REALESTATE

Location is an important differentiating variable between most of the successful malls in NCR and their less spectacularly performing counterparts. For example, if a mall is situated in or near a high-street retail location, it tends to perform poorly. By the same coin, malls operating in locations away far away from high-street retail perform much better. Good examples of this would be the Ambience and DLF malls in Vasant Kunj and MGF Metropolitan on MG Road, Gurgaon.

Townships are more than a new real estate mantra – for the larger cities in India, they are without any doubt the only remaining hope for decent living standards. Gradually but surely, residential conditions in cities like Pune are on the decline, and township properties are gaining increasing significance as the final answer to quality-based living.

When identifying a luxury home for self-use or investment, one should not be influenced by the story a developer is telling about his project, but by true and verifiable parameters which define luxury in every sense.

In the modern world, the keyword is connectivity. You are better placed if you can reach the train station, the airport, the hospital or the school in as little time as possible. Accessibility makes it much more convenient to deal with the regular necessities of living and raising a family.

In India, it is a real estate maxim that most people on the lookout for homes will always seek out localities that are close, or as close as possible to their places of work. Consequently, residential projects with good connectivity – specifically road and rail infrastructure - experience the maximum sales traction.

Unlike Delhi-NCR or Mumbai, Pune continues to be a favorite location for investors who are averse to high risks.

Be it white collar or blue collar, every working Maharashtrian wants to own a home.

Mumbai and Delhi are expected to see slightly slow growth in rental in a range of 2-3% during 2015 while cities such as Bangalore, Chennai and Pune will see relatively better growth in rental in a range of 4-7%. Higher growth in rental in Bangalore, Pune and Chennai is due to their low base and also stronger demand scenario expected in 2015.

At given point in time, and regardless of economic conditions and other market variables, there will always be people who are not content with just any kind of home. As a result, the demand for luxury homes in India may rise and fall - but it never goes entirely away.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has added Hong Kong and Macau to the list of the countries whose citizens need to take prior permission of RBI before acquiring or transferring immovable property in India. The addition is in line with RBI’s earlier circular and cannot be called a surprise, as it is observed that Beijing continues to have a significant say in their political framework and Macau and Hong Kong are the two Special Administrative Regions of China which have been on the list since 2000. The original list also includes neighbouring countries like Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan, Iran, Nepal and Bhutan.

The formation of the Pune Metropolitan Region Development Authority (PMRDA) is a very positive step. This model, which has already worked very well in Mumbai's MMRDA, has so far not been able to see implementation in Pune despite being tabled several times. Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis is rightfully determined to see it through and make sure that it can meet its intended objectives. His intervention is indeed very timely.

According to Hindu mythology, Akshaya Tritiya is one of three days in the Hindu calendar when one does not need an exact muhurat to start something auspicious. Each moment of this day is considered propitious. For believers, there could be no better alternative.