INFRA

Across Indian office markets, secondary business districts (SBDs) are not only the younger cousins of the central business districts (CBDs) but also emerging as the new favourites due to the more modern buildings that suit requirements of corporates and office buildings that can be upgraded into superior grade-A assets.

A look at different office markets shows how striking the average age of a city’s SBD vis-à-vis its CBD is. For e.g., in Mumbai’s case, the age difference between SBD-Bandra Kurla Complex (also called the de-facto CBD) and the original CBD of Nariman Point and Fort area is a staggering 28 years. No wonder the CBD has shown decline in rents in recent years compared to all other micro-markets in Mumbai and corporates have shown consistent preference for the SBDs, especially BKC.

RERA - the latest 'Wunderkind' in the Indian real estate industry – has had a difficult birth and seems to be having a troubled childhood. The expectations from the ‘miracle child’ seem to be mired in a ‘what’s changed?’ feeling. State Governments appear oblivious to the reasons for bringing in such a revolutionary piece of legislation in the first place.

With the implementation of RERA, the residential real estate industry is witnessing significant changes on the ground. The Act strictly prohibits builders from advertising their under-construction projects while allowing the freedom to attract buyers for projects that have Occupation Certificates (OC ready). With the new rules, buyers are naturally showing increasing interest in such properties, which are essentially ready to move in.

It is no secret that ready-possession projects are costlier than under-construction projects. Nevertheless, buyers are now more than ready to purchase properties on an immediate basis rather than wait for construction to be completed. There are very good reasons for buyers to look for properties that are ready-to-move-in or OC ready in today's market environment:

With the revival in Indian residential real estate well underway, it is pertinent to turn our attention to which formats have been in high demand at every given juncture. Such awareness is primarily useful from an investor’s point of view, but anyone who tracks Indian real estate out of pure academic interest cannot fail to be interested, either.

The Value Chain

Despite a lot of ambiguity attached to the term, affordable housing rules the roost today. With the Government having a taken a sharp-focus policy approach to boosting this segment and employment market opening up once again, mass-housing makes more sense today than ever before. Mid-income housing, which comprises of the 2/3BHK formats in not-so-remote locations, is also seeing a pick-up in interest from buyers, with ready-to-move options in RERA-compliant projects by reputed developers selling well.