Indian Real Estate Sector

vina · Post by **vina** » 15 Nov 2008 21:03

Roger that Phalcon1. Got that info via the data feed. Bandit is going into an evasive dive , while I am waiting still flying high , keeping the sun behind me and the energy /cash advantage and waiting for the quarry to to reach the deck before closing in and launching at well within no escape zone and calling Fox 2.

Bandit Leader, Sobha has just about commenced the dive and the rest of the formation will follow him down. Am maneuvering behind to get behind them with the sun behind at 6 o clock.

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 15 Nov 2008 21:44

http://indiahousingbubble.blogspot.com/

Thursday, November 06, 2008
2 builders drop prices by 20%

DNAIndia reports

Low demand, global crisis finally take toll

MUMBAI: Builders did everything to keep the realty prices high — from shrinking flats to laying off employees and offering freebies to prospective buyers. But the slowdown has finally made them wilt. Two major builders in Mumbai — Orbit Corporation and Wadhwa group — have cut their property rates by up to 20% amid a severe credit crunch triggered by the meltdown, low demand and high interest rates.

The Orbit Corporation, a real estate development company specialising in redevelopment schemes, has slashed its rates by up to 20% for its 10 projects under construction across the city. It brought down the rates from Rs70,000 per square foot (psf) to Rs60,000 psf for apartments at Orbit Haven, a project under construction on Napean Sea Road. The company has already reduced the area of the apartments to 2,500-2,700 sq ft instead of the planned 4,500-5,000 sq ft in the wake of the realty slump.

The company has brought down the rates for its projects in central Mumbai - Rs12,000-18,000 psf instead of the earlier band of Rs15,000-22,500 for 600-1,600 sq ft flats at Orbit Grande (Lalbaug) and Orbit Grand (Lower Parel).

“One has to accept that there is a slowdown and accordingly adjust your prices. There’s no harm in creating a demand by lowering the prices,” said Pujit Agarwal, Orbit Corporation managing director.

The Wadhwa group, which paid a whopping Rs831 crore for a plot of less than two acres at the Bandra-Kurla Complex, has also slashed its rates by Rs1,500 psf, bringing it to Rs10,000 psf for flats at Anmol Pride and Prestige, the company’s residential projects in Goregaon (West).

Group promoter Vijay Wadhwa said: “We had to reduce the prices as the demand is low because the rates are too high. When the demand is low, I can afford to reduce the rates.”

The group had also not given bonuses and increment to its staff this year. “The slowdown is definitely affecting and my staff understands the ups and downs of business. I could have dismissed 10 employees but I didn’t,” said Wadhwa.

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 15 Nov 2008 21:46

if you are the comments on the blog, there is a broker named "Abdulla" roaming around
encouraging people to buy...

10:43 PM
Anonymous Abdulla said...

Do not believe in rumors. Find out for yourself. Due to the slow down in market, some builders with cash flow problems may may offer incentives to buyer, but nothing in the scale mentioned in the report. Comparing high end properties which are just 1% of the whole real estate for sale, to the other 99% is foolishness
High end properties don't go buy sq. ft etc. Buyer inspects the property, offers a price and there goes the transaction if it is accepted by the builder. I have dealt with property transaction where the offered price was 30% more than the market value. This is due to several people eyeing the same property. The highest bidder gets it.

As I mentioned in my earlier blogs, builders may offer to good incentives to genuine buyers but dont expect it to be substantial. Currently demand is more than supply and there is still money around in spite of market crash

Now is the opportune moment to buy

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 15 Nov 2008 21:54

http://www.indiadaily.com/editorial/20263.asp

Indian real estate price can fall 60 to 70% from current levels in the next five years
Subhas Jain
Nov. 9, 2008

The real estate sector in India may have seen its best time for the next several decades. The real estate markets now heads downward, as people cannot make their mortgage payments.

OP Bhatt, chairman of State Bank of India (SBI), the country’s largest bank, expects 50% correction in the housing sector prices in the country. “In India we may witness up to 50% correction in pricing in the mortgage markets. If that happens, it’s good news for the Indian banking system as NPAs would reduce and new business would fall-in,’’ he said at the concluding session of Ficci-IBA Conference on Global Banking: Paradigm Shift, in Mumbai on Saturday.

