Builder body Naredco asks members to fulfill promises made to home buyers within a reasonable time frame

NEW DELHI: Real estate industry body National Real Estate Development Council (Naredco) has appealed to all its members to fulfill commitments their firms have made to home buyers in their various projects in a transparent manner.

Parveen Jain, the president of Naredco asked developers, whose projects are delayed and where buyers are agitating, to sit with buyers and workout a time frame for delivery and fulfill commitments made to them.

"It's a confidence crisis for us. We have to win over the confidence of buyers," he said.

Taking the example of Amrapali and Supertech, Jain has asked all NAREDCO members to adhere to building bye laws, rules and regulations in a fair and transparent manner to gain the confidence of home buyers.

Jain said that though Parliament has passed the Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act and though it's still to be notified and implemented, builders must stand committed to the written promises made to home buyers.

"Once the Act is implemented as designed, things would be easier for builders as well as developers. We have to gear up with changing times," he said.

"A customer can no more be taken for granted. A customer is king for us and will continue to be the king in our scheme of things," he said.

"Some financial discipline would help in timely completion of the projects and timely handing over possession to the buyers," Jain said.

He, however, appealed to the government to sort out the issues related to single window clearances at the earliest, so that when the Act is implemented, developers do not have to run around for project clearances.

Resource: http://economictimes.indiatimes.com

Housing prices down 1% during March quarter in Delhi-NCR: 99acres

NEW DELHI: Housing prices fell by 1 per cent in Delhi-NCR during January-March this year compared with the previous quarter on sluggish demand, according to a report by realty portal 99acres.

Rentals also fell by 1 per cent during the last one year.

The report captures capital and rental price trends of the residential realty market on quarterly basis across seven major cities of India.

"Property prices per sq ft in Delhi NCR witnessed a minimal downtrend of 1 per cent in January-March as compared to October-December 2015," the company said in a statement.

The rental market, too, plateaued over the last one year, it said.

"Delhi NCR's real estate graph continued to delineate a marginal downtrend, with the land pooling policy of the government offering a ray of hope," said Narasimha Jayakumar, Chief Business Officer, 99acres.

The national capital also witnessed the second highest absorption of office space in the country, predicting an optimistic future for the rental landscape, in the long run, he added.

"Most buyers and inventors await the completion of the Noida-Greater Noida metro corridor, anticipating an overhaul in the real estate story of the twin cities," Jayakumar said.

In Delhi, the capital market of apartments continued to remain lacklustre in the first quarter of 2015 with limited number of new launches across the city.

"A few localities fared well on the capital growth index, primarily due to over-ambitious 'ask' rates by sellers. One such locality, Dilshad Garden, noted a capital hike of 5 per cent in January-March 2016 against the previous quarter,"

Despite the huge supply pipeline, some sectors in Dwarka -- sector 14, 12 and 7 -- witnessed a quarterly increase in capital values to the tune of 2-3 per cent.

Resource: http://economictimes.indiatimes.com

Realtors say no room for further price cuts

NEW DELHI | MUMBAI: Responding to Reserve Bank of India Governor Raghuram Rajan's call to builders to cut home prices to stimulate housing demand, real estate developers and industry experts said there is very little wriggle room for any further price cuts.

"Over 90% of the real estate supply in the country is now in a very affordable band and has already corrected. In some places prices have come down 25-30%. There is no further scope for any cuts," said Getamber Anand, national president of the Confederation of Real Estate Developers' Associations of India.

Any further cuts, Anand said, will spawn NPAs (non-performing assets) and result in non-delivery of projects by many developers.

The past two years have been among the worst for India's housing market, with apartment sales slowing down and unsold apartment inventory levels reaching record highs. According to property research firm Liases Foras, the top eight cities had 1,124.9 million sq ft of unsold inventory at the end of December 2015, up 21% over that a year ago.

The central bank has cut rates by 1.5% since January 2015. It cut the key policy rate by 0.25% to 6.5%, the lowest in more than five years. "I am hopeful that as interest rates come down, there will be more credit and buying. And I am also hopeful that prices adjust in a way that encourages people to buy," Rajan had said on Monday in the YB Chavan Memorial Lecture in Mumbai.

Dharma's Jain, president of developers' body MCHI-CREDAI said builders will be more than happy to rationalise prices and get more business.

"Unfortunately, when we look at the economics of it including land cost, input cost and taxes, we don't see much scope for this," Jain said.

Jain referred to taxes, which he said are at an all-time high of 28-43% of overall price of a property, depending on the location.

"Most developers are offering best possible prices considering subvention schemes and other offers being given currently. However, since RBI governor has suggested, we will sit together to see how we can do more," Jain said, even as he urged banks to pass on the rate cut to home loan takers. Over the past one year or so, many builders have tried to stimulate the market by offering subvention and other schemes, where buyers pay a small amount upfront and take a loan for the rest but start payinginterest on their loan only after possession.

Sekhar Reddy, managing director of developer CSR Estates in Hyderabad said land cost, which is a big component of housing, is not in the builders' control.

"Every state government, to meet its revenue targets, is escalating circle rates every year. So every year price of land is going up. Unless you curtail land prices, housing prices cannot come down," Reddy said.

Pointing to increasing labour costs and a massive shortage of skilled labour, Reddy asked, "given all of these things, how can we reduce prices?"

He suggested that due to high unsold inventory in the market there is anyway pressure on pricing due to competition in this buyers' market. This has meant prices have indeed come down in most markets over the past two years.

Liases Foras' managing director Pankaj Kapoor said: "If you look closely, prices have been lowered in new launches. If we take a weighted average price of the under-construction inventory and of new launches in any city, there is close to 15-20% reduction."

Even in existing stock, prices haven't risen for the past two years, which in itself is an inflation adjusted price correction, he said.

Resource: http://economictimes.indiatimes.com

Harish Rawat not morally fit to be back as CM: Chauhan

Aadesh Chauhan, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) legislator from Ranipur-BHEL segment, today sought an explanation from Harish Rawat over the alleged sting operation in which he was caught horse trading dissident Congress legislators.

Chauhan said Harish Rawat was not morally liable for the coveted post because of his involvement in horse-trading of legislators to prove majority in the Assembly post the rebellion by nine Congress MLAs led by former CM Vijay Bahuguna and Rudraprayag legislator Harak Singh Rawat last month.

“How can people accept such a leader who has been caught red-handed saying if rebel legislators return to the party he will shut his eyes on anything they do to amass money. Just for power’s sake, Harish Rawat was ready to allow corruption in his Cabinet and government. Even Harish Rawat’s secretary was caught seeking bribe from the liquor mafia, which was the first major indication of all wrong doings in the Congress-led government. The Quarrying, liquor, and land mafia, property dealers, and close associates of Cabinet ministers and legislators ade merry while development took a back seat in the past three years,” he stated.

Chauhan claimed that all Congress candidates would be whitewashed in the next Assembly elections as people had seen the ill working of Harish Rawat, earlier as the local parliamentarian and now as the Chief Minister.

He said two Congress legislators from Haridwar district— Pradeep Batra (Roorkee) and Kunwar Pranav Champion (Khanpur)—were under the scanner of anti-defection law.

Apart from these two segments, Congress would also lose Piran Kaliyar seat, represented by Furkan Ahmed, as despite being given ministerial berth he had failed to usher in development and was not able to put forth issues of the minority community effectively. Mamta Rakesh won sympathy votes in the by election but as she left the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), her cadre vote had also gone so it won’t be easy for her to win again, he said.

“BJP will emerge victorious in maximum segments of the total 11 in the district. Haridwar parliamentarian seat is represented by BJP’s Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank, the Mayor’s seat is represented by Manoj Garg, Haridwar segment Madan Kaushik, rural segment by Swami Yatishwaranand, Jwalapur Chandra Sekhar, Bhattewala Lakshar Sanjay Gupta and Ranipur-BHEL by me. So, there is certainly a pro-BJP wave and despite the legal course of action, public has made its mind to bring back the BJP in the state Assembly also,” Chauhan added.

Resource: http://www.tribuneindia.com

सरकारी भूमि बेचने वाले तीन प्रोपर्टी डीलर गिरफ्तार

कोटा. सरकारी भूमि पर प्लानिंग काटकर भूखंड बेचने के 8 साल पुराने मामले में विज्ञान नगर पुलिस ने शुक्रवार को तीन प्रोपर्टी डीलरों को गिरफ्तार किया है।

एएसआई विजय सिंह ने बताया कि धुलेट निवासी कांतिबाई माहेश्वरी, भुवनेश माहेश्वरी व एक अन्य ने वर्ष 2007-08 में मामला दर्ज कराया था।


इसमें कहा था कि अनंतपुरा निवासी अशोक प्रजापति, आवां हाल कुन्हाड़ी निवासी पप्पू खाडवाल और अमानत हुसैन समेत कई लोगों ने जगपुरा में प्लानिंग काटी।


इसमें उन्होंने भी 40-40 हजार रुपए में भूखंड खरीदे थे, लेकिन बाद में पता चला कि जिस जगह पर प्लानिंग काटकर बेची गई है, वह नगर विकास न्यास की है। इस पर तीनों के खिलाफ मामला दर्ज किया गया।

सिंह ने बताया कि जांच में पता चला इन्होंने न्यास की भूमि पर 99 भूखंड काटे थे। इनमें से 40 बेच भी दिए थे। मामला दर्ज होने के बाद से आरोपित फरार थे। उन्हें शुक्रवार को गिरफ्तार किया गया है।

Resource: http://rajasthanpatrika.patrika.com

Property Dealers in Gurgaon Announce Fresh Bookings in Vatika India Next Floors, Gurgaon

Vatika Real Estate announces booking opportunities in the Vatika India Next Floors integrated township, which consists of high-rise apartments and independent floors.

