The real estate sector is going through a significant shift as technology continues to grow at an unheard-of rate. Technology is transforming how we purchase, sell, and manage real estate, from virtual home tours to blockchain-based property transactions.

Virtual and augmented reality (VR and AR) utilization is one of the most significant ways technology is influencing the market. With the aid of these technologies, prospective buyers may virtually tour homes and even alter the décor and layout in real time. In addition to saving time and money on travel, this enables buyers to get a better idea of what a property would look like before paying a physical visit.

The application of machine learning and artificial intelligence (AI) is another way that technology is changing the sector. These tools can examine vast amounts of data to spot patterns and forecast future market circumstances. This can assist real estate professionals in making better-informed choices regarding the purchase, sale, and investment of real estate.

Blockchain technology is also being utilized to simplify real estate transactions and improve transparency. With blockchain, the danger of fraud and mistakes throughout the purchasing and selling process can be reduced because property ownership can be documented and monitored in a safe and tamper-proof digital ledger.

The ability to remotely operate and monitor a home from a smartphone is another benefit of the growing popularity of smart home technologies. Everything from voice-activated assistants and energy-efficient appliances to smart thermostats and security systems can be categorized under this technology. Future trends are anticipated to see an increase in the use of smart home technologies as more buyers place a higher priority on sustainability and energy efficiency.

In general, technology is transforming the real estate sector, making it more accessible, transparent, and efficient than ever. We may anticipate many more changes in the way we purchase, sell, and manage real estate as these technologies advance and expand.

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Bangalore, 21 September 2022 – CapitaLand Hope Foundation (CHF), the philanthropic arm of CapitaLand Group, has launched its second CapitaLand Hope School in Bangalore, India to provide more than 400 children from underserved families with access to education.  CHF has contributed INR 50 million towards the construction of the school, which is the 31^st of the CapitaLand Hope Schools which span across India, China, and Vietnam.  Through the schools, CHF aims to provide children with a holistic education for a better start in life.

Located in Krishnarajapuram, Bangalore, the 20,000-square foot Government Kannada and English Medium Higher Primary School comprises eight classrooms, a staff room, a multi-purpose room, a playground, a kitchen, a sick room, library, computer and science laboratories, art & crafts room, and lavatories.  

CapitaLand staff volunteers and partners collaborated and built the school over a one-year period.  CapitaLand staff from International Tech Park Bangalore provided their real estate expertise to Karnataka Education Department including designing and managing the development of the school. Indian contemporary artist Madhuri Umashankar designed The Hope Wall which was unveiled at a ceremony for the handover of the school on 19 September 2022. 

CHF also partnered with an international non-profit organization, Room to Read, to set up the school library with materials to improve literacy amongst the children.  This is the 14^th library that CHF has established with Room to Read since they launched libraries across Bangalore to benefit some 2,000 children in March 2022.

 Mr. Gauri Nagabhushanam, Chief Executive Officer, India Business Park, CapitaLand Investment said: “We are extremely proud to complete our second Hope School in Bangalore to help over 400 children and their immediate families.  We are passionate about education and have contributed over INR 100 million to develop three schools, two in Bangalore and an upcoming school in Pune.  We take an active role in setting up the schools and continue to engage the children as well as contribute in various ways including donating various items and organizing activities for them.  It is extremely heartening to be able to reach out and touch the lives of the communities as we grow our business in India.”

Mr. D R Ramamurthy, Block Education Officer, South – 4, Krishnarajapuram, Bangalore said: “On behalf of the education department, we would like to extend our sincere thanks to CapitaLand Hope Foundation for building this state-of-the-art school in Krishnarajapuram for students from underserved families. These modern facilities are unmatched by any school across Bangalore and will immensely help our long-standing need to have this school and ‘Guru Bhavana’ (education office) in East Taluk. With deep appreciation and gratitude, we acknowledge CHF’s contributions towards the children and society, and we would like to continue collaborating with them for great work in the future.”

