Delhi- NCR on the way to recovery

From a very modest beginning to creating numerous projects in varied sectors, the Eros group focus is on realty development in and around Delhi. Avneesh Sood, Director Eros Group gives an understanding of the region real-estate market.   Given the recent instances of malpractices by some builders, what are the challenges facing the Delhi-NCR realty segment? There have been some common problems faced by most of the investors and buyers in the real-estate market. The most common issues that are faced by them are the delays in projects, high-price, poor quality of construction and alterations without prior information.  Apparently, due to the arrival of new enactment like RERA, all such issues will be no more in the picture. The act’s main motive is to maintain transparency in the market. While there is a need for developers to make sure they are compliant with new regulations, buyers too should change their perspective about the market now.The government should also try and make the land bill uniform in order to assure better land procurement. Also, the single window clearance would bring in approvals on time.   What is the current residential properties demand and supply scenario? I think there is a positive impact due to the policy changes and RERA enactment as more and more people are turning up to invest in the real-estate projects. There is transparency and a simplified taxation process that’s encouraging serious investors into the market. Also, the industry reports suggest that the demand for residential units has increased. People are now aware of the newly enacted laws and have started to gain trust. There used to be lack of clarity for the home buyers on how much usable area they were getting for what they were paying. Now, the assured transparency for the investors and buyers is bringing in hopes for the concerned shareholders.   How do you see the developers addressing the growing lack of consumer confidence going forward? The enactments like RERA and GST have started to change the whole scenario. The developers have started to come up with RERA certified projects. They are also maintaining proper escrow accounts and assuring transparency from their end.  RERA does not allow the unregistered projects to befool buyers by coming up with doubtful advertisements.  Developers know that maintaining transparency is the only way out to deal with the trust issues of investors and home buyers. The developers know that the real-estate sector is a customer driven market so they have started coming up with more affordable housing projects in order to satisfy customer needs. This has given spur to the trend of vertical expansion. The concept of transit oriented development is also playing the key role in the real-estate development. The upcoming projects are now based on the needs of home buyers as most of them look out for a residence having proper connectivity and infrastructure. The horizontal expansion of Delhi and its limitations In the case of Delhi, its horizontal expansion is limited to Greater Noida, Ghaziabad, Faridabad & Gurugram as far as the horizontal expansion is concerned. NCR is one of the biggest realty markets in the country, and there has been various real-estate projects that have been successful and a wide variety of upcoming projects that are aiming to suffice the need of prospected buyers. The residential micro-markets are, Greater Noida West and Raj Nagar Extension. For commercial and retail, Noida and Greater Noida are the leading micro-markets. The residential micro-markets are following a development pattern of transit oriented development as it suffices the need for the majority of the prospected homebuyers.   The impact of industry status to affordable housing in NCR Due to the shortage of homes for a larger section of society the affordable housing units have a high demand. To help this segment out, the government’s push for this segment is also making favourable conditions for the whole of real estate sector. The advent of regulating acts like RERA have made it easier for the affordable housing segment to prevail as it has given a positive approach to the homebuyers for the developers. Greater Noida and Raj Nagar extension are more of a budget housing destination. Noida and Greater Noida region have a better catchment area which is required for a commercial setup and the region already has a good commercial development due to the existing population so the commercial real estate wing in the region is also progressing. There are a lot many upcoming projects that would make the market healthier.