According to other analysts, the market can roll downwards another additional 15 to 20% before stabilizing.

The commercial and residential sectors in major metropolis are experience severe credit crunch, defaults and bank takeovers. The glut of unsold apartments is skyrocketing. The residential mortgage market is collapsing faster than the subprime mortgage market in America.

Nayak · Post by **Nayak** » 18 Nov 2008 09:38

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Citi ... 725287.cms

Though developers like Prajay who plan to kickstart three fresh residential projects early next month are confident of finding buyers for all of them, they do not deny that the process this time round is not going to be as smooth as it used to be earlier.

"We provide very economical deals and, therefore, do not see any dearth of bookings for our forthcoming projects. But like in previous times when our bookings would be full within a month of announcing the project, this time I think it will take at least six months before that can happen," says Ravinder Reddy, director (Operations) of Prajay.

However, Biswajit Patnaik from the retail division of JLL Meghraj is not sure if buyers at this stage would put in their money on a project that has not taken off yet. "Nobody has surplus cash to invest in something that is in its initial stage. They would rather buy a finished product. So even if there is no steady flow of buyers, there are at least some takers for completed projects. But none for the ones that are still in the drawing board stage," says Patnaik.

This is perhaps also explained in the fact that banks are no longer extending home loans for buildings that are in their initial stages of construction. "Earlier banks would give loans for a proposed building even if the foundation wasn't laid. Now, they wouldn't give it until the construction is at least 40 per cent complete," says a banker.

Nayak · Post by **Nayak** » 21 Nov 2008 12:45

Indian property to fall further before funds bite
Fri Nov 21, 2008 12:13pm IST

http://in.reuters.com/article/domesticN ... 21?sp=true

By Dominic Whiting, Asia property correspondent

HONG KONG, Nov 21 (Reuters) - Indian property prices are likely to fall by a quarter in the coming year as the global economic crisis saps homebuyer confidence, adding to the problems of capital-strapped developers.

A property market boom has been waning for a year, with land prices already falling about 15 percent from a mid-2007 peak, although forced sales have been rare. But consultants and investors at the MIPIM Asia conference in Hong Kong this week predicted tougher times ahead.

"We're expecting a horrible 2009," said Anshul Jain, chief executive for property services firm DTZ in India.

"Prices have already shown signs of coming off, and chinks in the armour are surfacing."

Indian property prices doubled in the two years after the country eased rules in early 2005 on inward investment in the construction industry, sparking interest in home-building among foreign funds.

Developers, sometimes in league with funds run by the likes of Morgan Stanley (MS.N: Quote, Profile, Research), Citigroup (C.N: Quote, Profile, Research) and Merrill Lynch (MER.N: Quote, Profile, Research), snapped up land.

The bigger firms, such as DLF Ltd (DLF.BO: Quote, Profile, Research) and Parsvnath Developers Ltd (PARV.BO: Quote, Profile, Research), launched huge initial public offerings to fund new townships in a country where little housing had been built for 50 years.

But the sharp rise in prices, coupled with interest rate hikes designed to calm inflation in the booming economy, slowed home sales. And the global crisis has added to the gloom, with residential transactions down by half from a year ago.

"We could see a 20 or 25 percent price correction," said Anurag Mathur, joint India managing director at consultants Cushman and Wakefield. "There's a lot of pressure. Whether we reach distressed sales, only time will tell."

SHARES SLIDE

Faced with overheated markets, India followed the lead of China in clamping down on loans to the property sector -- a policy that will probably force some small and medium-size developers out of business in both countries.

The global credit crunch and a stock market slump cut off the supply of funds from capital markets. And now a drop in home sales is shrinking cash flow.

A barometer of the troubles is DLF's share price, which has tumbled more than 80 percent this year, compared to a 58 percent drop in Mumbai's BSE index .BSESN.

Foreign investors, with their own economic worries at home and bargains popping up elsewhere, are unlikely now to jump into a market muddied by red-tape, land disputes and unclear titles.

But the funds already raised, somewhere between 75 and 100 of them, are waiting for developers to drop their pricing for joint ventures, so they can get the 30 percent internal rates of return they hanker for, even in a bad market.