 CapitaLand #GivingAsOne campaign

CapitaLand is distributing 2,500 school kits to the CapitaLand Hope School in Mahadevpura as well as children across Bangalore, Chennai, Hyderabad, and Pune as part of its #GivingAsOne campaign.  Each kit contains a notebook, a geometry set, a pen, a pencil, and a dictionary.  Held from September to October this year, #GivingAsOne brings CapitaLand staff and partners together to do good by uplifting the lives of vulnerable groups and supporting the environment in communities where CapitaLand operates.  Staff is also rallied to pen messages of hope and encouragement through #Pen4Hope for children and seniors in  Singapore, China, India, Malaysia, and Vietnam.  CHF will donate INR 1,100 for every message and volunteer hour contributed.  Other than the distribution of the school kits, CapitaLand will be unveiling the upcoming hope school in Pune.

 Mr. Tan Seng Chai, Chief Corporate and People Officer of CapitaLand Investment and Executive Director of CHF, said: “As a socially responsible company, CapitaLand is committed to contributing to the environmental and social well-being of our communities.  To provide a conducive learning environment and improve children’s access to education, we have helped to build 31 schools benefitting over 28,000 children in China, Vietnam, and India since 2005.  We also support seniors and conservation efforts through various programs.  Through our annual #GivingAsOne campaign, we galvanize our staff and partners to come together to give back as it is through collective action that we can truly make a positive and meaningful impact in the communities.”

 About CapitaLand Hope Foundation (www.capitalandhopefoundation.com)

CapitaLand Hope Foundation, the philanthropic arm of CapitaLand Group, was established in 2005. As a registered charity and grantmaker, the Foundation aims to nurture and inspire the young, improve the quality of life of seniors, and protect the environment for future generations, with a focus on communities where CapitaLand operates. Going beyond donations, the Foundation also advocates volunteerism as an integral part of building a caring and inclusive community.

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Sector Performance in 2021

 The Covid-19 pandemic was a massive heat blow to the industry, where everything started displacing and changed the way homebuyers think now. The government of India along with the governments of respective States took several initiatives to encourage development in the sector. Their approach towards tackling the economy amidst the pandemic has been one of the finest. The various policy reforms along with the all-time low housing loan rates have given the much-required fillip to sales activity in the last few quarters for the real estate sector. The industry was quick to respond to the changes and adjust to new advances in the past few months.

The pandemic has also contributed to the recent boom in home buying, in part due to the ability many employees now have to work from home and to health concerns, which encourages city dwellers mostly renters to look for more spacious residences in areas with lower population density. One of the trends that really caught up the eye of the developers was the demand for second homes. There is an inclination towards a healthy lifestyle that has been a catalyst in accelerating the demand for holiday homes or second homes. Consumers are willing to permanently shift their interest by considering their second homes as primary homes due to the new normal of WFH scenario and enhanced connectivity along with state-of-the-art amenities to rejuvenate and relax in tranquility. Homebuyers are also looking for bigger, greener properties in urban communities with proximity to their workplaces. Healthy and energy-efficient homes are also gaining traction amongst the new-age buyers. The historically low interest rate, the lucrative festive offers accompanied by flexible payment options and better consumer awareness made the festive season the best of the decade this year.

Outlook for 2022

 The Indian housing market is expected to recover completely next year. The trend of demand remaining buoyant can be attributed to several factors like low-interest rates, an overall improvement in the job market, resumed economic activity, and an increasing desire to own physical assets during times of unprecedented uncertainty. With the vaccination drive gaining significant momentum and the spread of COVID-19 in better control, 2022 will very likely emerge better than before. The residential sector has emerged as a major beneficiary this year which is likely to continue in the upcoming year. It will also be the year for developers to optimize cost, despite increasing input prices, in most segments of real estate development and to ensure buyers’ affordability of owning a home.

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Mr. Pritam Chivukula, Co-Founder & Director, Tridhaatu Realty and Hon. Secretary, CREDAI MCHI.

