By Varun Singh

Kohinoor Group a real estate firm has bought a 32 acre land parcel in Pune.

The seller of the land is another developer Goel Ganga group.

According to a report the estimated price cost of the land parcel is between ₹180-195 crore.

Anarock Property Consultants carried out the deal.

The land parcel, sold by Goel Ganga Group to Kohinoor Group, has an overall development potential of approx. 4 million square feet.

On the residential front, the planned project will mainly cater to mid-segment home buyers, with units priced in the ‘sweet spot’ budget range of ₹55-80 lakh.

Shobhit Agarwal, MD & CEO – Capital Markets, ANAROCK Group, says, “We are happy to have enabled this timely land transaction between two of Pune’s most prominent real estate players. Real estate development in Pune is on a sustained upswing, driven by the city’s resilient IT sector and increased demand for homeownership amid the new pandemic realities.Wagholi is a hotbed of residential and commercial real estate activity.”

The land parcel is located in Wagholi. Wagholi, located along the Pune-Ahmednagar highway, benefits from multiple growth drivers. It draws direct spillover demand from other major residential and commercial hubs like Kharadi, Hadapsar, Magarpatta city, Koregaon Park, and the nearby industrial zones of Ranjangaon and Shikrapur. It has well-developed social infrastructure and is patronized by IT professionals and industrial employees. The highest demand in this area is for mid-range and premium housing options.

Vineet Goyal, Jt. MD – Kohinoor Group, says, “Kohinoor Group Pune confirms purchase of 32 acres in Pune’s upcoming IT hub of new Kharadi (Wagholi) to develop a premium residential and IT office project along with a reputed school and lifestyle amenities.Wagholi is the perfect location for the project we will develop there, since it has a IT-driven clientele looking for superior offerings with state-of-the-art facilities and amenities.”

Also Read: ARKADE Group acquires Mulund land for Rs 90 Cr

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By Varun Singh

Land is still the most precious resource amid rapid urbanization and quite a lot of this finite resource changed hands across the top cities during the pandemic. ANAROCK data indicates that many developers and entities sealed around 45 separate land deals cumulatively accounting for over 1,757 acres of area across the top 7 cities between Q3 2020 and November 2021.

Of the total transacted land area, approx. 69% or 1,205 acres are proposed to be developed into multiple residential projects across these cities. The total development potential of these deals works out to at least 45-50 Mn sq. ft. of residential area.

As many as 28 residential land deals were closed across the cities in the last year:

• Land-starved MMR saw 11 land deals involving 768 acres of area – a 64% share of the total 1,205 acres of planned residential development across the top cities
• NCR came a distant second with 4 separate deals accounting for 12% of the total land deals with approx. 150 acres earmarked for development. This includes 3 deals for a total of 77 acres in Gurugram, and one deal for over 73 acres in Noida
• Kolkata saw 2 separate deals for over 92 acres of land on a joint development agreement (JDA) basis
• Hyderabad witnessed 2 separate land deals for a total of 78 acres
• Bengaluru saw 5 separate deals for a total of 59 acres earmarked for residential development, Pune saw 3 deals for approx. 42 acres, and Chennai saw 1 deal for 16+ acres.

The top developers who bought land parcels for residential developments include Godrej Properties, Sunteck Realty, Ashiana Housing, Mahindra LifeSpaces, M3M Group, and Runwal Developers.

“The last 7-8 months before COVID-19 (March 2020) saw limited land deals as the real estate industry was grappling with liquidity issues at the time,” says Santhosh Kumar, Vice Chairman – ANAROCK Group. “Then COVID-19 brought the sector to a virtual standstill for 3-4 months. For about a year, developers preferred to either service their debts or complete previously-launched projects.”

“However, from Q3 2020, activity resumed and several landowners who previously held fast to their land put their holdings up for sale. Resultantly, some prominent deals took place in the last one year, at more or less the same price points as the previous year. Many developers with the financial wherewithal saw this period as opportune to secure good land parcels in key micro-markets across the top 7 cities.”

Top Land Deals Across Cities

Proposed Developments – Other Segments

Besides proposed residential developments, industrial, commercial, data centres, and retail also saw land acquired for development:

• Out of the total of 45 land deals for over 1,757 acres, at least six deals for 411 acres of land are earmarked for a logistics & industrial park and township. Of this, two deals for over 275 acres were closed in Gurugram, followed by two deals in Chennai for over 83 acres, and one each in Howrah and MMR for 31 acres and 22 acres, respectively
• For mixed-use developments, three land deals for over 58 acres were closed – one each in MMR, Chennai and Gurugram
• At least five deals for at least 44 acres were closed for commercial developments in Bengaluru (3) and MMR (2). The details for one of these deals have not been disclosed
• At least 30 acres are proposed to be utilized for data centres in Navi Mumbai
• Approx. 9 acres have been earmarked for two separate retail developments

Also Read: MMR Saw 16,510 Launches in Q3 of 2021, 140% Increase from Q2

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By Varun Singh

The latest second COVID-19 wave coupled with extended WFH (for many firms until October) may further prolong office leasing recovery in India. In fact, leasing volumes had plunged by 30-35% by Q1 2021 says a report by Anarock Property Consultants.

However, the prospects of commercial office leasing for 2022 is positive, going by the recent-past hiring trends of large IT/ITeS firms which will spur office space demand.

“The top four Indian IT/ITeS firms TCS, Infosys, HCL and Wipro – alone hired approx. 42,000 employees in the first nine months of FY 2021. Also, multinational majors Cognizant and Capgemini hired nearly 39,500 employees in CY 2020, with bulk hiring plans for CY 2021. They plan to hire about 23,000 and 30,000 employees respectively in CY 2021. Many other IT firms are on a hiring spree amid acceleration in their overall business post the pandemic.”