This press release was orginally distributed by SBWire

Gurgaon, Haryana -- (SBWIRE) -- 04/14/2016 -- Vatika Real Estate brings several residential as well as commercial projects in Gurgaon for investors and NRIs to enjoy world class living standards and get the best value for their investment. The Vatika property dealers have several high-end properties in their portfolio for their clients to gain significantly from the burgeoning Indian real estate sector.

The property dealers announce the availability of residential plots, apartments and independent floors in the prestigious real estate project, vatika india next floors gurgaon. The project is spread across Sectors 82, 82A, 83, 84 and 85, with an excellent infrastructure and amenities for a modern lifestyle. With its unique location and connectivity with the NH 8 and the Dwarka Expressway, this model city is easily approachable from the different parts of Delhi & NCR and makes it an ideal habitat for the working class, with their offices located in different parts of the region. The project has several advantageous features, and now one can book a property there through Vatika Real Estate.

The property dealers in palam vihar gurgaon have several other residential properties for people to choose for their own living purpose or as a lucrative investment option. They have Ansals PalamVihar Gurgaon in their bouquet that brings both residential as well as commercial spaces for the investors. Strategically located close to the South Delhi, the project enjoys a proximity to the big corporate houses and residential bungalows. That is why it brings a very good option for a commercial investment and Vatika Real Estate can provide all the necessary assistance for people to invest in the project.

Another great investment lies in the Ansal Sushant Lok -1, 2, 3 in Gurgaon. As a well-established property dealers in sushant lok gurgaon, Vatika Real Estate brings the opportunity of sell, purchase or rent properties in this project. All three Sushant Lok projects have well-developed infrastructure with an ample green space for people to breathe fresh air and lead a serene life amidst natural surroundings. The projects have markets, schools, healthcare facilities and all other amenities in the close proximity. Anyone interested in booking a property in Sushant Lok or in any of the above projects can visit the website http://vatikarealestate.com.

About Vatika Real Estate
Vatika Real Estate is the leader in retail and personal real estate ownership. They provide professional services for buying, selling, leasing and renting of commercial, industrial, institutional, retail and residential properties. They can also provide assistance in documentation, investment advisory function and property valuation.

Resource: http://www.digitaljournal.com

Property prices in Gurgaon drop by 50% after the name change to Gurugram

Gurgaon Gurugram: Residents of Gurgaon Gurugram were in for a pleasant surprise this morning when the property prices crashed by as much as 50%. The dream home is set to be a reality for many people now as the prices of plots, flats and houses nosedived after Gurgaon was renamed Gurugram.

Earlier yesterday, Haryana Government decided to rename Gurgaon to Gurugram and Mewat to Nuh. This has been done to bring people closer to the ‘rich heritage’ that these places once had.

Speaking to Faking News, a property dealer from Sector 14, Gurgaon Gurugram said, “Bhaisaab all the buyers disappeared suddenly yesterday afternoon. Initially we thought Jats are blocking all the roads again so everyone is rushing home but we later came to know that nobody wants to buy a house in a place called Gurugram as it reminded them of an ashram and who will pay 5 Crores for a flat in an ashram.”

After the total disappearance of buyers, an urgent meeting of all the builders and property dealers in Gurgaon Gurugram was called at Tau Devi Lal Stadium in the city where they brainstormed for over 2 hours and eventually decided to cut the property prices by 50%.

“As it is the competition was intense in this field with more property dealers in Haryana than the number of flats available. Attracting buyers required great skill. Now, along with convincing people to buy a house through our property agency, we have to convince them to buy a house in Gurugram too. This decision has really made life hard for us”, moaned Ravindra Singh, a property dealer from Jharsa village in Gurgaon Gurugram.

However, it is proving a hard sell so far. Rohit Sharma, a software engineer said speaking to Faking News, “Bhai they were calling Gurgaon the Millennium City so I was willing to buy a house here and live in a place called the Millennium City. Now with Gurugram, it sounds as if Amitabh Bachchan will appear out of nowhere and start lecturing us on Parampara, Pratishtha, Anushashan. I would much rather take a flat in Noida so that I can at least experience the adventure of living in UP.”

Meanwhile, Congress has criticised this move by BJP Government claiming that it is just a ploy of BJP to depreciate assets of Mr. Robert Vadra

Resource: http://www.fakingnews.firstpost.com

Getting ready: Dh55mn Viking villas on Dubai's The World

The first beachfront villas on the Sweden Island in The Heart of Europe (THOE) on the World islands in Dubai is getting ready.

In a statement emailed to Emirates 24|7, Kleindienst, the developer of project, said the first show villa was close to completion with work having reached roof level. 

“Once complete, it will be furnished by Bentley Home,” the developer said.

Sweden Island is one of six islands which make up THOE, which will be home to 10 seven-bedroom beachfront villas with a Scandinavian design. The completion for all the villas is estimated during the year.

Each villa will features seven ensuite bedrooms, a snow and sauna room, floor-to-ceiling windows, expansive balconies, a gym and spa, a private infinity pool and landscaped gardens. Owners will have the option to incorporate a customized party and chill-out floor.

The design of the villa, by architect Carlo Colombo, are based on the inverted Swedish Viking vessels. The roof of each villa will resemble the upturned hull of a Viking ship.

In August 2015, we reported that the company had put the price of the each villa at Dh55 million.

Read: Bentley to design Dh55m villas on Dubai's Sweden island

THOE comprises six islands: Sweden, Germany, Main Europe, Switzerland, St Petersburg and Monaco. It will have snow and rain-filled streets and a heart-shape island.

“St Petersburg Island has now been re-designed into the shape of a heart, taking inspiration from The Maldives and some of the world's finest holiday resorts,” Kleindienst Group Chairman Josef Kleindienst had told this website.

Resource: http://www.emirates247.com

Jacuzzi or sauna? Damac launches hotel spa villas in Dubai’s Akoya Oxygen

Damac is continuing its creative ways of attracting property buyers to Dubai with the launch of a collection of villas containing a private garden spa.

The hotel spa villas are part of Damac’s Akoya Oxygen project, on the Umm Suqeim Road, and provide buyers with a choice of Jacuzzi or sauna in the garden.

Prices start at Dh1.7 million, and they come fully furnished and serviced.

The Dubai developer, well known for offering customers sports cars and jet skis if they buy luxury apartments, has been offering unique property concepts amid a soft Dubai market, with Akoya Oxygen set to feature the Middle East’s first rainforest.

It is also selling Bugatti villas - where home owners can sit in their lounge and see their sports car parked in a glass adjacent garage - within the development. These villas are priced in the region of Dh36m. Elsewhere, Damac is building new luxury flats next to Dubai Canal with their own car lifts.

Developers have also been using increasingly generous terms in recent months to try and generate sales after luxury properties lost about 10 per cent of their value in 2015, according to real estate consultancy Asteco.

Earlier this year, Damac announced a “capital guarantee" offer, which guarantees the value of a home for two years after delivery. It was also offering investors a guaranteed annual return on advance payments during construction of 3 per cent a year – twice the amount likely to be received from a bank – until completion.

The hotel spa villas are ideal for those who lead a hectic lifestyle and seek serenity and relaxation in their own home, according to Niall McLoughlin, senior vice president, Damac Properties.

“This presents a unique offering for investors as it includes, as a standard feature, the spa facilities that are usually only available when one customises their property, and we all know this is not necessarily cost-effective," he said.

Akoya Oxygen is set around the Tiger Woods-designed Trump World Golf Club, Dubai. It will also include a 1 million sq ft shopping and entertainment centre called Vista Lux, plus more than 2,000 villas.

Resource: http://www.thenational.ae

Naple Villas approved, consultations end

The much debated Citizenship by Investment (CIP) real estate project at Dieppe Bay has received approval for construction from the Development Control Authority (DCA), signalling an end to the public consultation process.

Acting Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Citizenship by Investment Unit (CIU), Thomas Anthony confirmed the move by the authority.

“DCA has reported that they gave them construction approval,” he said.

However, according to residents who spoke to OBSERVER media on the condition of anonymity, the three-acre project is still considered to be a poor fit for the area.

“I think this is a misplaced development project that would be better located in another area – not in the precious and unique National Park environment,” a resident said.

The luxury villa development, proposed by Naple Developer Limited and worth US $25 million, raised sufficient concern among residents of the surrounding area, to prompt the National Parks Authority (NPA) to host public consultations on March 23 and April 13.