“We welcome the RBI’s decision to continue with their accommodative stance keeping in mind the economic uncertainty due to the new COVID-19 variant Omicron. The low interest rates have been a crucial factor in the revival of the demand in the real estate sector. The sector saw a good festive season on the back of rock-bottom interest rates on home loans along with festive offers from good developers. The buyers are already coming back to the market and we feel that this might be the last opportunity for the homebuyers to purchase property with low interest rates before RBI decides to hike it in their next policy announcement. Also, to keep the prices down on the account of rise in raw materials prices will be a huge challenge in front of the developers.”

Ms. Shraddha Kedia-Agarwal, Director, Transcon Developers.

“RBI maintaining status quo on key policy rates was expected given the inflationary concerns in recent months. The decision will help to sustain liquidity for some period amid the rising fear due to the new Omicron variant of Covid-19. The low interest rates for the last few months has already given a boost to the real estate sector upticking the demand in the last few quarters and enhancing the confidence of the homebuyers. The decision will also help in sustaining economic stability as well as keep the real estate sector stay afloat during these unprecedented times.”

Mr. Kaushal Agarwal – Chairman, The Guardians Real Estate Advisory.

“The RBI and the MPC’s decision to maintain an accommodative stance amid global scare due to new coronavirus variant Omicron was very much expected. Their approach towards tackling the situation created by the pandemic and steps taken to help revive the economy will go down in history as being one of the finest. The various policy reforms along with the all-time low housing loan rates have given the much-required fillip to sales activity in the last few quarters. The all-time low rates regime has boosted the housing demand and helped the economy to get back to the pre-COVID levels.”

Mr. Bhushan Nemlekar, Director, Sumit Woods Limited.

“The RBI’s decision to maintain its accommodative stance was on the expected lines in light of the rising cases due to the Covid-19 new variant Omicron and its potential to cause the on-going economic recovery to stumble. The prevailing low home loan rates are already enticing for homebuyers which has immensely benefited the real estate sector. The Government will continue taking affirmative measures as long as it is necessary to revive the economy and alleviate the Covid-19 impact.”

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Mumbai – December 13, 2021: Smartworks, India’s leading Enterprise-focused Managed office space provider, today announced the launch of its new venture, Smartworks Technology Services. The new venture aims to launch a Building Operating Platform and Workspace Management SaaS product targeted at landlords and organizations globally, centered on new workplace management and experience models.

The Workplace Management SaaS product will integrate Technology with flexibility, safety, privacy and security while prioritizing employee health, well-being and productivity. The Building Operating Platform will allow landlords to manage their office assets more efficiently and sustainably. The company has also announced the appointment of Anuj Nangpal as the Chief Executive Officer to head this new venture. He will also serve as Chief Information Officer, Smartworks and will oversee digital transformation for business growth. Anuj joins Smartworks Technology Services from a US$ 100 Mn global fund investing in Proptech – JLL Spark and has over two decades of experience in Real Estate Technology, Venture Capital, Corporate Strategy and Mergers & Acquisitions.

With Smartworks Technology services’ suite of solutions, companies can seamlessly manage their office space by improving speed, productivity and operational efficiencies. The offerings will enable enterprises to make faster and smarter data-based real estate decisions such as space allocation, optimization and utilization, and transformation of their employees’ overall office experience. The cloud platform will integrate all the siloed Technology and applications used to run buildings and empower the building owners to make predictive interventions, enhancing the efficiency of the building and the experience of the tenants.

On the announcement, Neetish Sarda, Founder Smartworks, said, “Technology has been at the core of our managed offices since our inception and will now serve as a key enabler towards spearheading our enterprise-focused workspace solutions to the next level of growth. We are excited to step into new business horizons and offer these SaaS platforms to organisations globally to manage all their real estate needs. Built in-house for improved performance and efficiency, our 400+ clients are already benefiting from these technology solutions. Additionally, these SaaS solutions have also been sold to external enterprise clients.”

On his appointment, Anuj Nangpal, CEO, Smartworks Technology Services, said, “I am excited to join the Smartworks team and look forward to working closely with a talented team. As a leader in the managed office space, Smartworks has built a profitable business model that is redefining the future of work. Uniquely positioned to capitalize on the changing workspace dynamics, we aim to build on the company’s existing strengths while identifying new opportunities for growth and innovation.”

