News

Top 10 milestones in the last 71 years of Indian real estate

• August 17, 2018

The real estate market of India has exhibited a remarkable transformation since the past 71 years of the country’s independence. There has been a conspicuous increase in the population residing in urban centres, and subsequently, the cities have expanded to a considerable extent in the last many years. While the role of the government in shaping up the real estate market is imperative, there are still myriads of factors that have contributed to the augmentation of the industry in India.

Given that real estate is a thriving market across the world, all countries have continually tried to infuse transparency in the sector through technology and regulations. The Indian real estate, too, has evolved by leaps and bounds over the last few decades. As the country progresses towards the completion of 71 years of its independence, we bring to you the top 10 milestones that have had a long-lasting impact on the real estate market of India.

• 1952 and 1960: Formation of the capital cities of Chandigarh and Gandhinagar, the occasion being marked as the rarest instance of planning new cities in the country
• 1960’s: Incorporation of the town planning and development plans under the Maharashtra Regional and Town Planning Act, 1966 and issuance of guidelines for district planning in 1969
• 1970’s: Witnessed the government’s move to set up institutions such as Housing and Urban Development Company; Industrial Development Corporation, National Housing Bank (NHB) and many others with an intent to strengthen the residential industry
• 1991: Marked the liberalisation of the economy through reforms which consequently led to the creation of new job opportunities in the market and gave way for the entrance of multinationals into the country
• 1994-1999: The property prices witnessed an upsurge owing to NRIs and foreign capital. However, the market abated after 1995 due to certain inefficiencies
• 2000 onwards: Witnessed an escalation in shopping malls with the concept of organised retail being introduced to the citizens through Spencer Plaza in Chennai
• 2005:Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in real estate opened up neoteric ways of funding which further led to a sudden increase in the investment and development activities in the subsequent years
• 2006: The restructuring and modernisation of airports received a green flag from the government which further led to the introduction of airport cities and airport precinct real estate
• 2008: Exhibited the collapse of Lehman Brothers, leaving a great impact on the commercial reality
• 2015: Launch of Smart City mission andPradhan Mantri Awas Yojana
• 2016: The demonetisation move cracked a whip on the unaccounted money parked in real estate
• 2017: Introduction of Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act, 2016 [RERA] to weed out the unscrupulous developers and protect the homebuyers to a further extent; and implementation of Goods and Services Tax (GST) subsuming the multiple taxes prevalent in real estate

THE IMPACT OF RERA AND GST

RERA and GST were two major reforms that infused transparency into the Indian real estate market. While the introduction of GST made sure that the real estate industry was not embroiled in disputes or ambiguity in provisions due to multiple taxations, the introduction of RERA enhanced transparency and accountability into the sector. And while the former intends to benefit both the developers and the buyers by instituting uniformity in prices, the latter provides a sigh of relief to the customers aggrieved by the increasing fraudulent activities and delayed project completion.

TECHNOLOGY HAS INDEED COME A LONG WAY!

While there are a plethora of reasons behind the transition of Indian real estate, technology still continues to be a major catalyst driving the change. Not only the construction industry but also the marketing and the sales; a lot has changed over the years when it comes to technology being used in the real estate sector. Smart houses, virtual reality (VR’s), drones on site, video walkthroughs, construction technology and online portals are all examples to prove that the induction of technology in real estate has immensely helped the industry to expand further.

WHAT IS EXPECTED IN THE YEARS TO COME?

As seen above, the Indian real estate industry has undergone a drastic transformation since the day of independence. Here are a few emerging trends that we think will be prevalent, even in the days to come:

• With the introduction of RERA, the smaller players in the market are left with no choice but to disintegrate or consolidate with some of the reputed names in the market.
• A persistent rise has been seen in the co-working culture which we presume will continue further.
• Technology will keep on shaping the reality market, similar to the past few years.
• The real estate sector has expanded substantially, making way for fresh opportunities in the market. This is further expected to proliferate in the years to come.