Carrefour Plans to come up with 4-5 Retail Stores in India by end-2010

Carrefour, the world’s second largest retailer, has secured four properties in four cities across India and plans to set up 4 to 5 cash-and-carry stores by the end of 2010.
The French retail giant has signed for properties averaging about 100,000 square feet each in New Delhi, Bangalore, Chennai and Hyderabad and is in the process of signing up a fifth property in Mumbai.

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Investors Taking Interest in Real Estate Sector

Real estate financing in India has changed significantly over the past 50 years for both developers and buyers. Real estate developers have seen the universe of funding agencies expanding from unorganised moneylenders to the entire gamut of funding sources, including loans from banks and housing finance institutions (HFIs), private equity, public equity offerings, bonds, and debentures. Buyers have seen the shift from own resource-funded home purchases to bank-funded mortgage finance.

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Ten-fold Increase in SBI’s Loan Limit

State Bank of India (SBI) will increase by ten-fold its loan limit to individuals planning to buy land to build a house as the country’s largest lender makes a greater push into the housing segment. The bank has finalised a proposal under which it will lend Rs 10 crore for buying land for housing against the earlier cap of Rs 1 crore.

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Future Real Estate Agents Have a Reason To Smile

RE/MAX a forerunner in realty sector providing management solutions for their Indian operations announced on Monday, May 3 that they are going to open an advanced Real Estate Management platform in the country. For this they have entered in partnership with Gryphtech a major provider of enterprise software applications, solutions and services.

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April 24th is going to be a significant milestone for Marg, as today is the launch of Savithanjali…

Here’s the half page ad scheduled to get published in leading dailies today, announcing the grand launch of Savithanjali project.

Smart homes changing way of life in urban India

Homes have become microcosms of what luxury hotspots outside have to offer. The buzzwords in Indian homes are greater technological awareness, finer aesthetics and heightened concern for the environment. Read Full Article

Tax sops good for home buyers

Expectations of some rollback in stimulus measures as the economy is growing at a good rate. For those waiting for a trigger, it is the push to go for a home now. As the growth forecasts for the economy hover around the eight percent mark, job security is gaining ground. The budget has an emphasis on promoting housing, aimed at boosting affordable housing. Read Full Article

Commercial real estate outlook optimistic

With a shortfall in demand and liquidity crunch, ‘affordable housing’ gained importance and the focus of even commercial realtors took a shift. The research report, called ‘The Second Coming’, says that major office markets in India will revive by second quarter ( April – June ), 2010.  Read Full Article

RBI plans two real estate indices

RBI’s initiative to regulate residential property prices will reinforce the housing sector. The report has recommended that the RBI should compile real estate price index on quarterly intervals. Read Full Article

Affordable Homes : Is Government serious?

Are our policy planners and key stakeholders of realty sector serious about providing affordable homes to lakhs of Indians? But when we talk about affordable homes, we must ask — affordable for whom? Is it affordable for those earning Rs 8,500 to Rs 40,000 per month.  Read Full Article

Builders, politicians cheer affordable homes in India

Political parties of all hues have seized on affordable homes as a vote getter in the ongoing general elections. Affordable housing is “seriously undersupplied” in India, according to a Goldman Sachs report. More than 30 million units are needed because of growing urbanization. Read Full Article