Bengaluru's Embassy Group partners with Amazon to power smart homes

As it marks its entry into the premium-affordable housing segment, Bengaluru-based real estate giant Embassy Group is turning to technology to woo customers in an effort to offer a truly differentiated experience from its rivals.
The company is dabbling with the idea of smart homes and has roped in Amazon to fit every apartment in its upcoming Embassy Edge project in North Bengaluru with Echo smart speakers and accompanying smart devices.
Homeowners will be able to control lights and appliances with their voice and will even be able to remotely monitor their homes through Amazon’s service. The project will have a little over 800 homes and will be completed in the next four years.
“Being the first in real estate to bring this integration of voice-enabled homes in India, we believe that this will revolutionize the residential sector. We will be replicating this concept in our other residential projects across micro markets,” said Jitu Virwani, Chairman and Managing Director, Embassy Group.
Virwani’s idea is that the company needs to do something different to modernise homes for the tech savvy buyers especially in a city like Bengaluru. The Embassy Edge project which will offer 1 to 3 bhk apartments at a cost ranging from Rs 3.6 million to Rs 8.1 million will largely target buyers working in the city’s IT and ITeS sectors.

Realty shares in focus; Sobha, Kolte-Patil, Puravankara touch 52-wk high

STOCK MARKET - Shares of real estate companies were trading higher by up to 14% on the BSE in an otherwise subdued market in noon deal trade on expectation of uptick in residential new sales in ensuing quarters across key markets.

Sunteck Realty, Sobha, Kolte-Patil Developers, Unitech and Puravankara were up 5% to 14% on the BSE. The S&P BSE Realty index up 1% as compared to 0.19% decline in the benchmark S&P BSE Sensex at 12:40 PM.

Kolte-Patil Developers, Puravankara and Sobha were trading at their respective 52-week highs while NBCC (India), Delta Corp and Sunteck Realty hit record highs on the BSE in intra-day trade on Monday.

Sobha hit a fresh 52-week high of Rs 553 today rallied 41% in past 10-trading days, after the company announced Q2 pre-sales numbers. The company said that it achieved new sales value of Rs 593 crore in July- September quarter (Q2FY18) was the highest in the past 10 quarters. The real estate developer had reported sales value of Rs 518 crore in the same quarter last fiscal.

“With the onset of RERA and GST, we are already witnessing an increase in customer confidence and an improved market sentiment. We believe that credible players are likely to gain ground and unorganised players will be pushed out and we will witness consolidation in the sector,” Vikas Oberoi, Chairman & Managing Director, Oberoi Realty said while announcing Q2 results on October 16, 2017.

According to analyst at Edelweiss Securities, the key uncertainties (RERA & GST) appear to have largely settled. Despite near‐term sluggishness, we expect uptick in residential new sales in ensuing quarters across key markets.

Even Donald Trump building isn't immune to India's real estate woes

Latest Business News - After trying for four months to sell his apartment in a western suburb of Mumbai, Meher Verma decided to cut the price by 10 per cent. With property demand plummeting in the wake of November’s sudden ban on high-denomination notes, he’s not sure the reduction will do the trick.

“I was hoping to sell my house soon,” said Verma, who put his two-bedroom property in Andheri on the market for $400,000 in September. “Now it looks like I might have to cut my price or wait much longer for the market to improve.”

Real estate has long been a place where Indians have parked cash, often using money on which taxes haven’t been paid. Now, with the crackdown on so-called black money and the underground economy, real estate is taking a hit. The rate of home sales has fallen by about half since the government acted in early November, according to an estimate from Khushru Jijina, managing director of Piramal Fund Management. Home prices may decline 20 per cent and land prices could plummet as much as 25 per cent, according to analysts’ projections. 

“Those who were looking to buy property as an investment vanished overnight from the market after the cash ban,” said Aubrey Carvallo, a Mumbai broker who has never seen demand in Mumbai so low in his two decades of working in the industry. He’s been unsuccessfully seeking buyers for eight apartments with prices starting at Rs 1.5 crore. “They are thinking of moving to stock markets and other financial assets, as real estate prices are set to correct in the coming years with the government crackdown on unaccounted money.”(Read More)

Unharmed by demonetisation, real estate sector to bounce back in 2017

Latest Business News - After demonetisation, the fillip given to the affordable housing sector, coupled with remonetisation which is again bringing cash, as well as the hope of lower interest rates, would all help the sector see returns.

According to experts, there is a high possibility of prices softening in sub-markets or precincts away from city centres and which have seen a lot of housing supply in recent years. For example, in the Mumbai metropolitan region, precincts such as Vasai-Virar, Palghar, Kalyan-Dombivli, Shilphata and upcoming locations around Panvel have a lot of supply.

“Tier-II and III cities, especially those driven by business communities, such as Jaipur, Surat, Indore, etc, will see a higher impact of demonetisation and easing in land prices in the medium to long term. Certain projects in Kolkata’s northern sub-market might witness price reduction in the next three-four quarters. Vacant land in the north of Kolkata would see easing of prices in the next one year,” said JLL India recently.

Though rating company Fitch has said property developers' sales would come down by 20-30% in 2017, and their leverage positions go up, many believe home sales are bouncing back. These were at a near-standstill in November as as people stood in queues to deposit old notes and withdraw money. The secondary property market and luxury home market were hit hardest, as the cash component was high in these segments.(Read more)