The resident also highlighted a widely held concern that the Falmouth Harbour, which supports a thriving yachting industry, would suffer from overdevelopment.

“It’s going to be a reproduction of the sort of overdevelopment in St Maarten happening in our National Park,” the individual said.

Another resident told OBSERVER media, “The major concern at this point is that they’re going ahead with three storeys … It should only be two.”

While exceptions can be legally made, the regulatory standard for the National Park is for buildings not to exceed two storeys. The 84 single bedroom units of the project are designed to fit into seven, three-storey buildings.

“What we take issue with is the way in which the planning law has been flouted,” the source said. “Nobody is opposed to the development and we are not trying to stop it.”

Resource: http://antiguaobserver.com

What’s the best timing for valuing property?

Recently Wake County, the state’s second largest county in population, reduced the time between property revaluations from eight to four years. The change has created some confusion as well as claims the move is a veiled way of increasing taxes.

To fully understand why the change happened and what its implications are, we need to first step back and review property taxes. The property tax is a major source of public revenues for counties and cities in North Carolina, as well as in the nation. The monetary value of property (mainly land and buildings) is taxed each year, with the revenues used for public services like police and fire protection, trash collection, local parks and public school construction.

The reasoning behind taxing property for local public services is that property owners benefit from such services. Numerous academic studies have demonstrated a significant link between property values and the quality and quantity of local public services. Those who don’t own property, such as renters, are not given a free ride, because the size of their rents will reflect the property taxes paid by the property owner.

Any tax has two key elements – the monetary value of the tax base and the tax rate applied to that tax base. For example, for the retail sales tax, the tax base is the dollar amount of sales, and the rate is an amount per dollar of sales. So if I spend $100 at my favorite clothing store and the sales tax rate is 5 cents per dollar of sales, then I pay $5 in sales tax.

For the sales tax, it is obvious what the tax base is – the dollar amount of sales. And whereas for the income tax there are many complications from deductions, exemptions and credits, at least the starting point – income from working for most people – is obvious.

But it’s another matter for the property tax. Only if the property has recently been sold is there a current monetary value of the property tax base. If the property was last sold several years ago, today’s value could be much different from the last sales value.

For example, my wife and I bought our current home 30 years ago. So the last time a sales value for our home was established was in 1986. Certainly the sales value today is different, but how much different?

This is one of the problems faced by local governments in using the property tax. Their solution has been to estimate the sales value of property, such as my home, when a recent market sale is not available. The governments do this by comparing the major characteristics of the property – in the case of homes, features like square footage, number of rooms, presence of a garage – to properties in the same neighborhood with similar characteristics that have sold recently. The average sales value of these matches is then used as the estimated current property value.

While this seems like a sensible solution, there is an issue. The estimation process can be costly and time-consuming. In Wake County there are 350,000 owner-occupied homes, but less than 10 percent will be sold in any year. So the values of 90 percent have to be estimated. The county also uses over 4,000 individual neighborhoods for developing the matches. The result is a property valuation system that carries a major cost.

As a result, North Carolina does not require local governments to revalue properties every year. Properties must be revalued at least every eight years, but local governments can – at their discretion – do more rapid revaluations.

However, the fact that properties are not revalued every year creates another issue. It arises from the fact that once a property is revalued, that value remains until the next revaluation period, or until the property is sold. For localities using long revaluation periods – like eight years – this means property values can quickly become out-of-date. In areas where property values are rising, “sticker shock” can then occur for the owner when a revaluation shows a big jump in value.

Localities often lessen the shock by lowering the property tax rate to prevent a big increase in property taxes.

In situations where property values are falling – as was the case in many localities during the Great Recession of 2007-2009 – the opposite situation can lead to property owners’ frustration. If the most recent revaluation was done before the decline in values, the result is that owners pay a tax on a value they know is higher than the current sales value. Needless to say, this wouldn’t put a smile on property owners’ faces.

It’s for these reasons that some localities in North Carolina prefer revaluing property more frequently – even if it costs them more. This is what Wake County has decided to do. If the intent is to tax the current value of a property, then more rapid revaluations will get closer to this goal.

In the future this discussion may become obsolete. This is because the development of massive real-estate data sets combined with high speed analytical computer programs can potentially give local governments the ability to constantly and inexpensively update property values. There would therefore be ongoing real-time estimates of everyone’s property value with virtually the click of a mouse. Would this make property owner and taxpayers happy? You decide!

Dr. Mike Walden is a William Neal Reynolds Distinguished Professor and North Carolina Cooperative Extension economist in the Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics of North Carolina State University’s College of Agriculture and Life Sciences.

Resource: http://www.morganton.com

Durham property firm voted 'region’s best'

A Durham property company has scooped four industry accolades after being championed as the best estate agency in the North East by its clients.

Bill Free Homes, based in Durham City, triumphed at The Estate Agency of the Year Awards (ESTAS) 2016, sponsored by Zoopla Property Group.

The event, which was hosted by TV's Phil Spencer, is unique in the industry as all of the winners are decided based on the strength of their customer feedback.

Bill Free Homes’ clients overwhelmingly gave the thumbs up for the second year running, as the team retained the two Gold ESTAS they won in 2015 for Best North East Lettings Agency: as voted for by landlords, and Best North East Lettings Agency: as voted for by tenants.

The agency’s new sister company Elvet Estates, which launched last year, is following in its sibling’s successful footsteps by being crowned the Best Estate Agency in County Durham and scooping Silver in the Best North East Estate Agent category.

Director of Bill Free Homes, Sean Lawless, said: “We’re thrilled to retain our Gold awards at the ESTAS this year – and we’re delighted that our newest venture, Elvet Estates, is receiving such positive feedback and has achieved two major accolades in its very first year of business.

“This is the only ceremony which puts our customers directly in the judge’s chair and asks them to deliver detailed opinions about us, so it means a great deal to know that they appreciate what we offer.

"We’re very proud of the personal, efficient service we provide, and our three awards are a testament to our dedicated staff who work tirelessly to deliver the best possible standards of service to both of our client bases – landlords and tenants.

“We’re now determined to improve our service even further, to ensure we stay at the top of the tree in such a competitive market.”

Resource: http://www.bqlive.co.uk

JLL India Adjudged ‘Best Property Consultancy’ at International Property Awards Asia Pacific 2016

Mumbai, 11 April 2016: JLL scooped a total of 15 awards at the 2016 International Property Awards Asia Pacific held in Kuala Lumpur on 8 April. Of these, six were five-star ratings for Best Property Consultancy in China, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan and South Korea.

Commenting on JLL India capturing the coveted ‘Best Property Consultancy’ award, Anuj Puri, Chairman & Country Head, JLL India said, “We easily outpaced the competition from other IPCs in winning this award, which follows the most stringent selection guidelines in the industry. In fact, awards have been rolling in – JLL India was also adjudged ‘Property Consultant of the Decade’ at the 10th edition of the prestigious CNBC-Awaaz Real Estate Awards, and the ‘Best FM Service Provider’ at the recently conducted Clean & Green India 2016 Awards.”

Receiving 15 awards in Asia Pacific, including six in the five-star category, is a great achievement and testament to the great work our teams across the region do day in, day out,” says Alastair Hughes, CEO, JLL Asia Pacific. “It’s a real pleasure to be recognised among the best in the industry for delivering top class service to our clients, something that is at the heart of everything we do as a company.”

The annual Asia Pacific awards event brings together the top players in real estate, architecture and interior design from 25 countries and covers both commercial and residential categories. Now in their 24th year, they are the region’s largest, most prestigious, and widely recognised awards programme.

Entries are judged by an independent panel of 70 industry experts, who focus on design, quality, service, innovation, originality, and commitment to sustainability.

JLL Five-Star Awards 2016

Best Property Consultancy China
Best Property Consultancy Hong Kong
Best Property Consultancy India
Best Property Consultancy Indonesia
Best Property Consultancy Japan
Best Property Consultancy Korea

JLL Highly Commended Awards 2016

Property Consultancy Australia
Property Consultancy Website Australia
Property Consultancy New Zealand
Property Consultancy Website New Zealand
Real Estate Agency New Zealand
Property Consultancy Philippines
Property Consultancy Singapore
Property Consultancy Thailand
Property Consultancy Vietnam


Resource: http://www.freepressjournal.in

Gandhian ways best to get usurped Waqf property back: Heptulla

BHOPAL :  Union minister for minority affairs Najma Heptulla said the local residents of the minority communities would have to adopt the Gandhian way to save the Waqf Board property and make it free from the encroachers. And for this they would have to stage sit-in and launch agitations

Heptulla made these comments while addressing a press conference in the city on Sunday. She urged the people of minority communities to come forward and save the Waqf property.

 The minority affairs minister said she would also join the agitation for the cause.

She claimed that in the nation around 6 lakh acres of land belonging to the Waqf Board has been encroached upon.

She also added that the Waqf Board chairman of Himachal Pradesh has also captured property of the board. “The people appointed as a protector, have captured the property”.

She added that in Delhi itself the government has encroached upon 103 properties of the board. She demanded whichever government is possessing the board’s property, should pay the rent.