"Right now our focus is on making sure we're buying good assets in the better locations, working with better developers and getting better terms," said Chetan Dave, chief executive at Sun-Appollo Real Esate Advisors, which manages a $630 million fund.

However, developers are still hoping that as inflation softens, falling mortgage rates will make homes affordable again, especially if they start building $60,000 apartments for the middle class rather than $1 million homes.

But financing deals, to perk the market up again, will not happen until developers get a better grasp on how far the market will fall, DTZ's Jain said.

"Private equity players think prices will fall more and developers are in the semi-denial stage," Jain said. "They were in complete denial a few weeks ago." (Editing by Anne Marie Roantree)

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 21 Nov 2008 12:54

it seems purvankara has let go 100 civil engrs having frozen all projects.

and Vina , rumors speak of 'pindi cantt' phase-N (N>2) people wanting to
pull out being asked to claim refunds(25% deposit) later when 'market conditions improve'

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 21 Nov 2008 17:08

credai is officially reducing prices by 10% for high end and 5% for low end flats.

one CEO was quoted that this would meet people's expectations and bring the buyers in

dont these guys have an iota of common sense or think people are going to believe this.

Raju · Post by **Raju** » 21 Nov 2008 17:25

What they are saying is that they are willing to offer discounts .. just that no one is taking it.

Nobody knows what the realty rate in the market is since there are no deals.

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 21 Nov 2008 18:25

http://www.livemint.com/2008/11/1923001 ... s8217.html

Unitech Ltd, for instance, has dropped 93% from its 52-week high. One view is that short-sellers are responsible for this, but the markets’ worry is not without reason. According to a recent report by India Infoline’s institutional equities research desk, “The debt maturing over the next 12 months for Unitech Ltd, Sobha Developers Ltd and Puravankara Projects Ltd is higher than our estimate of these companies’ revenues over the corresponding period. The situation with Omaxe Ltd, Parsvnath Developers Ltd and the Ansals also remains precarious, owing to large land advances and high receivables.” Each of the stocks mentioned above trade at less than 10% of their value based on their 52-week highs.

India Infoline’s analysts Bhaskar Chakraborty and Param Desai say reduced credit flows and approaching debt repayments could threaten the solvency of weaker players who are likely to offer steep discounts to offload inventories. In the case of Puravankara, the analysts estimate that debt repayments and unpaid land costs in the next 12 months would amount to Rs740 crore, nearly double the revenue of Rs390 crore projected for the period.

Similarly, Unitech and Sobha Developers are estimated to have higher payouts in the year ahead compared with estimated revenues for the period.

As pointed out earlier, the main assets developers hold are either land or developed property. Since land is an extremely illiquid asset currently, developers have no choice but to sell developed property at a discount to current prices.

The weaker players may well get crushed under the weight of falling prices and the unwillingness of financial institutions in refinancing/restructuring loans.

Vipul · Post by **Vipul** » 21 Nov 2008 20:32

Times must be really bad for DLF. They have asked for refund of 235 crores that was paid as Lisence and scrutiny fees to the Haryana Govt.These charges are paid to the government as a conversion fee, for change of usage of land and licence fee seeking permission to construct a commercial or residential project.In effect DLF is scrapping multiple projects at one go.

Earlier DLF had announced the stoppage of work at its prestigious Mall of India project(Whish at 4.5 million sq fts was supposed to be the largest mall in India)

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 22 Nov 2008 08:17

these people overleveraged themselves to rake in as much money possible via hype creation (media and ibankers) IPO, buying tons of land on credit and launching many projects in parallel. even respected and
widely read economists and bankers were publicly supporting their
land bank based valuation models just as the internet boom fueled the
eyeballs valuation model.

DLF was never in trouble before they got greedy and entered the
hype market and tried to be the next nakheel or emaar (who have
soverign oil wealth behind them)

I would imagine more conservative builders run by sane management would not extend their necks so much or play "the game" so smart.

due to sentiment even good builders will be dragged over the rocks
and damaged by these guys like dlf, unitech.

in blr also the kanakpura region saw so many projects, yet BMIC is
nowhere near completion and try getting to kanakpura via bannerghata
road daily! the Yelehanka-Hebbal again hype hype hype - I always
knew there were no cos in that area, so how can so many people
intend to live there. BDA has layouts "planned" for 10+ yrs now.

