Good morning, Indian and Taiwanese officials have met in recent weeks to discuss a deal that will bring a chip plant worth an estimated $7.5 billion to India, to manufacture and supply electronic chips to everything from 5G devices to electric cars.
As you read this, land for the project is being scouted and various other facets are being formalised. A development of this magnitude is sure to have a big positive impact on our economy.
That ought to make today's chai a tad sweeter. Onwards then.
It's Getting Stronger
Through the pandemic, certain sectors have seen an uptick in hiring, while higher attrition and a talent crunch in the IT and healthcare sectors have led to better salaries and thus, higher purchasing power.
On the flipside, home prices over the last 4 years have remained stagnant across the nation, while demand for housing has not. The result? Housing sales are on a strong growth path, and industry veterans agree.
Increasing Demand From Metro Dwellers
HDFC MD Keki Mistry feels that from 2017 to 2020, the demand for housing was largely coming out of the tier-two, tier-three towns or from the outskirts of the metros, however, in the last year or so, even city dwellers from Mumbai, Delhi and Bangalore are buying homes.
Affordable Like Never Before
Mistry told CNBC TV18, "To my mind, in the last 20 years, housing has not been as affordable as it is today, for example, if you look from 2017 to 2020, house prices in the centre of big cities have not gone up; it broadly remained the same or if anything may have marginally come down, but in that period of three years, income levels of people have been consistently rising."
The Beginning Of A Bull Run?
Abhinav Sinha, VP, Jefferies India feels, “So we think the demand that we have seen so far is clearly, the beginning of what could be a fairly long real estate cycle, particularly on the residential front."
With India's rapid urbanisation, a rising middle class population, low interest rates and consolidation among builders, there seems to be a lot of room for the sector to sustain a bull cycle.
Closing The Loop
Further reforming property records through the use of technology, Goa's state revenue department will now issue record of rights (RoR) and property maps online, untouched by human hands.
A recent notification read that copies or extracts of a computerised property record, map or plan issued online by the proper authorities without any signature, is now bonafide.
Zooming In
While land records and mutations are going fully online in Goa, the revenue department has also delegated select powers of the director of settlement and land records, to deputy collectors and inspectors of surveys and land records.
This means deputy collectors and land record inspectors can now combine land parcels under adjoining survey numbers if they are owned by the same person, adding more speed and reliability to an erstwhile centralised process.
Wide Angle
“The mutation certificate can be obtained online, thus reducing the need for citizens to make repeated visits to government departments to pursue their applications. We are slowly closing the loop,” quoted an officer to the press.
Speaking of closures, Goan authorities have started issuing mutation and partition notices online already.
Walking the talk, eh? 👌
- One big reason Goa is taking land related stuff online is the increasing trend of property related fraudulent behaviour in the state. Per Goa Police data, there are 128 cases of land scams registered in the state in the last 10 years.
- With convenience, good amenities, lower rentals and opportunities to socialise after work, community living is drawing India's young workforce. While the sector did take a hit during the pandemic, co-living facilities are back in demand as folks return to offices.
- Tamil Nadu RERA has registered 145 new housing projects in just under a month, between August 24 and September 22 this year. Most of these newly registered projects are in the Chennai Metropolitan Area.
- The Pune Municipal Corporation is crying murder. It claims that flawed rental agreements pertaining to 138 municipal properties, leased out eons ago on INR 20 stamp paper, are hampering revenue and posing problems for the civic body.
Hits And Misses
Like life itself, most things we do are progressive in nature. Real estate investments too start in residential properties and then move up to reaping the benefits of investing in commercial properties.
We've put together an express guide pointing out the pros and cons of investing in commercial real estate, just in case you may be toying with the idea.
What Qualifies As Commercial Real Estate?
- Retail Shops and buildings.
- Office buildings
- Industrial Buildings
- Warehouses and,
- Mixed-use buildings which house a variety of uses such as homes, retail or office space.
Commercial Property Investment 🔼
1️⃣ Commercial properties come with higher price tags but higher rents as well, meaning higher potential returns. Instead of making a profit of a few thousands on a residential property, there is a possibility of netting lacs on a commercial lease.
2️⃣ Commercial leases will typically run from one to 10 years. This provides you with peace of mind in knowing you will have stable cash flow for a prolonged period.
3️⃣ Commercial real estate is a sensible way to diversify your portfolio. The pandemic has taught us that not all real estate is created equal. Where your local pub and movie theatre might have struggled, your local pharmacist or grocer could have seen remarkable success.
Commercial Property Investment 🔽
1️⃣ Most commercial tenants operate their business during typical working hours and on all days of the week. This means evenings on weekdays/ends are when you work to conduct any maintenance at the property.
2️⃣ Commercial properties have more public visitors, creating more opportunity for damage to be done to your property. And you know the kind of stuff that goes down in parking lots.
3️⃣ Commercial real estate comes with an extremely specific range of needs and you cannot do without expensive experts - the kind folks who handle maintenance and administrative tasks. This can cut into monthly cash flow and is difficult to do on one’s own too.
Looking for recommendations?
Make friends with someone who is invested in commercial real estate and by the time you have done a few cups of chai together, you'll know which way to go.
Futuristic technology is not just for the select few of us who dream of putting a hotel on the moon or driving a car that’s also a submarine-cum-aircraft.
In fact, most of the smartest tech around is being implemented in ordinary products you’d find under the sink, at your apartment's security gate, or at the property registrar's office.
Touching ordinary lives is what makes today's tech tools so cool and endearing. (Hint. Hint.)
See you tomorrow. Have a great day ahead.
☕ The Crew@Ginger Chai