She added that she would try to bring the bill in the cabinet regarding the board’s property. She suggested that the law procedures and legal matters take a long time to solve the problems, but the Gandhian ways, which forced the British to leave India, would be the best suited against the encroachers to make them leave the board’s property.

She added that the NDA government is supporting the minority communities in various aspects. The government have increased the budget for scholarships to the minority students up to Rs 90 crore.

Talking about the panchayat day, she added, “It would be truism to say that we have taken democracy from the Greek or British, while in traditional Indian ruling system the king used to seek suggestions from the head (Mukhiya or sarpanch) of the village while shaping the development plans for the state.”

She shared her experiences of the 73rd and 74th Panchayati Raj Amendment Bills, saying she cried when the bill was dropped by one vote. She said the bill was important for her because for the first time 33 per cent reservation was proposed for the women in the panchayat bodies. Later the bill was passed.

Resource: http://www.freepressjournal.in

The apartments guaranteed to sell

Angela Galvin's two Collingwood units tell the story of Australia's evolving apartment market.

Ms Galvin, a health services professional, paid $555,000 for a two-bedroom apartment in a 90-unit development in the inner Melbourne suburb five years ago. Last year, she bought a bigger apartment, a three-bedroom, two-level dwelling with a balcony in a converted brick warehouse.

Ahead of that purchase, which cost her in the region of $1.2 million, Ms Galvin wanted to put her first apartment on the market.

"I tried to sell it, but I couldn't even get what I paid," she said. "There are just thousands going up in Collingwood. It's not unique and everyone looking for that sort of apartment wanted a newer one."

The contrast between her old apartment and the new one became apparent this week when Ms Galvin's neighbour in the 99 Oxford St building sold his own three-bedroom apartment with terrace at auction for an eye-watering $1,470,000, well above the expected $1.1 million to $1.2 million.

Her experience spells out what buyers and vendors can expect as record numbers of apartment settlements come due both this year and next across the east coast of Australia.

"Anything in a heritage building sells well, anything that's got space sells well," said Luke Sacco, the real estate agent who sold 38/99 Oxford Street. "Where there's an overstock with is the cookie-cutter, the standard 1-to-2-bedroom small apartment space. There's a lot of those available."

After funding a sustained burst of apartment developments focused on both local and foreign investors, banks - prompted in part by growth limits set by the regulator - are reigning in their exposure to that segment of the market and turning to funding developments that cater to the growing local market of owner-occupiers.

"They all are working hard to get owner-occupiers," said Angie Zigomanis, the senior manager for residential property at research company BIS Shrapnel. "Investors are subject to higher loan-to-value ratios and higher interest rates. Part of that is that APRA last year said 'We'd rather you don't increase your lending portfolio to investors by more than 10 per cent', which means if you're trying to grow more than 10 per cent, you have to look to other sectors of the market."

But it also comes as the wave of retiring baby boomers, who first turned 65 in 2011, gathers pace and begin looking for suitable accommodation in which to downsize. The buyer of Ms Galvin's neighbour's apartment was an older couple. Further, the next largest demographic group - Gen Y - is looking to buy property and is increasingly trading off space for convenience by going for apartments in locations close to transport, good food and bars.

In Melbourne, approvals of medium-density apartment developments (those fewer than 4 storeys) have picked up over the past three years across areas such as Port Phillip, Stonnington, Bayside and Glen Eira.

Sydney, with less space available for development and an apartment boom that has already extended across the metropolitan area, has less medium-density, but a flight to quality is evident as more locals look to buy apartments in higher-density developments. In November, Elaine Yong paid $715,000 for a 56-square-metre one-bedroom apartment in Surry Hills, a 2010 five-storey mixed-use development designed by architects Candalepas Associates. She had looked at a lot of apartments before she bid on the 38 Waterloo Street property.

"Many are in good locations, but always something was not quite right," said Ms Yong, who works in financial services. "The building might have a great view, but I wasn't particularly happy with the building. I wanted a building with low strata levies. I didn't see a point in body corporate fees to pay for a pool I wouldn't use."

In contrast DeNode, as her building is called, had large apartments, low running costs and met her wish for a more sustainable way of living.

"It's an apartment designed for someone with a disability - everything's really wide," she said. "DeNode uses recycled water in toilets. Because it's raw exposed concrete the upkeep is relatively low.The orientation of the apartment means it's always nice and shaded and cool. It doesn't overheat."

Real estate agent Shaun Ellis, of CPS Property Surry Hills, said the developer Haralambis Group still owned properties in the building and managed them.

"There's the upkeep and that just creates value," Mr Ellis said.

Back in Collingwood, Ms Galvin kept her original apartment, which she rents out. But the sale of her neighbour's apartment, not renovated since the original conversion a decade ago, shows she's on to a good thing with the new one.

"They got a very good price," she said.

Resource: http://www.afr.com

Apartments could boost Daleville population

DALEVILLE – Even as the Town of Daleville pursues plans to build and expand, it faces a basic problem: more people work in Daleville than live there.

"We double in size during the day and those people leave and go elsewhere at night," Daleville Town Council President Tom Roberts said. "It’s why we invest in the park and the new downtown."

Officials hope a proposed apartment complex could be one piece to a changing community.

Hundreds of workers at the Heartland Business Center and other areas along Ind. 67 commute to Daleville for work, but they don’t live in the town. A look at Daleville’s housing stock suggests one potential reason why: because there are not many options, which hinders the potential for increasing the number of Daleville residents.

Census data from 2014 shows a stagnant population for Daleville, which has had roughly 1,600 residents since 1990. Trends year-to-year show Daleville's population could be on the decline, although the number was fewer than three or four people a year. Working to increase population is at the core of the town's downtown initiatives.

The census data showed one other interesting thing about the town. Daleville has around 32 percent of its housing in rental units, just three percentage points below Delaware County as a whole, but the rental vacancy rate was so low that it registers at zero. Vacant homes are also below the countywide average.

And that's where the town's latest effort comes in. A proposed $8.4 million project, known as Salem Place Apartments, could bring 64 apartments to the growing community. These low-income housing apartments would be built in Daleville’s downtown near Sixth Street, in part on town-own land where the former Lions Club building sits.

“Daleville has been dormant for 20 years, and we are just breaking out of that,” council member Bill Walters said in an earlier interview about the proposed apartments.

At the end of February, the Indiana Housing and Community Development Authority announced that RealAmerica Development would receive tax credits for the new housing development. RealAmerica has similar apartments built in Fort Wayne and other Indiana communities.

“We see that the market is there and that Daleville is a desirable place to live,” said Jeff Ryan, Vice President of Development with RealAmerica. The company will complete three market studies to confirm at every step that there is a market for the apartments.

The low-income apartments meet a niche in Daleville. For a single-person apartment the income is capped at $23,100 for eligibility, while a four-person family on one income qualifies for a cap of $32,940 in 2015 qualifiers. These income brackets constitute nearly 42 percent of the current population in Daleville. The income caps are expected to raise with the numbers from 2016.

Daleville’s median household income is $40,795.

The housing is made affordable through a Section 42 tax credit program. While some residents in Daleville voiced concern about Section 8 housing, these two programs are separate from each other and can't be mixed.

Resource: http://www.thestarpress.com

Building Update: Three parish schools becoming apartments

Building Update is a regular feature highlighting progress on development projects throughout the region.

Project name: Parish school conversions

Address: 1030 Parkside Ave., 31 Tamarack St. and 17 Mineral Springs Road

Developer: Karl Frizlen

Cost: $13.6 million

Description: Conversions of St. Rose of Lima, St. Thomas Aquinas and St. Teresa’s parish schools into 90 apartments

Completion date: August 2016, November 2016, February 2017

Lowdown: Two former Catholic church schools in Buffalo that are being converted into apartments by Karl Frizlen are well on their way to completion over the next few months, while a third is now getting underway, as the architect and developer adds a total of 90 units to the city’s inventory.

Frizlen is redeveloping the former parish schools of St. Rose of Lima in North Buffalo and St. Thomas Aquinas and St. Teresa’s in South Buffalo. All three are historic buildings, so the projects were eligible for historic tax credits.

The 26,000-square-foot St. Rose at 1030 Parkside Ave., now dubbed The School Lofts @ Parkside, will have a mixture of 21 one- and two-bedroom units, with rents ranging from $900 to $1,200 per month. Each classroom in the building, which was built in 1926, is being reused as a loft apartment, with 12-foot ceilings, hardwood floors, large original windows, doors and moldings and even original slate blackboards. Work is about halfway done on the $3.8 million project, with completion planned by Aug. 1, and about 75 percent of the 21 luxury loft units are already leased, Frizlen said.

In South Buffalo, the former St. Thomas school at 432 Abbott Road is now The School Lofts @ Abbott, at 31 Tamarack St., with 32 one- and two-bedroom luxury loft apartments, ranging in size from 750 to 1,100 square feet. Like St. Rose, each classroom in the building – constructed in 1926 – is now an apartment, with similar features as the other former parish school. Work on the $5.2 million project is 25 percent complete, with an opening targeted for Nov. 1, and about a quarter of the units are leased.