Bade · Post by **Bade** » 22 Nov 2008 08:27

The outer limits of B'lore will be the future retirement capital for people who are in their 40's now. Yes, they are empty now and 'planned' but will fill up in future. Inner city has become too expensive to invest in for long term retirement plans. I am amongst the one of many future residents

who are camping at 30+km radius with flags planted.

Nayak · Post by **Nayak** » 22 Nov 2008 18:01

http://www.nhatky.in/4-realtors-lose-33 ... s-12311185

4 realtors lose $33 bn in 8 months: Forbes

November 21, 2008

Hit by the turmoil in equity and property markets, India’s four richest realtors have lost nearly $33 billion (over Rs 1,50,000 crore) since March this year, with the richest of them, K P Singh of DLF, alone accounting for about two-thirds of it, Forbes magazine said.

Listing out the losses suffered by richest property owners in Asia in the ongoing turmoil, in a new report Forbes has named DLF’s Singh, Unitech’s Ramesh Chandra, Chandru Raheja of Mumbai-based Raheja group and Housing Development & Infrastructure Ltd’s Rakesh Wadhawan among the eight realty barons from the region.

While Singh has lost $22.2 billion alone since March, Chandra has seen an erosion of about $8.6 billion in his fortune during the same period, when Raheja and Wadhawan have lost about $1.5 billion and $500 million, respectively.

In the latest list of India’s 40 richest people published by Forbes earlier this month, K P Singh was ranked at the eighth spot, while Chandru Raheja and Ramesh Chandra were placed at the 20th and 27th positions, respectively. Realty stocks have been among the worst hit in the ongoing meltdown at the bourses and a number of them registered losses even today when the overall market benchmark Sensex ended with significant gains.

While the Sensex today surged by 464 points or 5.5 per cent, the BSE Realty index dropped by two per cent. Unitech shares dropped by 9.4 per cent, DLF slipped 3.4 per cent and HDIL shed over four per cent. “K P Singh’s fortune is still a hefty $7.8 billion, but that’s just a fraction of his previous worth. In March, we pegged his fortune at $30 billion. Shares of DLF fell steeply over the past year despite Singh’s attempts to boost prices through a buyback,” the business magazine Forbes said in its report titled ‘Asia’s Collapsing Real Estate Fortunes’.

On Chandru Raheja, the report noted that his fortune this month is down to half, from USD three billion in March this year. Writing on Ramesh Chandra, whose net worth currently stands at $1 billion, Forbes said, “Chandra’s fortune has dropped 90% since March. At that time, we valued his net worth at $9.6 billion. Now, it’s $1 billion. “India’s real estate slowdown battered his property firm, Unitech. Its shares halved in one day in October on rumours it was on the verge of default. Chandra asked for regulators to investigate.”

On Rakesh Wadhawan, the report said he now chairs the realty firm Housing Development & Infrastructure Ltd. “Housing Development’s listing last July made Rakesh a billionaire, but it was only a temporary achievement. We now value his fortune at $530 million,” it noted.

In an accompanying report, Forbes said, “When we published our list of the world’s billionaires in March, it included 15 Chinese real estate kingpins. When we recalculated their fortunes at the end of October, all of those fortunes were smaller, some by billions of dollars. Their Indian counterparts can commiserate. Our list of the world’s billionaires also included seven Indian real estate moguls. Our Indian rich list, published this month, shows their net worth’s each dropped as well.”

(With inputs from agencies)

( Post is from independent author. The opinions expressed herein are those of the author and are not endorsed by Nhatky.in)

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 22 Nov 2008 20:42

Bade as a retirement destination, I am not too sure why BLR is good except if one has heavy health problems and/or close family here.

mysore would be more like it, though that is also changing.

Bade · Post by **Bade** » 22 Nov 2008 21:53

For people with relatives in the southern part of India, B'lore will be a good choice. When kids come of age they will find employment in cities like B'lore anyway and being close will be of help mutually.

For yet to do R2I NRIs this is just a thought as one can never predict the future. Still, it is good to have some leverage to retire in India if massa turns really sour to retire in. Costs will be a big factor, though I do not see a drastic drop in comfort levels even for 50 yr time span from now in the west. It is just that one will need to have mucho dollar to live here in retirement with vanishing social security and even medicare with time.

