Development of new connectivity can add immense value to an area. It not only provides opportunity to the developers to do more business but it also provides new options to end users. Best of all, it helps in containing the price rise of real estate in the main districts of a town.

The newly built bridge over Hindon river near sectors 121 and 119 in noida has reduced the distance of Greater Noida Sectors 1 and 4 from main noida to almost half. Because of the bridge, noida’s connectivity has improved so much that the new area is termed as noida extension. Since then a number of developers in the area have launched apartments in the price range of Rs 9 lakh for 1BHK apartment to Rs 15 lakh for a 2BHK and Rs18 lakh for 3 BHK.

The distance of sector 1 and sector 4 of greator noida, where a number of townships are being developed, has reduced to about 11km from main market place, sector 18 in noida, because of the bridge. Earlier, the distance from sector 18 to the place was around 18km. The distance from main commercial centers like sectors 61 and sectors 62 too has come down to around 8km from the earlier 14km.

The new bridge has also added value to Crossings Republik, a township on around 350 acres of land being developed by a consortium of around 10 developers. In this township, a number of projects are near completion and possessions are likely to be given to the buyers in the next couple of months.

Before the construction of this bridge, one had to travel to reach areas via NH 24. Not only is the distance via NH 24 longer, but NH 24 also remains congested most of the time, and as a result homebuyers were reluctant to purchase these apartments in these areas.

The National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) is planning to expand NH 24 to six lanes, which will further improve the connectivity to the trans- Hindon area. But the implementation will take time.

The new bridge on Hindon has come up on a 130 meter-wide connectivity road from South Delhi via a bridge over Yamuna at Kalindi Kunj.

If this road is completed and NH 24 is six laned, the connectivity to this whole area to delhi and Ghaziabad will further improve. The Crossings Republik, which is also just across the river, will be hugely benefited because  of this new connectivity.

The prices currently being quoted are simply atrocious. From a time, not too long ago, when people talked about loans of Rs 10 lakh to Rs 50 lakh, today the average loan size is substantially higher.

A simple 2-bedroom house in Malad can cost up to Rs 1.2 crore (including stamp duty and registration charges). This is the price that sellers expect, but this does not mean they are actually getting it. The cost of a similar flat 4 years ago was close to Rs 30 lakh.

The entire real estate boom took off in 2003 on the back of very low interest rates and low prices. However, the situation has changed now with realty prices going up 3-4 times, while interest rates are 60-70% higher. Incomes have certainly not grown four-fold in the past four years. Today, even if you are earning Rs 25 lakh annually, it is extremely difficult to buy a 2-bedroom house in the suburbs.

Even if you make a down payment of Rs 20 lakh, you will still end up borrowing close to Rs 1 crore. This would mean an EMI of close to Rs 1 lakh per month. So, after tax and EMIs, a person with Rs 25 lakh gross income will be left with just Rs 5-6 lakh as disposable income for lifestyle and living expenses. Once you take EPF contributions, you will just be left with Rs 4 lakh annually.

Lifestyle inflation (driving a car, visiting malls, eating out & entertainment), which is much higher than normal living expenses, eats up a significant portion of one’s income. Hence, it is just not possible even for someone earning Rs 30 lakh to service an EMI of Rs 1 lakh every month. Even if you do manage to do it, you will be left with no savings.

Real estate prices, though location-specific, have been witnessing a slowdown in demand. One might argue that luxury accommodations might not be impacted by this. However, there is a visible slowdown in real estate and prices are down on an average by 10-15% in places like Mumbai.

Unlike the stock market, there is no index for the real estate market and no price-discovery mechanism. In fact, the price discovery is very subjective and identical properties in the same building can go for two different prices. If one had a real estate index, it would have had given details on number of transactions.

There have been several reports of builders borrowing at very high interest rates and some defaulting on their interest payouts. In fact, real estate stocks have been hammered the most and the basic assumptions on which their landbanks were valued are a matter of debate now.

Speculators have started to exit since late last year and investors trying to exit now are unable to get the price they could dictate some time back. With rising interest rates, demand should come down. However, location still rules and some premium commercial property could still fetch good money.

Not that it is any indicator, but if you look at the price-to-rent ratio (PR Ratio) similar to PE ratio, one can clearly see that the prices are in the bubble territory.

Since there are no margin calls in the realty space, the holding capacity of an investment can be substantially higher than a leveraged exposure in stock market, where margin calls have to be attended immediately. Hence, real estate prices generally do not fall drastically.

Small builders are cash-starved and are not getting into new projects. This is the case with mid-size developers. However, big builders with access to IPO funds and PE funds can wait for an extended period of time before cutting prices.

One can clearly see that the discounts offered in the form of stamp duty waivers or furnishings are nothing but a desperate attempt to get end-users.

Like in the stock market, it pays to be patient in the real estate market too. For realty market to sustain itself there should be a steady inflow of end-users. Speculators and investors can only take it to a certain level. End-users can only come when prices are affordable and for that at least 30% correction is a must.

She lost ownership of the land she purchased after the state government confirmed the transaction as unlawful. The state government has officially taken over the 11,000 sq ft of land that Rani bought in 2005. The actress was reportedly unaware that it was farmland and could not be sold. She had bought the plot in the name of her father.

She had paid 1, 32,000 for registration without grasping that the plot belonged to the government. The land had been leased to a farmer by the government. The leased land changed hands twice after that, before it was divided into seventeen plots and sold to different people, together with the actress.

The original owner of the land was a farmer who, with the permission of the government had started a brick kiln, in 1981. However, property prices of the area appreciated enormously since then, so then he started selling the land in small piece.

On the proposed development of the Jawahar Nagar region, situated to the north of Hyderabad, the HUDA officials explained to the Chief Minister that the township would provide four lakh direct and indirect jobs and would attract 40 percent of the population from other areas after completion. The presence of reputed institutions such as BITS Pilani, lakes and resorts would be an added advantage, they said. The proposed township would come up on 2,118 hectares.