, NBFCs, banks, pharma, FMCG, retail, renewable energy.

Residential sales across the top cities stabilized in July-Sep quarter with sales declining to 11%, according to Anarock data. About 1,07,060 units were sold in Q3 2024 against 1,20,290 units in Q3 2023. However, sales continued to outstrip new supply in Q3 2024, reflecting continued health in the market. “Among the top 7 cities, MMR recorded the highest sales of 36,190 units, followed by Pune with 19,050 units. Cumulatively, the two western cities accounted for 52% of the total sales across the top 7 cities in Q3 2024. All the top cities individually recorded a dip in housing sales,” said Anuj Puri, chairman, Anarock group.

Home prices in India are set to rise steadily over the next few years, driven by demand for luxury properties from cash-rich individuals, according to a Reuters poll of housing experts who forecast rent increases will outpace consumer inflation. While economic growth in Asia's third-largest economy is likely to outpace its major peers, policy experts warn the benefits are increasingly being funnelled to a select few, leaving millions of job-seekers, especially young people, out of the growth story. With a supply of affordable homes dwindling and those with cash cornering the property market, many aspiring first-time buyers are being forced to keep renting.

Almost everybody has faced some financial crisis in life. Some of these crises may have been caused by external events, so the individual can’t be held responsible. Others are quite clearly self goals in one’s investment journey. The point is, did your financial crisis turn you into a better investor? Have you ensured that your finances never face such a crisis again? Wise men say that even if you lose, don’t lose the lesson. ET Wealth reached out to industry experts and financial advisers to know what they learnt from the financial upheavals in their lives. The experts everyone looks up to for their financial wisdom and prudent planning have also grappled with the same mistakes that many of us make. They have also faced the same uncertainties, the same doubts and, yes, the same losses.

luxury housing segment. Latest data from the real estate consultancy firm indicates that out of NCR's total housing sales of approximately 32,200 units during January-June 2024, over 45 per cent share was in the luxury segment, and 24 per cent in the affordable segment. Back in 2019, sales of luxury homes were a mere 3 per cent while the affordable sales share stood at 49 per cent.

construction technology and the implementation of the Real Estate Regulatory Authority (RERA), ensuring home buyers receive their homes on time, according to a report by a real estate consulting firm. In the top seven cities, the average completion time for smaller projects of fewer than 500 units is now four years, while larger projects with more than 500 units take about 4.9 years to complete, as per data from Anarock. The market share of large and listed developers has also increased significantly, contributing to the timely delivery of projects, the report noted.

large scale projects in less than five years since 2014 against 6 years before that as modernisation of construction technology and implementation of Real Estate Regulatory Authority (RERA) has ensured homebuyers are getting the home in time. According to Anarock data, the average time taken to complete smaller projects of less than 500 units in the top 7 cities was 4 years, and 4.9 years for large projects of more than 500 units each. Market share of large and listed developers, has also increased significantly, which has contributed to timely delivery of the projects.

housing sales have resulted in decline of unsold inventory and average residential prices to soar by 49% between H1 2019 and H1 2024 in Delhi and Mumbai. NCR recorded a 49% five-yearly jump in average residential prices from Rs 4,565 per sq. ft. to Rs 6,800 per sq. ft. In MMR, average residential prices appreciated 48% in the period – from Rs 10,610 per sq. ft. in H1 2019 to Rs 15,650 per sq. ft. in H1 2024.

developer of dubious reputation, the former residents are regretting their decision. Mismanagement by the developer has brought the entire project to a standstill. Danish Patel, a 58-year-old resident, laments, “The developer went out of his way to pitch for our society’s redevelopment when others were showing limited interest. However, he abandoned the project midway when it became unviable for him due to his own mismanagement.”

developers, housing societies are increasingly turning to self-redevelopment. This involves residents hiring a contractor and project management consultant, excluding builders. Selfredevelopment offers clear advantages: any surplus from selling additional inventory stays within the society and is distributed among members. “The major advantage is that society members reap the benefits of the property’s potential rather than the builder,” says Anuj Puri, Chairman of ANAROCK Group. By securing additional FSI directly, the society gains up to 25-30% more carpet area, compared to the typical 10-15% offered by builders. Moreover, the society controls every aspect of redevelopment. “Societies have more say in design, amenities and construction quality,” points out Swapnil Anil, Executive Director & Head, Advisory Services, Colliers India. They can also choose new members for the free-sale area.