SwamyG · Post by **SwamyG** » 22 Nov 2008 22:08

Bade wrote:The outer limits of B'lore will be the future retirement capital for people who are in their 40's now. Yes, they are empty now and 'planned' but will fill up in future. Inner city has become too expensive to invest in for long term retirement plans. I am amongst the one of many future residents who are camping at 30+km radius with flags planted.

Hosur might be another choice. Same climate if not better than Bangalore. The entire Bangalore-Madras (how I hate to say Chennai) corridor is a nice place for industries. Employment should be plenty around that area.

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 22 Nov 2008 23:26

if you reach out to TN via sarjapur , that area is also said to have
nice climate and a good place for vegetable farming. there is alleged to be a good veggie market on border though I havent driven past sarjapur town yet.

vsudhir · Post by **vsudhir** » 24 Nov 2008 17:25

GS now predicts a 30% correction in desi realty prices and forsees contraction in construction and related industries in the
coming yr.

India realty sector set for correction: Report

vina · Post by **vina** » 24 Nov 2008 17:46

Singha wrote:and Vina , rumors speak of 'pindi cantt' phase-N (N>2) people wanting to
pull out being asked to claim refunds(25% deposit) later when 'market conditions improve'

Phalcon1 . Is that for the Jarnail, Karnail and other high "affsar's" bungalows or is it for the more modest tenements of the NCOs, JCOs, and other ranks ?

vina · Post by **vina** » 24 Nov 2008 17:48

vsudhir wrote:GS now predicts a 30% correction in desi realty prices and forsees contraction in construction and related industries in the
coming yr.

India realty sector set for correction: Report

Yawn... You don't need Goldman Sachs to predict that!. This entire thing was clear as the day right from the beginning.. Real estate prices must fall by atleast 30%, despite the likes of KREDAI having their heads buried where the sun doesn't shine and braying that prices are going to stay up.. Right.. Does the sun rise in the east ?

Nayak · Post by **Nayak** » 24 Nov 2008 18:09

vsudhir wrote:GS now predicts a 30% correction in desi realty prices and forsees contraction in construction and related industries in the
coming yr.

India realty sector set for correction: Report

GS carries least credibility. These mooks couldnt predict the financial meltdown and they want to predict the Indian market.

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 24 Nov 2008 18:11

they couldnt predict their own house on fire

Nayak · Post by **Nayak** » 24 Nov 2008 18:17

I know of one person who always introduces herself as 'Hi, I am xxxxx, I work as an anal-yst in GS.'

I believe she wears the ID when she goes to bed also. Yeesh. Kids nowadays, it seems physique gets developed faster than the mind.

krishnan · Post by **krishnan** » 24 Nov 2008 18:44

Realestate is down everywhere, and banks are reluctant to lend, word is that it will get better when obama takes office. Dont ask me how. i have no idea

vsudhir · Post by **vsudhir** » 24 Nov 2008 18:49

GS and the w=rest of wall st long had it coming.

Their prognostications for the desi mkts were assembeled largely by their India based analytics team, so was worth a look.

Would be interesting to see if and when they revise their BRICs forecast in l ight of new realities. Of course, that means, the new reality will first have to settle and stabilize and when that may be is itself is hard to predict.

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 24 Nov 2008 18:49

Dont ask me how. i have no idea

a great leader has the ability to make mental infants out of adults, constantly keeping them dependent on the verbal cool aid and the occasional backrub that the great leader hands out.

americans anyway have a touching belief in the rightness of the govt
and their system.

obama is a master psychologist and hit just the right notes

Ameet · Post by **Ameet** » 25 Nov 2008 00:23

krishnan wrote:Realestate is down everywhere, and banks are reluctant to lend, word is that it will get better when obama takes office. Dont ask me how. i have no idea

He is the messiah. Pot must also now be legal in DC - 2.5 million jobs created by 2011, in infrastructure and education based initiatives etc. I look forward to the days when former ibankers are wearing hard hats and working with shovels to build roads to everywhere

vina · Post by **vina** » 25 Nov 2008 10:17

I wouldn't bash Goldman . Truth be said, if there was one guy who saw the coming meltdown in Mortgages, it was them and they came out unscathed. The govt nationalized them by force , becuase they are systemically important and not because of distress.