Prashant Thakur, Director & Head – Research, ANAROCK Property Consultants

This bodes well for overall office space demand in 2022 and 2023, with the gradual return of normalcy coupled with the newly added workforce. The IT/ITeS sectors are among the prime drivers of overall leasing activity in the top cities. Bulk hiring by these firms will influence the demand for large quality office spaces.

Despite increased flexibility and rostered work timings, firms will need to adopt de-densification measures to accommodate the new social distancing norms and increased health measures. This is expected to increase per-employee space requirements from 80 sq. ft. space during pre-pandemic times to at least 120-130 sq. ft. per employee post COVID-19.

Many IT majors are now focusing on getting at least a certain segment of employees back into offices. This is indicative of the inherent shortfalls of the work-from-home options – data security concerns, employee burnout due to work stretching beyond normal working hours at home, diluted focus and motivation, and compromised team collaboration.

Facebook, Microsoft and Uber have strongly indicated that they expect such a return migration to begin by May 2021. While Google and Microsoft will prefer hybrid work models going forward, these firms also take health norms very seriously. Given the fact that COVID-19 will not be eradicated for a long time (if ever), social distancing will become a more or less permanent feature in future workplaces. 

Prashant Thakur, Director & Head – Research, ANAROCK Property Consultants says, “That said, despite the vaccination drive across other countries, the rising cases in the second or potentially third wave is a cause of concern. Many European countries have again gone into complete lockdown; this may adversely impact commercial leasing in India over the short-term. International business travel has also not resumed.”

Overall leasing in India will therefore remain lacklustre in 2021. The anticipation of a partial lockdown in some of the bigger cities will also cause commercial leasing to walk a tightrope this year.

Nevertheless, the energetic bulk hiring activity by major IT/ITeS companies to fulfil surging work orders during the pandemic presents a potentially more upbeat picture for office leasing in 2022 and beyond. These firms have a healthy pipeline for the current year, as well:

• TCS hired around 21,000 employees in the first 9 months of FY 2021: the third quarter recording the highest ever
• Infosys hired nearly 7,000 employees in the same period too.
• Wipro hired almost 7,500 employees in the same period.
• HCL hired approx. 6,500 employees in first three quarters of FY21.
• Cognizant hired >17,000 employees in CY2020 and plans to hire >23,000 employees in CY2021
• Capgemini plans to hire ~30,000 employees in 2021; 25% increase from last year

Also Read: Amidst Pandemic: Office rental grew by 2% in H1 2020

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By Varun Singh

The nation wide lockdown, has impacted the real estate industry severely. The number of new launches, and even units sold has drastically reduced in the second quarter (Q2) of of 2020.

Mumbai Metropolitan Region, which comprises of a major chunk of real estate in the country, saw a severe downfall in sales and new launches.

According to ANAROCK Property Consultants, no new launches in MMR were recorded in the Q2 of 2020.

The situation was same in NCR, Hyderabad and Chennai in Q2 2020, with no new launches.

Bengaluru added approx. 590 units (in 2 projects) in Q2 2020, witnessing a yearly decline of 95% and quarterly by 93%.

Pune added approx. 750 units (in only one project) in Q2 2020 compared to 10,700 units in Q2 2019 and 7,800 units in Q1 2020 – a drop of 93% and 90% respectively.

Kolkata added only one project consisting of approx. 50 units in Q2 2020, declining by 98% on y-o-y basis and 95% over Q1 2020.

Anuj Puri, Chairman – ANAROCK Property Consultants says, “A massive drop in both new launches and housing sales were, of course, expected on the back of a complete lockdown for most of this quarter (Q2).”

MMR saw a major drop even in sales, it stood at 3,620 in Q2 2020, compared to 13,910 units sold in Q1 2020. A drastic drop of 74%.

Sales in Hyderabad decreased by 85% in a year – from 4,430 units in Q2 2019 to 660 units in Q2 2020. On a quarterly basis, sales declined by 75%. The city saw sales of approx. 2,680 in Q1 2020.

Pune and Kolkata witnessed a 79% yearly decline each, and a almost 70% quarterly decrease each in Q2 2020. Pune sold 2160 units and Kolkata 730 units in Q2 2020.

Approx. 2,990 units were sold in Bengaluru in Q2 2020, against 13,150 units a year ago and 8,630 units in the preceding quarter of Q1 2020. The y-o-y decline was 77% and Q-o-Q was 65%.

Puri added, “Interestingly, MMR – one of the most COVID-19-affected cities – witnessed maximum housing sales of nearly 3,620 units among all cities, followed by Bengaluru with approx. 2,990 units. Technology adoption has played a big role in housing sales of late, with many developers now strengthening their digital sales capabilities.”

Things do not look good for the sector, even when the first half of 2020 is compared with he second half of 2019.

In H1 of 2020 only 17,530 units were sold in MMR. The figure was 35,500 in H2 of 2019, a clear 51% drop in sales in H1 2020.

In H1 of 2019, the number of units sold in MMR stood at 45,370. When compared with H1 2020 it was a 61% drop.

Even new launches in the first half of 2020 in MMR declined, it came down to 10,490 units compared to 28,100 launched in H2 of 2019. A drop of 54%.

All the new launches in the first half of 2020 in MMR are from Q1 2020, as there were no launches in Q2 2020.

Also Read: Registration revenue in Mumbai touch Rs 179 Cr mark highest in 3 months

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