As a leader in Managed office space and proven track record of successfully creating a digital ecosystem in its spaces, Smartworks, with approx. 5 Mn sq. ft. area under management has been setting the tone for flexible workplaces in terms of configured offices, interactive designs to amenities, to member experience through its digital ecosystem.

With this launch, Smartworks has also elevated Nitiraj Shekhawat, Vice-President, Technology, to the Chief Technology Officer of Smartworks Technology Services in addition to his existing responsibilities.

The company also plans to hire over 100 employees in the next two years. The technology company is currently hiring various experience levels and roles in UI/UX, Full-stack developers, BI, React, DBA and product managers.

About Smartworks:-Smartworks is India’s largest provider of flexible workspaces, with a footprint of approx. 5 million sq. ft. across 32+ locations in 9 cities (Delhi-NCR, Kolkata, Bengaluru, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Chennai and Pune) and caters to more than 400 organizations across Fortune 500 companies, large enterprises, SMEs and established unicorns/startups. Founded in April 2016 by Neetish Sarda and Harsh Binani, Smartworks is redefining the Indian office experience by leveraging its robust physidigital platform to deliver tastefully designed, fully serviced, tech-enabled, flexible and affordable workspaces. The seamless blending of the physical and digital platform provides a superior customer experience. It enables both enterprises and their employees to access a host of products and services delivered conveniently at the workspace. Central to this ambition is the company’s motto, ‘Workspaces that work for you, with the vision of creating the perfect environment for enterprises to focus on their core work while ensuring their employees are happy and productive.

For more information, log in to www.smartworksoffice.com

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Mr. Kaushal Agarwal, Chairman, The Guardians Real Estate Advisory

 

“Even though the sudden and initial impact of demonetization over the economy was severe and real estate was the worst hit sector. However, today I feel that it was a much-calculated move by the government to streamline the economy and bring transparency in key sectors. It has helped the sector to consolidate the market, it brought a level playing field for the organised and transparent entities. It has prevented the inflow of black money and nearly wiped-out the unorganised players. More importantly, it has paved the path for corporate and listed companies to expand and grow, which in other cases was tilted in favour of local and unorganised players.

 

Demonetization has also increased the awareness about digital payments and online transactions amongst the home buyers. This has drastically helped the sector to eradicate the age-old menace of illicit transactions and dubious sales. In a nutshell, Demonetization along with RERA has made the sector more organized, transparent, and robust which appears to me as the stepping stones towards attaining the much-awaited industry status for Real Estate.”

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When searching for a home, home buyers consider the interest rate of the home loan the most. In the last one year, home loan interest rate has come down to a 15-year low of 6.6 per cent. At such low rates, home loan interest rates seem attractive even to a casual observer. Therefore, this may be a good time for those wishing to buy a home to benefit from a lower interest rate. Apart from this, competing banks and HFCs (Housing Finance Corporations) also offer incentives to borrowers. For example, an additional rebate strategy is adopted for those applying online, first-time borrowers and affordable home buyers. However, we are living in unprecedented times against the backdrop of the Corona epidemic, which has severely affected people’s livelihoods and salaries. So before taking advantage of low interest rates, consider the possibilities before taking a loan blindly for your dream home.

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MHADA Lottery 2021
MHADA is a housing scheme released by the Housing and Area Development Authority, Government of Maharashtra for the people of the state. Desired applicants can apply for the scheme under four categories economically weaker section, the lower-income group (LIG), the Middle-income group (MIG), and the High-income group (HIG) category. Registration of flat will be done by online & offline both process. The Maharashtra government also wants to give out a huge number of apartment transversely state observations of MHADA in the upcoming years and the size of these flats will be good in size. Maharashtra government schedule to build 30 million reasonable houses for the weaker segment of the society created by state government authorities.