Finally, Frizlen’s team is starting work on the former St. Teresa’s School at 17 Mineral Springs Road in South Buffalo. The 42,000-square-foot building, which dates to at least 1911, will be turned into 37 one- and two-bedroom apartments, with rents ranging from $900 to $1,000 per month. The $4.6 million project, which includes 37 parking spaces, will be called The School Lofts @ Mineral Springs. It has been approved by the city Planning Board, and crews began construction a month ago, Frizlen said. It’s slated to be done by February 2017.

Resource: http://www.buffalonews.com

More details on proposed South End apartments

Apartment company Pollack Shores is moving forward with a plan to build 350 new apartments on Tremont Avenue in South End, and the firm revealed some more details about the development at a recent community meeting.

The building would be on an 8.4-acre site on the south side of Tremont Ave, between Tryon Street and Hawkins Street. That’s near Sycamore Brewing, the Blue Line light rail and thousands of other apartment units in South End that are either proposed or under construction.

Atlanta-based Pollack Shores needs permission from Charlotte City Council to rezone the site, which is currently occupied by industrial buildings. As part of the rezoning process, the company held an informational session earlier this month with local residents.

At the meeting (you can find minutes from it online here), a Pollack Shores executive said the company plans to complete the first apartments on the site in mid-2018 and finish the building by 2019. The four-story building would include a 20-foot easement for a pedestrian and bike path connecting Tryon and Hawkins streets. A new public street would bisect the site, connecting Tremont Street with the southern edge of the site.

The apartment building would include up to 2,500 square feet of non-residential uses on the ground floor, such as shops or offices. Pollack Shores’ plan is to develop the site in phases, with the first apartment building built on the side of the property near Tryon Street. The eastern half of the site, closer to Hawkins Street, would be developed in the future.

Some neighbors expressed concern that the design is too uniform and similar to other apartments being developed nearby. One of the architects working on the project said the design is still being refined, and could look different in the future.

City Council will hold a hearing on the plan in the coming months, and then vote on the proposal. Stay tuned for more details.

Pollack Shores is also developing large apartment buildings on Central Avenue in Plaza Midwood and on Park Road near SouthPark.

Resource: http://www.charlotteobserver.com

£1.5m Battersea power station apartments held back from market

Luxury £1.5m apartments being built in the Battersea power station redevelopment are being held back from the market, as the downturn at the top end of the London property market hits sales.

Prices start at £1.39m for a two-bedroom apartment designed by the architect Frank Gehry on the £8bn site on the south bank of the Thames, while homes from Foster + Partners are marketed for £1.55m and upwards.

The chief executive of the Battersea Power Station Development company (BPSD), Rob Tincknell, told PropertyWeek that 35 apartments were currently up for sale, while another 150 were being held back. “If there is market demand, we will release more units, but the market has softened,” he said.

Tincknell added that his company was offering discounts to buyers but would not follow other London developers in doing heavily discounted bulk sales to institutional investors.

“The market is quite challenging - there are fewer buyers around,” he said. “That doesn’t mean we have stopped - we are still selling apartments, but we’re not chasing the market and we’re not worried.”

BPSD, which is owned by Malaysian investors, said it had sold property worth £110m since November across the whole site.

Properties are being released to buyers in tranches and since the third phase of marketing began in October 2014, 350 of the 539 apartments designed by Foster and Gehry have been sold.

When the first phase of the property sale, 865 flats, went on the market three years ago, they all sold within weeks. About 20 luxury apartments out of 254 that were launched in the next phase two years ago have not been sold.

This is the latest sign that potential buyers are being put off by recent stamp duty rises, while demand from wealthy foreign investors has slackened with the slowdown in China and mounting global economic uncertainty. There are also signs that Britain’s potential exit from the EU is weighing on the property market.

Several investment firms and banks have warned that a glut of luxury housing in London has created a bubble, with US bank Morgan Stanley predicting that the price of new upmarket flats could fall by 10-20% this year. UBS warned six months ago that house prices in London were the most overvalued of any major city in the world.

Tincknell’s comments came just days after BPSD unveiled its first Gehry show apartment, with the “LA interior” featuring rough sawn oak-fronted kitchen cabinets with open display shelves, while the “London interior” has chevron flooring and a metallic kitchen.The Canadian-born architect, who lives in Los Angeles, has designed a cluster of five buildings whose sculptural facades are inspired by London’s John Nash regency terraces. They are reminiscent of the billowing sails of ships – echoing Gehry’s ship design of the Guggenheim museum in Bilbao, northern Spain.

A separate block designed by British architect Sir Norman Foster’s firm has a 255-metre roof garden, which looks out on the Gehry buildings. The Foster apartments are styled in a 1930s theme that has been adopted from the power station.

According to property website Propcision, a large number of the homes at Battersea power station that are being resold have had their asking prices slashed.

Resource: http://www.theguardian.com

BRIEF-Eyemaxx Real Estate resolves rights issue to finance property projects

Eyemaxx Real Estate AG :

* Decides on rights issue primarily to finance further property projects

* Capital increase from authorized capital with subscription rights by up to 779,948 shares

* Resulting cash inflows will primarily be used to finance further real estate projects in residential, commercial and maintenance fields in Germany and Austria Source text for Eikon: Further company coverage: (Gdynia Newsroom)

Resource: http://www.reuters.com

Abu Dhabi rolls out real estate reforms

 Wide-ranging reforms aimed at regulating Abu Dhabi's real estate sector and encouraging best practices look set to lift investor sentiment despite the challenging regional economic climate.
Abu Dhabi introduced its new property law at the beginning of 2016, with a view to improving accountability and transparency across the industry.

The regulatory overhaul, which followed calls for greater protection for buyers, will likely be supported by further legislative changes covering building standards.
Clarification and protection

Under the new legislation, a comprehensive register of property interests, providing data on all of Abu Dhabi's projects, developers and service providers, will be set up. The new rules also set out the rights and obligations of all parties, and detail the registration of property interests.

Supervision will also be stepped up for projects at the off-plan stage in a bid to strengthen project governance and increase protection for investors through mechanisms like escrow accounts.

Significantly, the new regulations provide for multi-owner or strata projects by making it easier for developments to be divided according to project areas.

In addition, the rules formalise Abu Dhabi Municipality's right to cancel licences and take action on failing projects. A separate provision allows investors to cancel purchase contracts if a developer is found to be in material breach of the agreement.

The reforms have been welcomed by the real estate industry, with experts optimistic that increased transparency and accountability will, in turn, generate higher levels of confidence and sustained demand.

"The property law will lessen the impact of potential cyclical economic factors such as oil price movements on real estate prices, creating a less volatile environment which should encourage continuous investment and growth of the sector," Chris Taylor, CEO of real estate financial services provider Abu Dhabi Finance, told media in March.
Rental returns slowing

However, while confidence in the market looks to be on the rise, earnings in the rental segment are flattening out.

The slowing of the regional economy, combined with an oversupply of residential units, pushed down rents across most segments of the property market at the beginning of the year, according to online real estate portal Bayut.

Average apartment rents fell by 5% month-on-month in January, the firm said in its latest study, though dips varied according to unit size and location. Demand remained solid in prime areas such as Al Reem Island, Al Raha Beach, Al Reef, Al Ghadeer and Saadiyat Island, Bayut noted.

Rental returns have felt the weight of a rise in the number of vacant properties. Official estimates suggest that 37% of available residential units stood empty as of mid-February. Abu Dhabi will be looking to the new regulations to help reduce the figure to a more manageable 8% by 2020, according to Abdullah Al Baloushi, director of the land and property division of Abu Dhabi Municipality.

While tighter liquidity levels are also expected to exert downward pressure on Abu Dhabi's property market this year, Bayut expects the sector to continue to benefit from the emirate's ongoing development as a business and innovation hub, which in turn should keep attracting human capital.
Construction standards in the spotlight

Further reforms under development, aimed at reinforcing building standards, are expected to support the recent regulatory overhaul.

The review comes after flooding in parts of the emirate in mid-March exposed structural weaknesses in some buildings.

Abu Dhabi Municipality received more than 850 reports of property damage and flooding from the heavy storms, prompting a commitment from the National Emergency Crisis and Disaster Management Authority to tighten building regulations and inspection practices.

Although these and other reforms reflect a maturing in Abu Dhabi's property market, Matthew Green, head of research and consulting for the UAE at real estate agency CBRE, said the stricter regulations could impact prices.

"Whilst the finer details remain unclear, more comprehensive safety checks and stringent measures could have obvious implications for the construction industry, both in terms of time and cost of development," he told media last month.

Resource: http://projects.zawya.com/

Buying a Home in Jaffa's Ajami Takes Money and Courage read

No less than 31 bids were made recently for a 174-square-meter plot on Batsra Street in the Givat Aliyah neighborhood south of Jaffa’s Ajami neighborhood.

The property, offered for sale as part of a tender issued by the government housing company Amidar, is zoned for two housing units; its minimum price was set at 486,8000 shekels about ($129,000), not including value-added tax. An Amidar appraiser assessed the value of the lot at 1.07 million shekels before VAT. The winning bidder would get leasing rights for 98 years, with an option to extend them for another 98 years.