That apart, there is a front page article in today's Economic TOI(let) that Sobha is in deep distress. They have already defaulted on some payments to institutitions and around Rs 800 crore is becoming due soon. They are desperately trying to hive off stakes in projects and development rights, especially in the upcoming 'villas' in Mysore (yeah.. couple of crores each..you gotta be daft. for that money, you can buy a farm and a house in the outskirts of mysore, why the hell do you want to live in a gated villa in the same outskirts?, but what goes my father's). Puravankara too is in deep distress. The entire thing is shaky. Unless they restructure loans, all the real estate companies are going to see bankruptcy . But the condition for restructuring will be to see cash flow and that will happen only when those guys cut prices by 40% or so.

It is a replay of history. Land prices soared in the early 90s here in Bangalore and then crashed. It took close to 10 years to recover. I think we are seeing exactly that again. Prices will crash and stay crashed for a long time. No way in hell IT vity boys are going to roll out huge campuses all over the place and recruting another 100,000 more. Multinationals too have been hit. Folks like Cisco are laying off. Expats are being sent back home.

vina to Phalcon1.. Note--> All those huge rents in Islamabad, Whitefield will trend down. Those high cost guys are getting chopped and sent home sooner or later. I saw that in 1995 in IBM (I already wrote about that). It cant be any different now. Gorilla too will have it's local ,lunch at Kamat Hotel eating, dhoti clad yindoos with names like Annasamy, running ops eventually.

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 25 Nov 2008 10:25

well atleast (I hope) the Pindi construction Corp didnt overstretch himself
with 20 projects like sobha/purva/mantri. he only has one cantonment
under implementation, finished one opp IIM and is launching no new projs. has some cash flow from honeywell/subex and shangri-la to try
and tide things over.
and he isnt listed on stock market.

I hope to crawl quietly into my shack with skin on back relatively intact

vina · Post by **vina** » 25 Nov 2008 10:52

vina to Phalcon1.. What about my previous kweschun ?

Phalcon1 . Is that for the Jarnail, Karnail and other high "affsar's" bungalows or is it for the more modest tenements of the NCOs, JCOs, and other ranks ?

krishnan · Post by **krishnan** » 25 Nov 2008 10:57

Chetinad homes constructed around 200+ houses near where mine is, and i see most of the empty. Thats how they look most of the time. Probably only 10% occupied. The rates went up from 20 odd lakhs to 60-75 lakhs within few months.

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 25 Nov 2008 11:03

phalcon1 to vina, obviously the tenements ofcourse for the "lower ranks".
affsars are busy politiking to save their massive pay pkgs and sucking up
to their bovine overlords to look busy.

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 25 Nov 2008 21:07

http://www.hindu.com/2008/11/13/stories ... 070300.htm

Human remains found under Shantiniketan building debris

Staff Reporter

They are suspected to be of the missing worker

A piece of paper found in the trousers

Remains being sent for DNA test

BANGALORE: Twenty-one days after the collapse of the Prestige Shantiniketan, the 15-storeyed building under construction in Whitefield here, the Bangalore City Police recovered decomposed human remains from the rubble on Wednesday morning.

Workers clearing the debris discovered two legs with the rest of the body missing, possibly pulverised in the collapse. The police suspect the remains to be that of Munna Katua (23), a construction worker from the Kendrapada district in Orissa, who has been missing since the collapse.

However, to confirm the identity, the Kadugodi police, who are investigating the case, plan to send the remains to the Forensic Science Laboratory for a DNA test.

“The body was under 600 tonnes of debris which the Prestige Group took 21 days to clear. We had pressured them to clear the debris by issuing notices. Except two legs we could not recover anything. Other parts were badly smashed and even we attempted to recover them by scraping the concrete slabs,” said an officer of Bangalore City Police (Airport Sub-Division).

A team of construction workers were clearing the debris, under the supervision of Kadugodi police inspector M.G. Shankar Narayana when they spotted the remains. A pair of trousers was recovered in which the police found a piece of paper containing phone numbers of Munna’s family and friends.