Eligibility for MHADA Lottery 2021
The applicant should be at least 18 years old.
The applicant should have a Domicile Certificate, proving that s/he has stayed for 15 continuous years in Maharashtra.
Income proof for the financial year (average monthly income, excluding reimbursable allowances like transport, medical, laundry allowance, etc.): Economically Weaker Section (EWS) – up to Rs 25,000; Middle-Income Group (MIG) – Rs 50,001 to Rs 75,000; Lower-Income Group (LIG) – Rs 25,001 to Rs 50,000; High-Income Group (HIG) – Rs 75,001 and above.
The applicant should have a PAN card.

Documents required for MHADA Lottery 2021
PAN card
Aadhaar card
Cancelled cheque
Domicile certificate
Driving licence
Passport photos
Birth certificate
Applicant’s contact details

Steps for applying for the MHADA Lottery 2021
=> Log on to the MHADA Lottery website.
=> Once the username is created, you can login again to apply online. After logging in, you would be able to see the schemes that are presently available. You can select MHADA Lottery from the option and feed in the personal details, such as income group, reservation category and applicant type.
=> Once you have applied online, you need to pay the application fee. You can make the payment through demand draft or online through debit card, credit card or NEFT/RTGS.

How to check winner’s list
Applicants can check the list of previous winners on https://lottery.mhada.gov.in/OnlineApplication/Mumbai/.

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Q 1: How do you assess the present state of real estate in the Post-Covid period?

Ans: Like the rest of the economy, real estate too has shown a fast recovery, especially in the third quarter of the current financial year. The trend line for the residential segment is definitely positive as indications emerge from the banks sanctioning new home loans. Some of the private sector banks have reported good numbers in new home loans. The demand is more visible for the ready-to-move flats in the big metros. The markets of Hyderabad, Bengaluru are indicative of sharper recovery.

When it comes to the overall health of the sector, it is improving for sure, but it would take time for the full recovery and would still require certain imperatives like pick up in hiring, restoration of salary rationalization etc.

Q 2: Government has announced several measures for providing relief to the real estate sector. Are you satisfied with these measures?

Ans: In the Finance Act of 2020, the safe harbor of five per cent on the real estate transaction valuation , as per the circle rate of a state, was  increased to 10 per cent. Under the Aatma Nirbhar Bharat initiative, this leeway has been significantly raised to 20 per cent, providing a big relief to the home buyers. On the other hand, it would lead to pick – up in demand, helping the real estate developers clear their unsold inventory. While this facility is for the primary sale of residential flats up to value of Rs 2 crore, the dispensation is good enough to cover bulk of the unsold inventory in the National Capital Region, Pune, Chennai, Hyderabad, Bengaluru , Navi Mumbai and even in Mumbai (in micro markets like Thane).

Q 3: What other announcements have the potential to bring about vibrancy in the real estate sector?

Ans: As much as Rs13,200 crore has been sanctioned under the Stress Fund for the real estate sector. As per the government data, 135 stalled projects would qualify for this amount, helping in completion of 87,000 stalled residential flats. This should be a major relief for home buyers and morale booster for the sector.

Q 4: What about the PM Awaas Yojana?

Ans: This particular flagship  scheme stands out as a major success story for the lower income groups and the units with smaller ticket size. Moreover, announcement of additional Rs18,000 crore, over and above the Budget outlay of Rs 8,000 crore would provide speed to the affordable housing projects. In the bargain, employment generation in construction would get a boost while sectors like steel and cement would be major beneficiaries. We have already seen pricing power returning to the steel sector.

Q 5: How hopeful ASSOCHAM is for recovery in economic activities? 

Ans: Barring a few sectors like hospitality , entertainment, civil aviation , the pace of recovery is being witnessed in most of the sectors like automobile, housing, fertilizer, chemicals, pharmaceuticals and overall manufacturing. 

Agriculture , in any case, never remained stalled helping the rural economy to be leading the bounce-back.

While the health crisis is being taken head on by the people of the country and we owe a sense of gratitude to doctors, nurses and all other health workers, we have managed the economic recovery well.

The government , under the resolute leadership of Prime Minister Mr Narendra Modi, has remained steadfast on speeding up path-breaking reforms in agriculture, defense and  labor. Production linked incentives for 13 sectors in all, with a Rs 2 lakh crore support would have a major multiplier effect in boosting manufacturing in India.   

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