Good morning, over the last two years, various adverse forces have tag-teamed up to unleash a perfect storm that is leaving nothing unscathed, says WHO.
Speaking at Sunday's opening of the World Health Assembly, Dr Tedros said: “Of course the pandemic is not the only crisis in our world.”
“As we speak, our colleagues around the world are responding to outbreaks of Ebola in the Democratic Republic of Congo, monkey pox and hepatitis of unknown cause and complex humanitarian crises in Afghanistan, Ethiopia, Somalia, South Sudan, the Syrian Arab Republic, Ukraine and Yemen.”
🎁 But why should we be bothered? We have GST cuts and interest rate hikes to solve everything under the sun. After all, we have a country to call home.
🏋️♂️🍌🥚🥛
Real Estate Hails Timely Tax Cuts On Inputs
With real estate developers hiking prices owing to 40-45% higher steel and cement input costs, the Government has taken action.
While cutting import duties on select raw materials for plastics and steel, it will also increase cement supply.
What the Sector Welcomes
1️⃣ Higher domestic availability with lower import duties for steel intermediates and iron ore.
2️⃣ Lower steel product prices.
3️⃣ Better logistics and domestic cement supply.
4️⃣ Lower customs duties for coal products used to make cement.
5️⃣ Lower fuel tax prices will reduce raw material transportation costs.
Expert Suggestions
🎙 Lower state duties on fuel.
🎙 18% cement GST slab.
Future Hopes
📌 Lower price benefits for raw material buyers.
📌 Lower construction and home costs.
📌 Higher viability of realty projects.
📌 25% drop in cement and steel prices. More infrastructure growth and road-building with higher steel export duties.
3 Things Fanning The Metaverse Real Estate Flame
The more we look around within, the more we find real estate aficionados cosying up to the Metaverse.
Investors are now guzzling virtual plots for millions of dollars. Well, luxury plots are already a thing. So are virtual developers and brokers. The Sandbox and Decentraland are hot destinations.
The possibilities? Endless, considering NFT-led purchases and potential passive income.
Options for Investors
🔖 Virtual Storefronts – Imagine a virtual Gucci or Apple paradise. Walk down actual locations, shop and pay swiftly.
🔖 Gaming – Atari is not the only investor. Picture an unlimited gaming environment and its P2E or Play to Earn possibilities. NFTs will keep driving blockchain-guarded ownership models too.
🔖 Entertainment – Deadmau5 and Snoop Dogg have already lit up the Metaverse. Movies, theme parks, entertainment, you name it and it’s going to go virtual. Investors can use Metaverse properties to mint steady income.
How does becoming a new-gen digital landlord sound? Or is that already a thing? Whatever, where do you stop over in the Metaverse to eat, btw?
Tuesday Treat
Here's a tram playing peekaboo in Alfama, Lisbon, Portugal.
Shot by local photographer Rui Batista, this image stopped us dead on our rails - with awe as well as with the effort of locating places to crawl into, in order to prevent certain death. 😅
Housing Toys With AI Based Property Valuations
Accurate property valuation has been a perennial bugbear for all stakeholders throughout the value chain.
Not anymore. Housing.com has taken a big leap by starting to rely on AI-based property valuations.
Yeah? What the Company is Doing
💱 Tapping mathematical models and data for forecasting rental and sale prices.
💱 Working on AVM (automated valuation machine), tapping 50+ parameters including bathrooms, bedrooms, neighbourhood, balcony, windows, size, flooring, etc.
💱 Creating a smarter model through mapping prediction values to actual transaction values for more learning.
💱 Upgraded versions every three months.
💱 Pivoting to discovery-driven home search and buying platforms.
What AVM Essentially Means
✅ Software-based property valuation tool.
🔢 Statistical and mathematical modeling deployed with current databases for property valuation.
🌐 Success stories include Equifax and Freddie Mac among commercial players globally.
🎛 Even Zillow offers free AVM services. Zestimate anyone? It is actually an AVM.
📅 AVM is based on current and existing data, making the valuations only as smooth as available information.
⚠ Inaccuracy issues still exist though there are incoming solutions in store.
🤝 It is not just about valuing commercial and residential realty; underwriting support is also possible for loans with AVMs.
Housing.com has amplified a steadily growing global trend, i.e. AI-based property valuation with a quest to answer the perennial customer question - Is anything better out there?
With AVMs going mainstream in the future, no-regret realty purchases could soon be the norm.
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Yesterday, while speaking to the folks at CNBC-TV18, RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das signalled towards another interest rate hike in early June to reign in the stubbornly high inflation rate which has evaded policymakers for the past four months.
“Expectation of rate hike, it’s a no-brainer. There will be some hike but how much I will not be able to tell now… ” said Das.
However, we can tell you this with grim accuracy - we will be back tomorrow with more updates. 💚
☕ The Crew@Ginger Chai