News tracker: April 07, 2024

Imran Khan & his girlfriend Lekha Washington rent Karan Johar’s Mumbai apartment

• Monthly rent of ₹ 9 lakh per with a tenure of three years
• The apartment is in a three-story apartment at Clefepete on posh Carter Road.
• It is a sea-facing space in the Bandra area adjacent to a building where Imran’s uncle Aamir Khan, once rented an apartment
• Imran was previously married to Avantika Malik & got divorced in 2019

Maharashtra’s IGR department earns ₹ 50,143 cr in FY24

• Initial revenue target of ₹45,000 cr was revised to ₹ 50,000 cr
• Registration offices were open on the last three days of the financial year, leading to a total of 24,112 documents being registered & ₹ 1100 cr earned in March
• E-registrations from builders’ offices contributed to the high revenue collection, with about 12.22 lakh documents registered in FY2024

Macrotech Developers records best-ever quarterly pre-sales at ₹4,230 cr

• Best-ever annual pre-sales at ₹14,520 cr during FY 2023-24, meeting its guidance of 20% growth
• Net debt reduced to ₹3,010 cr from ₹7,070 cr; net debt-to-equity stands at less than 0.2 times, surpassing the company’s goal of bringing this metric down to 0.5 times or less
• Shares of Macrotech Developers have risen 154% over the last 12 months
• Added new projects with a cumulative GDV of ₹20,300 cr MMR, Pune & Bengaluru, exceeding its guidance of ₹17,500 cr

SWAMIH Fund invests ₹ 300 cr in Hubtown’s project in Mumbai

• The project, Rising City in Ghatkopar consists of 6 towers with 700 apartments, 550 of which are already sold
• Investment aims to provide relief to homebuyers awaiting delivery of their apartments
• Project faced regulatory issues related to height approvals but received all necessary approvals in 2023
• The SWAMIH Fund, introduced in September 2019 to aid stalled projects & homebuyers, has a value close to ₹ 15,530 cr, & is backed by the government, SBI, LIC & HDFC

Sunteck Realty lease out its building in Mumbai for 29 years

• Located in BKC, Sunteck Icon has an area of 2,00,000 sq ft
• Signed a long-term lease agreement with Bennett, Coleman & Co Ltd for 29 years
• Expected rental of ₹ 300 / sq ft/ month, lease is projected to generate a revenue of ₹ 2,000 cr over the tenure
• Sunteck had leased its building BKC51 to Upgrad in 2003 for 29 years on similar terms

Sobha to execute a project on 2.03-acre land in Gurugram

• Land parcel is in Sec 106 has been acquired for ₹29.5 cr
• Acquisition has been through 100% equity purchase of BNB Builders, the owners of the land parcel
• Implied purchase price comes to ₹14.5 cr/acre
• In a separate development, Sobha has received ₹46 crs income tax demand notice

Housing sales in Gurugram down 12% during Jan-Mar; up 19% in Noida

• 12% y-o-y decline in housing sales to 8,550 units in Q1 2024 from 9,750 units in Gurugram
• Overall, residential property sales in Delhi-NCR dipped 9%, totaling 15,650 units in Q1 2024 compared to 17,160 units in the previous year
• Decline in sales attributed to a fall in new supply due to challenges in obtaining project approvals
• Noida witnessed a 19% y-o-y surge in housing sales, with 1,600 units sold during Q1 2024 compared to 1,350 units

Gurugram civic body falls 50% short of revenue target from property tax in FY24

• ₹ 250 cr generated from property tax in 2023-24 versus target of ₹500 cr
• 30% increase in revenue collected compared to the previous fiscal year
• Shortfall attributed to discrepancies in property tax data & objections filed by residents.
• The MCG has received objections to rectify property tax data for over 1.7 lakh properties

Housing sales rise 9%, office leasing up 43% in top 8 cities in January-March

• As per report by Knight Frank India, housing prices rose 2-13% annually across these eight cities
• Office rent grew by 1-9 % across the 8 cities in the same period
• Gross leasing of office space went up by 43% to 16.2 mn sq ft in Jan-Mar 24
• Mumbai saw 17% increase in housing sales, while office leasing increased by 29%
• Delhi-NCR experienced a 1% increase in housing sales & a 19% rise in office demand

Institutional investments in real estate down 40% to $995 Mn in January-March

• Foreign funds contributed 55% & domestic investors contributed 45%
• Office investments fell by 38% & residential segment witnessed a 72% fall in investments
• Inflow of funds in industrial & warehousing assets dipped 18% to $177.7 Mn
• Hyderabad & Pune each accounted for 26% of the total investments, while Bengaluru accounted for 20%

Prestige Group acquires 21 acres land in Bengaluru for ₹450 cr

• Acquired land will be for residential development
• 4 mn sq ft of developable area, comprising 1,800 apartments
• Projected gross development value of the project is ₹4,500 cr
• Plans to launch the project within the next three quarters & complete the development in four years

Bengaluru real estate developers cast a green lifeline amid water crisis

• As Bengaluru grapples with water scarcity, the city’s real estate developers are adopting green building practices & sustainable solutions
• Construction work uses up a major chunk of the water supply mostly supplied through borewells
• Water supply Board & CREDAI plan to supply treated water to construction sites and large housing societies
• Initiative promotes treated water reuse to tackle groundwater depletion from borewell use in construction

Embassy REIT to acquire business park in Chennai for ₹1,269 cr

• Embassy Splendid TechZone in Chennai to be acquired from the sponsor Embassy group
• Acquisition will expand total portfolio of Embassy REIT to over 50.5 mn sq ft
• The deal includes 1.4 Mn Sq ft of completed area, with an impressive 95% occupancy and renowned tenants such as Wells Fargo and BNY Mellon
• REIT intends to raise ₹2,500 cr to facilitate the acquisition & reduce the current 30% portfolio leverage

Gucci owner splashes out €1.3 bn for building on Milan’s iconic shopping street

• The 18th-century building acquired by Gucci owner, Kering, covers 5 floors & features 5,000 Sq meters of retail space, making it one of the largest properties on Via Monte Napoleone
• Kering’s purchase in Milan follows its January acquisition of a building on Manhattan’s Fifth Avenue for $963 Mn
• Kering aims to own up to 15 buildings in select cities, representing 1% of its network, as it prioritizes exceptional flagship locations for its labels such as Gucci, Saint Laurent, and Bottega Veneta

Property sales in Hong Kong rise by 57.2% in March

• Surge largely due to the government lifting all property cooling measures in its 2024-2025 Budget
• The total consideration for property sales in March rose by 65.5% from February to HK$37.4 bn [US$4.8 bn]
• 3,971 sale agreements were for residential units, representing a 67.2% increase from February
• New & secondhand home sales soared after the government’s announcement of no special stamp duty for residential property transactions