«I think after a very-very long time I have discovered that the developers have been extremely mindful of bringing in more cash flows and deleveraging their position rather than continuously increasing the prices and somewhere hurt the sort of sales of their residential,» says Anuj Puri, Chairman, ANAROCK Group. Let us just get in a sense as to what you are seeing when it comes to the trend for housing prices in the Indian cities. Clearly, it seems that it has been on a rise, but at a time when we are looking at inflation moderating, how are you looking at the correlation between these two factors and what is the outlook when it comes to residential in particular? Anuj Puri: The residential market continues to surprise us. It is at a 15-year high and it does continue to remain very strong. The good thing is that we are not seeing abnormal price rise within the residential real estate market. And I think after a very-very long time I have discovered that the developers have been extremely mindful of bringing in more cash flows and deleveraging their position rather than continuously increasing the prices and somewhere hurt the sort of sales of their residential.

If you are one of those looking for a home under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY), then there is good news for you. The Modi government has approved the proposal to provide 3 crore additional rural and urban houses under PMAY.

The Reserve Bank of India today decided to keep the repo rate unchanged at 6.5%, leading to a rate pause for the eighth consecutive time. This decision bodes well for the housing sector which is already witnessing a strong demand across the country.

land deals in 2023-24, cumulatively accounting for nearly 2,989 acres across the country, as residential segment continues to drive the Indian real estate market. Amid all-time high residential demand, several large and listed developers and other entities continued to snap up land. Other than residential, commercial, retail, industrial and logistics & warehousing are also driving prime land deals in key locations across India. «Interestingly, out of the total land deals in FY-24, over 83 deals for about 1,135 acres were closed in the top 7 cities alone», said Anuj Puri, chairman, Anarock group.

Amidst unprecedented global uncertainties beginning early 2023, the Indian real estate sector not only weathered the storm but has emerged as a beacon of resilience and adaptability during the year. On annual basis, housing prices rose between 10% and 24% across the top 7 cities, primarily due to increased input costs and strong demand.

The ‘bigger is better’ mantra continues to drive the Indian housing market. The FICCI-ANAROCK Consumer Sentiment Survey (H2 2023), unveiled at the FICCI Real Estate Summit in Delhi today, finds that the highest homebuyer demand is now for 3BHKs, with at least 50% respondents picking this size. 38% respondent favour 2BHKs. The demand for 3BHKs stood at 42% in the H2 2022 edition of the survey.

completion of housing units last year at 4.35 lakh units as developers' cash flows improved on better sales, according to Anarock. Real estate consultant Anarock data showed that 4,35,045 units were completed during last year, as against 4.02 lakh units in the previous year. The data pertains to the primary (first sale) residential market. In Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR), 1,43,500 housing units were completed last year, up 13 per cent from 1,26,720 units in the previous year.

With the fundamentals of the Indian economy remaining strong despite all global headwinds and inflation well under control, the RBI once again decided to keep the repo rates unchanged at 6.5%, thus extending the festive bonanza that it gave to the homebuyers in its last two policy announcements. Thus, homebuyers retain their advantage of relatively affordable home loan interest rates.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has kept the repo rates unchanged for the sixth time in a row at 6.5 per cent. The repo rate is the rate of interest at which RBI lends to other banks. The decision was made during the three-day RBI’s monetary policy committee which started on Tuesday (February 6-8). The RBI typically conducts six bi-monthly meetings in a financial year, where it decides interest rates, money supply, inflation outlook, and various macroeconomic indicators. 

The property market in the key cities of Uttar Pradesh is currently on a roll, including that of Ayodhya. And the historic inauguration of the Ram Mandir on January 22 is all set to give Ayodhya’s real estate a further boost. In fact, property prices in and around the city have already risen significantly during the last 4-5 years and are likely to surge further in the years to come.