News tracker: March 31, 2024

Ranbir Kapoor to gift new ₹250 cr bungalow to daughter Raha Kapoor

• Ranbir Kapoor & Alia Bhatt are planning to register Krishna Raj bungalow in Bandra in their daughter’s name
• The house belonged to Ranbir’s grandparents, Raj Kapoor & Krishna Raj
• This will make Raha Kapoor the youngest and richest kid in Bollywood
• Raha’s grandma, Neetu Kapoor, will also be a co-owner of this big house

MahaRERA Only Real Estate Regulator to recover ₹ 125 Crore From Developers

• MahaRERA has recovered ₹160 cr from 117 projects
• Of this amount, ₹125 crs was recovered in 2023
• Highest number of warrants was issued in Mumbai district, totaling 434 warrants for 114 projects to recover ₹ 298 cr
• Pune is the second highest with actual recovery of ₹39 crores

K Raheja inks pact to jointly develop 2.5-acre land parcel in Mumbai

• K Raheja will develop a luxury residential project in the 2.5 acre parcel in Worli
• Development potential of 3 lakh sq ft and revenue potential of ₹2,000 crs
• Raheja will receive 57% revenue share & remaining 43% will go to the landlord
• 1/3 of the land parcel is currently occupied by office building spanning 40,000 sq ft of leased space

Brihanmumbai civic body collects property tax of ₹ 2,214 cr

• The highest chunk of ₹174 crs was collected in the K-West ward in western suburbs, followed by the S-ward ₹171 crs and H-East ward (₹168 crs)
• ₹ 9.51 cr property tax collected from government-owned properties
• Largest tax bill by a company was ₹49.1 cr in S ward
• Actual target was ₹4,500 crores for this fiscal year

Macrotech Developers to raise ₹ 125 cr through issue of debenture

• Regulatory approval has been obtained for the issue
• Company’s real estate projects are sold under the Lodha brand
• Recently, Macrotech Developers raised ₹3,300 cr through a Qualified Institutional Placement (QIP), which was oversubscribed 3 times

ED attaches Rs 124 cr of properties related to M3M Group in Religare money laundering case

• Properties sprawling 430 acres are in the form of land and farmhouses located in “posh” areas of Gurugram & Delhi
• The ED alleged that M3M India Holdings, inflated the valuation of land owned by RS Infrastructure Pvt Ltd.
• It also sold the overpriced shares for about ₹726 crs to Lowe Realty Pvt Ltd, currently known as Lowe Infra & Wellness Pvt Ltd.

DLF plans to raise ₹ 600 cr through issue of debentures to investors

• Funds to be used for refinancing existing debt
• DLF Group possesses significant development potential, with 215 mn Sq ft across residential and commercial segments
• Sales bookings for DLF surged in April-Dec to ₹ 13,316 cr
• Plans to launch properties worth ₹ 80,000 cr over the next few years

Haryana RERA forfeits security deposits of 20 builders for non-compliance with registration norms

• ₹7 cr forfeited due to non-compliance with registration norms
• Real estate promoters in Haryana received conditional project registration certificates but failed to meet requirements, resulting in forfeiture
• Haryana RERA penalized JMS Infra Realty, forfeiting their bank guarantee for not meeting commitments made during registration

Blackstone, Sattva Group and Panchshil Realty to float India’s 4^th commercial REIT in FY25

• The proposal is expected to be submitted to the market regulator in mid-FY25.
• The proposed REIT would include 1-1.5 mn sq ft of office space
• Between Bengaluru &Hyderabad, Blackstone & the Sattva Group jointly manage 33 mn sq ft of commercial developments, with equal stakes
• Blackstone owns and manages a portfolio of45 mn sq ft across Bengaluru, Mumbai, Pune and NCR

Flex-space market size expected to touch 126 mn sq ft by 2028

• According to a report by Avendus Capital, sectors like IT & ITeS, BFSI, consulting, e-commerce, manufacturing, new-age startups & global captive centers are driving demand
• Taking up fleix-space can lead to ~15%-20% cost savings for the occupier
• Flex workspace operators are enjoying 30-35% stable-state

Luxury homes priced above ₹50 crs & above witness a 1.5X y-o-y increase

• Luxury homes priced ₹50 crore + have seen a surge in sales value from ₹2,859 crs in 2022 to ₹4,319 crs in 2023
• Mumbai leads with a total of 29 luxury homes sold worth ₹3,031 crs
• Delhi NCR followed with at 12 units sold worth ₹1,043 crs
• Out of the 45 luxury homes sold in 2023, 14 homes were ₹100 crore & above with majority (79%) of them in Mumbai.

Prices of under-construction housing properties up 31% in Jan-Mar 2024: Magic bricks

• Under-construction residential property prices surged annually across 13 major cities
• Demand rose by 7.8% during January-March 2024 y-o-y
• Noida (7.1 % QoQ), Greater Noida (6.1 % QoQ), Bengaluru & Mumbai (5.7%) witnessed the most increase
• Magicbricks offers diverse real estate services with 2 cr monthly visitors & 15 lakh listings

No hike in property tax in Bengaluru from April 1

• Revision in property tax ruled out for 2024-25
• Ruling party unlikely to affect any change due to the risk of backlash in the Lok Sabha elections
• A video claiming property tax increase in Bengaluru had gone viral, but officials have debunked the claims as false

Blackstone plans to add $25 billion in India private equity assets over five years

• Firm intends to bring on 20 more investment professionals to its asset management business in India and double its office space
• Focus on building a portfolio based on digital infrastructure, energy transition, key areas of transport, export sectors & electronic manufacturing
• Blackstone has already invested in various sectors in India, including in IT services, electric-vehicle components, financial services & hospital chains

Adam Neumann bids over $500 mn to buy back WeWork

• Adam Neumann has made a bid for WeWork, the office-sharing company he co-founded & previously led to a $47 bn valuation
• It’s unclear how Neumann plans to secure financing for his bid
• WeWork, which filed for bankruptcy in Nov, received an EoI from Neumann, prompting his bid
• WeWork scrapped its IPO in 2019 due to investor concerns about its valuation & corporate governance arrangements

Vietnam jails luxury property tycoon over $355 mn bond scam

• Do Anh Dung, head of the Tan Hoang Minh group which specializes in luxury offices & apartments sentenced to 8 years
• Accusation of illegally acquiring $355 mn in a bond sale from 6,630 investors
• In another major fraud case, Chairwoman of Van Thinh Phat property development group faces the death penalty in ongoing trial