7 November 2012
Update
Real Estate
MCHI Expo highlights: Surge in launches led by easing of approvals
Mumbai poised for sales uptick over 2HFY13, but no sign of price correction
We attended the 20th Mumbai Property Expo, organized by the Maharashtra Chamber of
Housing Industry (MCHI). Interestingly, this Expo was held after a hiatus of 12 months (instead of
the normal frequency of 6 months), indicative of the prolonged lull in Mumbai real estate sector
with very few new launches owing to approval hurdles and regulatory uncertainties. We surveyed
50-60 projects and interacted with lenders to get a sense on new launches, buyers' interest and
available freebies/discounts to update our views on the Mumbai market.
Our key takeaways
Early signs of market revival:
Higher participation by developers, surge in offered projects, and uptick in new launches are
key positives, signifying improvement in approval process.
Basic "unaffordability" continues:
Quoted prices are up 15-25% YoY; completion premium is at ~20%; Festive discount is
limited. In sum, price-based affordability is yet to improve.
25-75bp reduction in mortgage rates:
Competitive mortgage rates are down 25-75bp; Waivers are on offer.
Immediate price correction unlikely:
Very few projects are on ready possession; average 6-12 month delay in old projects;
completion skewed towards FY15 or later - a harbinger of no immediate price correction.
Higher developers' participation a key positive surprise
Spillover impact was visible with strong participation of over 120 developers v/s
usual participation of 60-80 developers in last two Expos.
Along with developers, there were almost 20 banks and housing finance
companies including SBI, HDFC, Citi, Axis, and LIC Housing Finance.
Some prominent developers were conspicuous by their absence: Oberoi Realty,
DB Realty, Indiabulls Real Estate, Ackruti City to name a few.
There is a sharp increase in projects offered outside Mumbai as well, possibly to
tap investors' demand.
Spurt in fresh projects after a lull of 12 months; suggests easing approval
hurdles
A sizable number of new launches were visible along with strong marketing of
various upcoming projects to gauge buyer interest. It bolsters our expectation of
improvement in approval process post adoption of new DCR (Development
Control Rules) by developers. Still, some projects on offer had approvals pending
for 6-8 months.
Even as projects were widely distributed across locations, we found higher number
of new launches and upcoming projects in Western and Central suburbs along
with Thane.
While fresh projects would offer much-awaited options to the home buyers, given
the launch pipeline (based on our market survey), we sense a potential surge in
supply in a few locations like Goregaon, Malad, Andheri, Mulund, and Thane. This
should lead to possible pressure on prevailing prices in these micro-markets going
ahead, if demand remain sub-optimal.
Sandipan Pal
(Sandipan.Pal@MotilalOswal.com); +9122 3982 5436
Investors are advised to refer through disclosures made at the end of the Research Report.