The large number of bids would seem to indicate that the competition for the property was fierce, but a closer look shows that half of them did not even reach the 750,000-shekel mark. The bidders were probably hoping that since it was Jaffa, located south of Tel Aviv, they could get the property for a cheaper price.

Gentrification is not uncommon in Israel, but the fact that wealthy Jewish citizens are displacing poor Arabs has made the process in this locale more fraught politically.

Property sales in Jaffa, and Ajami in particular, are often complicated by active opposition from veteran residents who claim long-time ownership of land or buildings, or say they were promised to them in one way or another. In many cases, properties on sale have been taken over by squatters, with the tender specifying that the winning bidder will bear sole responsibility for evicting them.

In one case, the winning bidder for one property discovered that the family squatting there had criminal connections and refused to leave or to enter into negotiations for compensation. It took four years of legal proceedings before the buyer was able to get back the down payment he had made, plus some minor compensation.

Even tours of properties in Jaffa do not always go smoothly. Potential buyers who come to view lots owned by Amidar, Halamish or the Israel Lands Authority often find a group of locals waiting to greet them. The encounters start with polite questions about purchasing a property – which the family then says it owns – and progresses to implied and sometimes overt threats. In some cases, “foreigners” are physically blocked from seeing the property.

Police intervention

In cases where there is a real risk of confrontation, police are invited to the location from the start, and if things escalate, their presence is significantly increased.

In addition, local activists have campaigned to end the practice of selling properties in Jaffa to the highest bidder, with the argument that local families and lower-income residents from the area should be given priority to purchase properties at lower prices. Protesters calling for such changes often stage rallies during tours of local lots.

Obviously, someone who comes to see a property – and is met with menacing stares, curses, threats and shoving, and is compelled to run a gauntlet, cleared by the police, between angry neighbors or protesters wielding megaphones, drums and trumpets – is going to conclude that building there is going to prove tricky, to say the least. The sense of insecurity will immediately dampen potential buyers’ interest and significantly dent the value of the properties that are up for sale.

Still, if you compare the Batsra Street tender with one for two adjacent lots conducted just a year earlier, you can see that Ajami is luring more and more buyers, and prices are still rising, in spite of the immense challenges.

A year ago a tender for a 160-square-meter lot attracted only three bids and the property was sold for 669,000 shekels, or about 19% less than the appraiser’s assessment of 825,000 shekels. For the second property, of 149 square meters, only four bids were submitted. It was sold for 21% more than the appraiser’s figure but, at 920,000 shekels, was about 17% less per square meter than the Batsra Street lot.

A year ago, the prices paid for those two lots seemed steep, but even in a nationwide housing market where prices are spiraling higher, the increase in their value is quite impressive, if you use the Batsra Street process as a benchmark. What has happened in Ajami?

There are several answers to this. The image of residential projects in Jaffa in general has improved greatly within the space of just a year, and actually some of the fears about confronting angry residents is apparently dissipating. Prices in Jaffa are still not high relative to Tel Aviv. Moreover, small lots for one or two homes are an attractive proposition for high-end clients who want to build their own home rather than opt for an investment. Prices in cases like that are less of an object – and they have soared accordingly.

The writer is a co-owner of Shefer-Tzruya Real Estate, which specializes in marketing lots and buildings.

Resource: http://www.haaretz.com

Why commercial real estate projects need video

Getting media attention for commercial and industrial real estate developments can be pretty tough these days.

In a world of shrinking media and mass layoffs, there are fewer and fewer news outlets writing about real estate in Canada.

Getting media coverage requires the right combination of storytelling sense, contacts and partnerships. It’s still possible, of course, but finding your story and getting it out there involves a magic formula that is always evolving.
Video now standard requirement

The latest element to help captivate audiences is video. It’s become a standard requirement in a very short period of time.

In just the past year, news outlets have come to rely on video created by the companies they profile because they don’t always have the resources or time to produce it themselves.

For them, it’s an added value to their readers to post video at the end of a story. It can also be the story in and of itself.
Lightworks garnered more than 2,500 unique views

For Vancouver-based developer, PC Urban, producing a video about their heritage industrial development, Lightworks, garnered more than 2,500 unique views and helped bolster existing public relations efforts as well as the social media campaign.

It not only provided content for the media and for social media, it also really brought the development to light in a way that’s impossible in just words. Interviews with the developer and with business leaders in the neighbourhood really served to illustrate what makes this project interesting and the changes coming to this area of Vancouver.

Another successful video example was produced for Wesgroup’s massive, new riverfront development River District. To launch the 140-acre mixed-use residential and retail neighbourhood, we invited media to a hot air balloon tour so they could see the breadth and scope of the development.
Smart City Media produced video

We got drones out and Smart City Media produced the video that was posted on many media sites, along with their experiences of riding in a hot air balloon. It was shared 2,600 times.

The drone video was so cool and fun to watch Wesgroup continued to produce a series of videos over the summer to draw people to what is a relatively unknown area of Vancouver. One of their summer event videos received more than 4,000 views. Another was featured in a video and posted on the local blog, Vancouver is Awesome.

Resource: http://renx.ca

Greybrook Realty Partners Invests $17,390,000 in a Residential Land Development Project with Cityzen Development Group and Tercot Communities in Oakville, Ontario

TORONTO, April 19, 2016 -- Greybrook Realty Partners Inc. is pleased to announce the successful deployment by its managed issuer of $17,390,000 in equity to acquire and subsequently manage the development of a parcel of land located in Oakville, Ontario. The property is co-owned with Cityzen Development Group and Tercot Communities. 

The Town of Oakville is a picturesque community known for its established neighbourhoods and the attractive range of community amenities that it offers.  Oakville is generally recognized as one of the most prestigious residential communities in Ontario and the Town’s quality of life and diverse employment base have attracted affluent residents. As a result, Oakville possesses one of the highest median household incomes in Canada.  Easily accessible by major highways and by GO train, Oakville’s proximity to Toronto has generated strong demand for residential housing. Additionally, a significant number of corporate head offices are located in Oakville, including Tim Hortons, Siemens Canada Ltd. and Ford Motor Company of Canada.

The development site is located within the planned Glenorchy neighbourhood of the New Communities of Oakville, wherein the North Oakville East and West Secondary Plans have set the ground work.  The New Communities of Oakville are expected to house 50,000 people, create nearly 35,000 jobs, and include residential, commercial, employment, institutional and natural open spaces.  Situated in Oakville’s north end, this area is one of the last remaining areas designated for residential development within the Town.  The co-owners intend to participate in Halton Region’s 2018 allocation program in order to secure their future entitlement to the required servicing and infrastructure for the project site.     

"This acquisition furthers our 2016 investment strategy to target high-quality residential properties in the low-rise market.  As demand for available developable residential land across the GTA continues to grow, the low-rise market in established areas like Oakville is expected to remain robust," said Alex Riajskikh, Director, Private Capital Markets of Greybrook Realty Partners.

The portfolio of low-rise development holdings managed by Greybrook Realty Partners includes over 700 acres of land in Southern Ontario.  The development of these properties is projected to result in the completion of nearly 4,000 single-family homes in the Greater Golden Horseshoe region.

About Greybrook Realty Partners Inc.

Greybrook Realty Partners offers investors the unique ability to partner with top-tier North American real estate developers and share in their value creation activities.  In addition, Greybrook Realty Partners provides asset management and advisory services to investors and landowners, respectively.  Greybrook Realty Partners and its affiliates have been involved in the creation, development, construction and management of over 50 real estate projects which are expected to result in the development of over 15,000 residential and commercial units.   

This news release contains forward-looking statements that are based on management’s current expectations and are subject to known and unknown uncertainties, which could cause actual results to differ from those contemplated or implied by such forward-looking statements. Greybrook is under no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements contained herein, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

Resource: http://www.econotimes.com

Ellington Properties announces 14 new projects to add over 2,200 residential units in Dubai

First project in Jumeirah Village Circle is among four developments that have already broken ground

Organisation led by Dubai property industry veterans Robert Booth and Joseph Thomas
Dubai, UAE: Ellington Properties - a Dubai-born design-led boutique property development company that develops bespoke and beautiful high-quality homes - today announced its project pipeline of 14 developments in Dubai. The new projects will add over 2,200 residential units including apartments, townhouses and villas.

The company, jointly set up by industry veterans and joint managing directors Robert Booth and Joseph Thomas, already has over 3.6 million square feet in gross floor area under design and construction. The firm undertakes the full spectrum of development services from design to construction, advisory and rental unit development.

At a media roundtable, Booth said: "Dubai has evolved as a new global city all within the space of 10 years during which over US$85 billion was invested in infrastructure projects. Simultaneously, the Emirate's population grew from 1 million in 2000 to over 2.5 million in 2015.
"The city will be home to over 3.2 million people by the time Dubai hosts the Expo 2020. The next four years will also witness an increase in the number of discerning customers who appreciate design and quality over price points. Ellington fills that space."

