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While the <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/Heres-why-Budget-2016-is-crucial-for-the-real-estate-sector/articleshow/50835775.cms">Real Estate sector</a> is facing a slug in the market, the scenario is a little bit different for online players. Despite realty sales being the slowest in the past two years, the online <keyword id="6354553" type="COMPANY" weightage="100" keywordseo="real-estate">real estate</keyword> sector has attracted a whooping investment of $250 million or Rs, 1600 crores. Consolidation of the market has been the main reason behind its growth. In the last one year we saw the merger of CommonFloor and Quickr and acquisition of Makaan.com by PropTiger. 
 The online game is played mainly by two players, investors like 99 acres, <keyword id="2501463" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Magic-bricks">Magic Bricks</keyword> and Housing.com and transaction players like <keyword id="3241608" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Squareyards">Squareyards</keyword>. In the last two years, while classified players struggled to find a good monetisation model, the whole value shifted to the transaction sites. 
 
“Last year we actually grew more than 225%,” said Vivek Agarwal, Principal Partner, Squareyards.com who acquired three companies in the last few years. 
 
Challenges 
 
1. Cost of property is skyrocketing due ever increasing tax limits. 
 
2. Lack of any uniform GSP forces the online portal to provide separate provisions for each state. 
 
3. The usage of technology is limited. 
 
“Most of the work is done manually and hence becomes cumbersome for online portals,” said Sudarshan Purohit, CEO and co-founder of Zenify.in, online real estate player. 
 
4. The sector is not corporatized yet. It is still dominated by small players. 
 
“The first thing we are expecting is to gain an industry status,” said Vivek. 
 
5. While building, too many clearances need to be done which are often delayed and not transparent. 
 
Expectations 
 
1. “One of the things that we are looking forward is more exemption in the housing loan limit,” said Agarwal of Squareyards. Right now we get certain part of our housing loan exempted from taxes but the way costs have moved up, the small part has become insignificant now. 
 
2. Also, the housing loan exemption is not applicable for the units which are under construction. But looking at these companies’ customers’ profiles, we will see most of them invested in construction property but they can’t take the exemption till the property is actually constructed. 
 
“We want this exemption to be extended to construction property also,” said Vivek. 
 
3. They certainly hope that Real Estate Regulatory Bill is passed. Once that bill is passed it will open many doors for the online real estate sector. The builder will then have to put online all the details with the regulatory authority like the license status, land acquisition status, details of environment clearance etc. 
 
“Things will become more organised. When the information estimation goes away, the information will become structured structured. Hence, portals can put all the information online from where a customer will get all the details with a single click,” he said. 
 
4. Most of the demand on the online portals is from the <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/Budget-2016-Why-rental-housing-is-the-next-big-thing-in-the-realty-sector/articleshow/50931836.cms">budget and affordable segment</a> which ranges from 20 lakhs to 70 lakhs. Once this government pushes ‘<a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/Housing-for-All-Budget-2016-expectations/articleshow/50901695.cms">Housing for all by 2022</a>’, the online sector will get a major boost. This will also attract NRIs to invest in India. As a consequence, the online sector will grow at a breakneck speed for these portals are the major source of information for the buyers abroad. 
 
“We sold about 780 units in the affordable segment in three weeks in Bangalore, most in the range of 20 lakhs. The customers were both from India and abroad,” said Vivek. 
 
5. “We expect more investment in Technology of this sector, about 1 billion,” said Sudarshan. 
 
6. More transparency in the process of getting clearances, <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/Budget-2016-Impact-of-FDI-in-real-estate-sector-and-future-expectations/articleshow/50866872.cms">relaxation of FDI norms</a>, <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/Budget-2016-One-of-Indias-biggest-realtor-Surendra-Hiranandani-says-the-sector-needs-Industry-status-to-survive/articleshow/50929511.cms">'industry' status</a> and passage of regulatory bills are the other things they expect from this budget to cash in the most from the available opportunities. 
 