Jamadar Mallik, friend and co-worker of Munna, identified the trousers. “We used to share our sorrow and happiness. I have lost my friend,” he wept.

The block that collapsed is one of the 20 blocks under construction by Prestige in a joint venture with Shantiniketan. It collapsed on October 23.

The Kadugodi police had arrested six persons, including Prestige Group vice-president Ashok Sapru, company work manager Murlidhar, project engineer Nanda Kishore and project vice-president Ravi Hoskote.

Vikas · Post by **Vikas** » 26 Nov 2008 05:00

Vina, Singha, "The wind-talkers",
Any chance that you could open up the source code of your encrypted communication to hoi polloi like us

?

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 26 Nov 2008 08:11

sorry, you need tidls datalink pod & BEL crypto module with 2048 bit AES pvt key to listen in

but I will throw you a open channel being a trusted Bison joining the
fighter pack...we are referring to adarsh palm retreat on ORR behind intel.

Nayak · Post by **Nayak** » 26 Nov 2008 13:06

Some two-bit 'anal'-c-ysts from 'renowned' Goldman Sachs is predicting that real-estate market will not recover and further erosion of values is expected.

Talk about the stating the obvious.

Raj Malhotra · Post by **Raj Malhotra** » 26 Nov 2008 22:47

I predict cuts of around 60% in property prices from peak within 6 months and now can I have a bonus of One million dollars if I am proved right? After all if i was in hedge fund i could have shorted using this information using public money. Or as GS anal-cyst one deserves atleast half million bonus.

Jokes apart lot of builders will have to fire sell some lots at well below market price as interest in raging at 30% per annum and keeping investments idle for even few months is not an option. I see massive discounts to 40-80% below peak by mid 2009

Karkala Joishy · Post by **Karkala Joishy** » 26 Nov 2008 22:51

I visited Bangalore last Dec and I was advised to buy an apartment there and buy it quick. But it fell through and looks like it has been a good decision. By the time I move back to India in about 3 years, the prices should be more realistic I guess.

What's the price of a 3 bed apt in Bangalore in a decent area? How much has it fallen in the past few months? Singha saar, any inputs?

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 26 Nov 2008 23:11

imo its like this:
the 'core' areas of town like jp nagar, jayanagar, malleswaram,kmangala, ORR(sort of) had most of their flats sold out around 3 yrs ago when the projects started. I came on the scene at fag end of this feeding frenzy when everyone and his dog bought atleast 1 flat. so the builders do not directly have much inventory if any in these 'desirable zones'. investors looking to sell and still not found a seller are trying to rent it out but no renters to be found either at high rates. so rentals have dropped. sometimes NRIs are just keeping the flats locked up.

builders are not launching any new projects anywhere in last 6 months.

in 'peripheral' areas like kanakpura, yelehanka, hebbal, whitefield
the demand was anyway less from day1 and builders have some direct
unsold inventory. this is where they are annoucing 8-10% price cuts to
try and clear the lot. nobody is buying both due to location and because
prices at 3k+ are still too high. esp hard hit are the northern side of
whitefield near the old madras road where several sobha projects came
up. one has to crawl over a mess of a uncompleted level crossing
crawling with trucks to even reach there. some villa projects also there
but had found buyers when started in 2005.

so the situation is not too simple - you cannot except to come back
after 1 yr and get a 40% markdown from a builder directly and hope to
snare a flat in a prime area. those flats were offloaded long ago.
you might get in kanakpura or yelehanka

and neither are new projects being launched in any area good or bad.

they want to retain high /sqft price and build smaller flats in future,
again something most of you wont like.

some 'investors' who are getting killed by high EMIs on 2nd flats and
low rentals might be willing to bail out , but it isnt easy to locate such
sellers and get in where you want.

one possibility for flats is T3-T6 in adarsh palm retreat. but they still
havent started any construction 3 yrs after taking booking amts and
claim to have got all permissions when BJP govt started. I dont think
they are in shape to start on these anytime soon and many have pulled
out. they might drop prices to attract buyers when it finally starts.

some other projects might also come up in ORR / sarjapur road but
only if situation improves. I wonder what became of mantri espana with
their concierge service, giant bathrooms and 15k maintainence fee estimate / month.