Booth, who has been involved with the development of several iconic projects such as Dubai Marina, Emirates Hills, Arabian Ranches and Downtown Dubai, said that Ellington was set up to develop residential projects for discerning customers who appreciate design - from first principles to last detail. Benchmarked against the world's best, the firm has drawn the best international professionals to create a company that has design in its DNA.

"The visionary foresight of the leadership will continue to drive the growth of Dubai, which will continue to flourish in every aspect," explained Booth.

He added: "According to the recent Knight Frank survey, Dubai is now ranked at number 5, up from number 7 in 2014, on the list of the most visited cities in the world. Knight Frank also ranks the city number 1 in terms of a global lifestyle review while Forbes ranks it the 7th most influential city in the world. These reflect the positive sentiment shared by people around the world about the city. Dubai will continue to attract investment in its infrastructure and real estate, and Ellington will contribute to that space through highly desired but affordably priced projects."

Ellington Properties unveiled its first project, Belgravia, in Jumeirah Village Circle which is a G+4 residential building with 181 modern one, two, and three bedroom units. The homes sit on a beautifully landscaped 100,000 square feet land, with amenities including a swimming pool, gym and indoor and outdoor kids play area. Construction will be completed in December 2016.

"We have crafted each home with great attention to details, striking a tasteful balance between classic elegance and cutting-edge design and integration," said Joseph Thomas. "These homes will set a benchmark in property development and the home warranty we offer will redefine the after-sales market.

"We are a customer-focused organisation with an eye for detail. We launch our projects for sale only after we attain significant construction milestones. This ensures complete transparency in all our operations, adding to investor confidence," added Thomas.

Ellington has three other projects that have commenced construction activity - DT1, a 17-storey tower with 130 studio, one to four bedroom apartments in Downtown Dubai; The Ellington Collection, a set of high-end luxury villas on Palm Jumeirah, and Belgravia II, a G+4 residential building with 188 modern studio, one, two and three bedroom units in Jumeirah Village Circle. All projects have broken ground with Belgravia having topped out and ready to welcome its first residents in the fourth quarter of this year.

The company has also won industry recognition with DT1 bagging the 'Best Residential High Rise' honour at the 2015 Arabian Property Awards.

Ellington has also finalised its plan for affordable rental units development programme which will see over 10,000 units being developed by 2020.

About Ellington Properties:
Founded in 2014, Ellington Properties endeavours to craft beautiful environments for exceptionally high-quality lifestyles. Inspired by art and reflective of their owners' aspirations, Ellington residences are classic in feel but contemporary of vision.

Ellington's current projects include high-rise luxury residences and multi-family communities in Dubai, located in the prestigious Downtown Dubai, Palm Jumeirah or the upcoming Jumeirah Village Circle.

Resource: https://www.zawya.com

PNB Housing raises Rs 500 cr for green residential projects

New Delhi, Apr 6 () PNB Housing Finance has raised Rs 500 crore by issuing bonds to World Bank arm IFC for funding its green residential projects.

"PNB Housing Finance has issued secured fixed rate NCDs to International Finance Corporation (IFC) to raise Rs 500 crore for funding green residential projects", the company said in a release today.

It has become the first housing finance company (HFC) to successfully issue green bonds, the company added.

The funds will be used to finance green residential projects which are certified by recognised green building certification standards, including EDGE -- certification programme developed by IFC.

"This will further give a fillip to our intent to develop a committed green lending practice in the sector for a sustained growth of green loan portfolio," said Sanjaya Gupta, Managing Director, PNB Housing.

Environment conservation is a priority area and the end users are also realising the need for creating healthier neighbourhoods, he said.

"As this fund will be exclusively used to support investments in green energy efficient buildings, the same will help reduce greenhouse emissions and to curb pollution, thus, helping us to establish a market and an ecosystem for green housing construction in India", said Jayesh Jain, Chief Financial Officer of the company.

PNB Housing has pre-approved more than 62 green projects across Delhi-NCR, Mumbai, Pune and Bengaluru among others.
The retail exposure towards green buildings is already around Rs 250 crore, the company further said. KPM SBT SA

Resource: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com

Kalpataru to develop residential project in Hyderabad

Hyderabad: Kalpataru Ltd will develop a premium residential project in Hyderabad, eight years after it bought land in the city.

The company had in 2008 bought 9.5 acres of land at Sanath Nagar, near the old Bombay highway, for Rs.80 crore. It had acquired this land from British Oxygen. It could, not, however go ahead with the projects because of the political turmoil that prevailed then.

The residential project , Kalpataru Residency, with 576 apartments will be priced at Rs.4,176 per square foot, it said on Thursday. Of the 9.5 acres it has, Kalpataru would use 5.5 acres for the project, to be ready in three years.

“We always wanted to enter Hyderabad because of the good infrastructure here. There has been a lull in the market but now the realty segment seems to be in the growth phase again,” said Narendra Lodha, director of sales and marketing at Kalpataru.

Resource: http://www.livemint.com

China to apply VAT to some residential property sales - finance ministry

China will apply value-added tax to residential properties sold less than two years after their purchase, the country's finance ministry said on Thursday.

The government will introduce a 5 percent value-added tax (VAT) on the sale of all residential property held for less than two years.

In Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen - cities which have seen some of China's fastest property price increases - capital gains on the sales of larger homes held for at least two years will be subject to a 5 percent VAT levy.
Sales of smaller homes in the four cities will not be subject to the VAT levy, according to the statement.

For the rest of the country, sales of properties held for at least two years will be exempt from VAT.

Resource: http://www.reuters.com

Why Prague residential real estate is on the rise

A potential tax change in the Czech Republic could help further boost the country’s strengthening real estate market, sector experts believe.

Much of international investor interest in Czech real estate is centred on the capital, Prague, with prime property values expected to grow until at least 2018, report the Tranio international property website.

If the Senate of the Czech Republic approves the bill submitted by the country’s Ministry of Finance, buyers will soon have to pay the real estate purchase tax that was previously the responsibility of sellers, which is likely to activate the country’s already growing market.

Last year, buyers and investors injected €2.7billion into the property market, 43% of which went into commercial property says, the Getberg Czech real estate agency.

In 2015, there was high demand for Czech residential property thanks to good economic news, with high tax revenue and European Union transfers, which has led to an all-time record budget surplus of CZK 44billion in the first three months of 2016, and all-time low interest rates on mortgages.

Last year, more than 7,000 new homes were sold (18% higher than in 2014), led by apartments and detached houses and residential sales are expected to carry on growing in 2016, says Getberg.

Affordable flats (under €1,200/square metre) have almost completely disappeared from the existing property market, mostly due to foreign investors who bought a significant number of such flats during the global financial crisis.

Russians are among leading international buyers, Anna Kurianovich, Tranio Commercial Investment Expert for overseas property broker, tells OPP.Today.

“Retail property in the Czech Republic is traditionally popular with buyers from Russia and other CIS countries. However, more recently we have seen them switch their attention to buy-to-let residential, especially flats for short-term (e.g., holiday) rentals. In 2016, we expect these buyers to reconnect with residential property in the centre of Prague for three main reasons: low market entry threshold, modest interest rates and cap rate potential.″

Ekaterina Chipera, Sales Manager at Getberg, adds, “Residential property in the capital’s centre was particularly popular with Russian and CIS buyers but now fewer of them are trying to find residential property for their own use. Most of them buy properties that they can rent out, both flats and homes alike. The average budget of clients from Russia and other CIS buying flats in Prague ranges from €100,000 to €300,000. The budget for homes starts at €350,000 and can reach €1.5million or more for prime property.”

The average price for a flat in Prague is about €2,000 per square metre and the average price for listed apartments rose by 7% year-on-year in 2015, says Sergey Akinfiev, of Tranio. One-bedroom flats made up about 40% of the total sales.

The main residential districts targeted by Prague property buyers are Prague 5 (Městská čast Praha 5), Prague 9 (Městská čast Praha 9) and Prague 10 (Městská čast Praha 10).

With demand for prime apartments exceeding supply, price are set to continue to grow consistently up to 2018 and eventually exceed the current levels by 12–15%, say analysts.

But the fact that small flats in the centre of Prague within walking distance of the main streets and big shopping centres are popular with medium budget buyers, has not been lost on developers.

This year, 6,700 new flats are due to be commissioned in Prague, a 34% rise on 2015 (5,000 units) and the highest figure since 2009, says Blanka Vačkova, Head of Research at JLL in Prague.

Resource: http://www.opp.today/

Indian residential property to attract over Rs 6,600 crore investment

Residential property in India is expected to receive $1 billion (Rs ​6652.75 crore) investment this year, given its attractive rate of returns averaging at a high of 20-22% per annum, an industry expert said on Tuesday.

"Private Equity funds in Indian real estate sector has already raised $420 million in the first two months of this year, compared to $520 million for the whole of last year," said Rubi Arya, executive vice chairman of the Mumbai-based Milestone Capital Advisors Ltd.
Mid-segment housing and affordable housing can take returns to as high as 20-22% per annum through hybrid investing, that is capital security plus equity upside, she said.