(Image credits: indiatimes)

Budget 2016: Online players want government to push ‘Housing For All’

New Delhi, Feb 6 () Property brokerage firm Square Yards, which is backed by Anil Ambani-led Reliance Group, has acquired Mumbai-based rental platform Azuro as part of its expansion plan, a top company official said. Founded in 2016 by IIT Bombay alumni Altaf Ahmad, Sushant Kumar, Sudhanshu Mishra, Ayush Agrawal and Vishal Chauthmal, Azuro offers rental and property management solutions. It helps in finding a tenant, background checks, automated rent collection, property maintenance and tenant exits. The entire team of Azuro, including its co-founders, have joined Square Yards and will continue to operate under the larger umbrella with the same brand name. Square Yards founder and CEO Tanuj Shori said, "Square Yards is building an integrated intermediary ecosystem for the real estate industry and this requires the best of technology and talent. Azuro's innovative approach in grabbing market share in the large rentals and property management sector gives us opportunity to add synergies to the current value chain." "Both rentals and property management are multi-billion opportunities, but currently under-served in India. We will look forward to scaling this business in India and further globally in countries like UAE, Canada and Australia where we have a significant presence," he added. Azuro co-founder Ahmad said the company aims to catalyse the next phase of growth by leveraging Square Yards' platform using its reach, operational resources, and the consumer platform squareyards.com. Azuro has been backed by Kae Capital, Mumbai Angels, White Unicorn ventures, who will now join the cap table of Square Yards after the acquisition. Gaurav Chaturvedi, Partner at Kae Capital, said the unification is aimed at capturing a big opportunity in the O2O (offline to online) real estate services market. In India, about USD 32 billion (about Rs 2.27 lakh crore) of rent transactions take place annually and the brokerage opportunity of USD 3 billion (about Rs 21,300 crore) is expected to grow further as more consumers are inclining towards shared economy from asset ownership models. With the impending roll out of the Model Tenancy Act, 2019, Square Yards said there are bright chances for the rental housing market to not only get regulated but also ripe for disruption through the use of technology. In September, Square Yards raised USD 25 million (around Rs 175 crore) through preferential issue of equity shares to investors, including Times Group. The company has so far raised USD 50 million in equity and over USD 25 million in debt financing since its inception in 2014. Anil Ambani-led Reliance Group's private equity arm had invested USD 12 million in Square Yards in November 2016. The Gurugram-based company had clocked a revenue of Rs 220 crore in the 2018-19 financial year. It reported a 56 per cent growth in revenue at Rs 75.5 crore for the second quarter of this fiscal. MJH RVK

Square Yards acquires rental & property management firm Azuro

On 26th May, Modi Govt. completed its two years. As usual the media &amp; the opinion building apparatus across the nation is fraught with volleys of views, swinging from far left to the right. While his supporters are showering praises, the band of distractors are not keeping any stone unturned in denouncing his tenure. 
 Getting into this tedious debate is not we are interested in- but as a leading <keyword id="6354553" type="COMPANY" weightage="80" keywordseo="real-estate">real estate</keyword> advisory, the fact cannot be denied that last 24 months have seen some really remarkable policy level initiatives, that once realized holds the capacity of entailing significant changes on the coordinates of Indian <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=real+estate&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">real estate</a>. 
 
So here is the Snapshot of some of the major policy level changes proposed by the Modi Govt. in last 2 years &amp; how is it going to impact the Indian <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=real+estate&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">real estate</a> industry. 
 
Smart City: The Dream Vision of Building 100 Smart Cities 
 
The Proposal: As a vision of ushering India into a new era of urbanization induced growth, the Govt. has proposed to build 100 smart cities in India. Through the deployment of wide scale technologies &amp; innovations, the project will involve integrated townships, <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=infrastructure&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">infrastructure</a> upgradation, transparent e-governance &amp; better utilities. The smart cities will also encompass business clusters &amp; Special Economic Zones (SEZ) to stimulate investment &amp; employment opportunities. 
 