"We feel that with the Real Estate Bill mandate, availability of deals for Private Equity firms will certainly go up," she said, adding that the reforms in the real estate sector will also help further accelerate fund raising and investment opportunities both for residential and commercial sectors.

"With such positive developments, the India story is growing by leaps and bounds and it is just a matter of time when this sector begins its upward journey once again, albeit after a prolonged period of gloom," she added.

Costs on real estate construction are seeing stability with fuel prices down, which leaves developers with overall margins for positive growth. "Investors can look forward to far higher transparency and ease of doing business with developers with the recently passed real estate bill. This has led to a lot of warming up of Non Resident Indians (NRIs) and Foreign Direct Investments towards Indian real estate," she noted.

The availability of foreign capital will naturally increase with the government permitting NRI investments into domestic Alternate Investment Funds. The Real Estate Investment Trusts will soon see listings by developers and thus lifting the commercial reality market to a highly profitable investment climate, according to Arya.

Milestone manages $800 million or 25 million sq ft residential, warehousing, commercial and office spaces since it began operating as PE funding concern in 2008.

Resource: http://www.dnaindia.com

Residential property prices rise by 8% in the year to February

Residential property prices rose by 8% in February, according to new figures from the Central Statistics Office (CSO).

This is compared to the same month last year.

The growth compares to year-on-year increases of 7.6% in January and 6.6% in December.

Outside of Dublin, prices rose by 11.5% - the strongest growth rate since May 2007.

In the capital, there was a 4% rise in the 12 months, although residential property prices decreased by 0.01% in February from January.

Property prices nationally showed no change in February from the previous month, according to the figures.

House prices are now just over 35% lower than they were at peak times in 2007.

Resource: http://www.newstalk.com

Challenging Wisconsin's Residential Property Tax Assessments

May is the time to challenge property tax assessments, and April is the time to gather market data, predict tax savings from a realistic reduction, and decide whether and how far to challenge a property tax assessment.

Each tax district in Wisconsin has a Board of Review or Board of Assessors that first meets in May to hear assessment objections. Meeting dates vary by tax district, but in 2016 can be held as early as May 9 or as late as June 8. Homeowners must allow the assessor to inspect their property and must file a written objection, propose a lower assessment, and submit supporting market data 48 hours before a board’s first meeting in order to challenge an assessment.

Homeowners have a statutory right to a Board of Review hearing.1 At a hearing, a homeowner must present evidence supporting a lower assessment and will be able to question the assessor’s representative on the assessed value. The assessor can also present evidence supporting the assessed value and question the homeowner’s witnesses and evidence. The Board of Review may approve or lower the assessment.

Before any formal board process, homeowners can and should informally request a lower assessment from their assessor. Assessors expect these informal requests and many have authority to lower an assessment before a formal board meeting or can be persuaded to suggest a lower assessment to the board.

Market data is crucial for both formal and informal challenges. Assessors strive to assess property at or near fair market value and must use a hierarchy of information to value property, including: (1) recent arm’s length sales of the assessed property; (2) recent arm’s length sales of comparable property in the municipality; and, if these sources are not available, only then (3) an appraisal of the property. See State ex rel. Markarian v. City of Cudahy, 45 Wis. 2d 683, 686 (1970). Many tax districts admittedly do not have the resources to evaluate every property every year, so the goal in any formal or informal challenge is to convince the decision-maker that market data supports a lower assessment.

Homeowners should obtain either a broker opinion from a realtor or an appraisal. Appraisals are sometimes difficult to obtain due to high demand, but if the property has not undergone a substantial renovation over the previous tax year, a taxpayer can save time and money and mount a successful challenge with a broker opinion alone.

Homeowners will likely have to decide to challenge without knowing their assessment for the year. Homeowners may receive notice in mid-April to early May that their assessment has changed from the previous year, but tax districts do not have to give notice when an assessment does not change. Because the May deadline to file a formal challenge varies by district, homeowners should not wait for a notice that may never come. Instead, homeowners and their attorneys should compare market data to the previous year’s assessment in April to gauge whether to challenge their assessment by their board’s May deadline.

If the assessor and the board do not lower the assessment, homeowners have two options for review in state court, Certiorari review or de novoreview. In certiorari review, there is no trial and the court only examines the record evidence from the board hearing and defers to the board’s determination unless the assessment was unreasonable or the board acted arbitrarily. In a de novo proceeding, homeowners must pay the tax on the assessed value and ask the court to declare the assessment excessive. In ade novo proceeding, the homeowner and the assessor can submit new evidence and the court is not required to defer to the board’s decision.

Homeowners outside Milwaukee can ask the Wisconsin Department of Revenue to lower the assessment if their property is not assessed over $1,000,000. The department will confer with the assessor and the homeowner to determine whether the assessment is out of proportion with the general level of assessment of all other property in the taxation district, i.e., the property was not assessed within 10 percent of all property within the taxing district. The department can revalue the property and the homeowner will pay taxes on that value.

Whether to challenge an assessment and how far to pursue the challenge depends on market data and expected tax relief. Taxpayers should look at their assessment, the available market data, and past tax bills to predict how much tax relief to expect from a realistic reduction. The amount of relief should dictate whether and how far to challenge an assessment.

1In the city of Milwaukee, the Board of Assessors is the first formal review stage.  Hearings may be held at this stage at the discretion of the Board of Assessors, but homeowners will be able to further pursue a hearing before the Board of Review if the Board of Assessors does not lower an assessment.

Resource: http://www.natlawreview.com

Strong house prices a problem for residential property investors

The soaring house prices in recent years have also driven rental yields in both Sydney and Melbourne to record lows. And according to Moody's Investor Services, this can become a problem for investors, as "the net costs involved in servicing a housing investment have increased relative to household incomes, making investment properties less affordable."

This eventually increases the risk for Australian residential property investors and residential mortgage-backed securities. It has also increased the level of cash flow losses suffered by residential property investors over the past three years as it made investors dependent on house appreciation to cover their investment losses.

"Investors in Sydney houses require 39.6 per cent of net household income to service their investment properties, while Melbourne house investors require 26.5 per cent, both record highs," Moody's said. This leads to an increase in risks and default probability for residential property investors.

This is the reason why the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) clamped down the growth of investment lending in 2015. The concentration of the Australian big four banks on housing loans was troubling the banking regulator.

"It is a significant issue of concern to us that close to two-thirds of [the big four banks'] balance sheets are exposed to property, mainly housing loans," said Charles Littrell, APRA's executive general manager of supervision and support.

According to Moody's, investment loans lent during the height of the lending boom in 2015 and 2015 are going to perform relatively poorly compared to those issued in other years. It might also mean that the performance of investment loans across the entire banking sector is bound to deteriorate in 2016 and 2017.

With interest rates at their lowest for more than 50 years, there are some great rates available. The best thing to do is to compare rates from all the lenders.

Resource: http://www.yourmortgage.com.au

Manara to showcase residential, logistics projects

Bahrain-based Manara Developments Company is set to launch a unique range of its properties at the Gulf Property Show 2016, the boutique showcase for real estate and property developments which opens this month in Bahrain.

The event is being organised by Hilal Conferences and Exhibitions (HCE) under the patronage of HRH Prince Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa, the Prime Minister of Bahrain, from April 26 to 28 at the Bahrain International Exhibition and Convention Centre.

On the upcoming show, managing director Dr Hasan Al Bastaki said: "Manara's participation as a strategic partner in this real estate event, portrays its commitment to the real estate sector, as this exhibition, which achieved a growth of up to 70 per cent from 2013, is an annual opportunity for industry players, as well as prospective owners to meet and address the industry’s latest developments and trends."

Dr Al Bastaki said Manara will exhibit three major residential projects one of which is a mixed-use development “Hasabi” project offering breathtaking seafront views. 

Also at the expo, Manara aims to introduce a new sales phase of its Investment Gateway – Bahrain project that offers opportunities for ownership for Bahraini as well as non-Bahraini companies and individuals, a feature that makes the project, and the kingdom an ideal base for a wide array of light industry and logistical support on both the local and regional level.

Launched two years back, Investment Gateway – Bahrain is a major initiative by the company to encourage and support investments in the kingdom, with a particular focus on foreign investments.

In addition, amongst the projects that will be showcased at the exhibition, include Kenaz Al Bahrain featuring 64 residential units spread over eight four-floor apartment buildings, in addition to Wahati, a subproject of Wahat Al Muharraq that was initially introduced over three phases since 2011, offering a total of 227 villas of various sizes and designs and targeted at middle-income earners.

According to him, the project offers apartments that were specifically designed to meet the requirements of modern Bahraini families while maintaining the common trend towards vertical expansion to address the scarcity of land and thus serving a greater population within the available space and yet meeting the needs and requirements of young Bahraini families.

Dr Al Bastaki said Manara was amongst the first companies to join the partnership with the Ministry of Housing more than two years ago in line with the leadership’s directives towards the national social housing strategy.

Through this partnership, Manara extended its support towards the efforts of the Ministry of Housing in providing appropriately priced housing to suit the modern family’s needs and achieve social stability.-TradeArabia News Service

Resource: http://tradearabia.com