Present Status: The list of 98 cities is declared. Out of which 33 urban cities, have been successfully chosen over two rounds, that will start receiving govt. seed funding. The govt. has so far allocated around INR 48,000 crores as seed funding. Rest of the funding will be raised from private sector, municipal level tax &amp; revenue collection &amp; various foreign equity funds that are interested in investing -Betting on the economic potential of India. If successfully implemented, the mammoth project won’t just enhance the standards of living in Indian cities but would be great boost to the real estate industry &amp; <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=urban+infrastructure&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">urban infrastructure</a>. 
 
Housing for All by 2022 
 
The Proposal: As a part of its commitment towards sustainable urban living &amp; growth, Modi govt. has proposed to build houses for Economically Weaker Section (EWS) &amp; Lower Income Group (LIG). The initiative, that will provide interest subsidies &amp; financial aid, envisions to build around 110 million individual units by 2022, the 75th anniversary of Indian independence. 
 
Present Status: The plan will have both urban as well as rural component. Recently the government has announced to build nearly 30 million units in the rural areas. The total expense for building the 1st 10 million units will involve a cost of INR 82,000 crores, out of which around INR 68,000 crores will be incurred from budgetary allocations. Along with govt., many leading private sector enterprises are also jumping the bandwagon. Housing for All is expected to generate a lot of demand for economical cost efficient housing in India in the coming time. 
 
REITS: Enabling Retail Investment in the Indian Commercial Sector 
 
The Proposal: Through <keyword id="162545" type="COMPANY" weightage="60" keywordseo="Real-Estate-Investment-Trust">Real Estate Investment Trust</keyword> (REIT), small investors can invest into income generating commercial real estate units. REITs are expected to provide a safe &amp; diversified investment option for Indian investors. Likewise, it will open an alternate capital raising channel for Indian <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=commercial+real+estate&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">commercial real estate</a> segment. 
 
Present Status: Government has been taking policy initiatives to expedite the process of implementation of REITs in the Indian market. In the latest budget, REITs have been made insulated from the Dividend Distribution Tax, thereby clearing a significant tax hurdle. 
 
Real Estate Regulatory Act 
 
The Proposal: With an objective of bringing in more transparency into the overall Indian real estate industry, Modi govt. has proposed a string of regulations in the form of Real Estate Regulation Act. The act makes it mandatory for the developer to share all the relevant information regarding projects with the Real Estate Regulatory Act (RERA). It also stipulates that developers should park 70% of their cash inflow in a separate bank account to ensure better linkage between cash inflows &amp; project construction. The act will also make developers liable for any delay in construction. 
 
Present Status: The bill has been passed in the Rajya Sabha. In subsequent stage, the state governments need to draft their own versions based on the Center’s guidelines. The act will result into a major paradigm shift with strong emphasis on safeguarding buyer’s interest. It should also ideally boost buyer’s confidence. 
 
In addition, there has been various other host of initiatives that the govt. has undertaken to directly &amp; indirectly boost the real estate industry. There been a series of repo rate cuts to smoothen the mortgage environment. Similarly, the government has been taking up slew of infrastructure boosting initiatives that post realization will make a significant impact towards urban living standards. 
 
Interestingly what sets the present govt. apart is the strong emphasis on urbanization &amp; deployment of housing as a mean but not an end product. In case of previous governments, the focus was more on overall economic prosperity with home affordability being a by-product. In case Modi govt., there has been an attempt towards transforming urban development &amp; housing industry as an engine of economic growth &amp; prosperity by putting focus directly on them. 
 
All these initiatives if done in tandem cannot only pump up the real estate industry but also energize the overall economy by stimulating a range of related sectors such as cement, steel, infrastructure, home finance &amp; many more. 
 
(The article has been authored by Mr. Hitesh Singla, Principal Partner, Squareyards) 
 
<a href="http://blogs.economictimes.indiatimes.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/modi-reuters.jpg">Image Source</a>

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Budget 2016: Online players want government to push ‘Housing For All’

Usha Rani Das

Square Yards acquires rental & property management firm Azuro

PTI

2 Years of Modi Govt. and Indian Real Estate Industry

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