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[ad_1] Real estate is one of the key pillars of Indian economy contributing around 8% to 9% to the overall GDP. Almost two years after the outbreak of COVID-19, the sector is coming to terms with the way the pandemic has rewritten every expectation of how people live, work, and interact. Consumer mindsets have undergone a dramatic change and brought segments like affordable housing and mid-segment homes into the forefront. Besides residential and commercial real estate, warehousing, co-working spaces, and data centers have also gained a lot of traction in recent years and is also likely to be in focus in 2022. “The government must acknowledge the important role played by the sector and make deep policy reforms to accelerate growth in realty demand. It is expected that Union Budget 2022 will play a supportive and enabling role,” says Bijay Agarwal, MD, Sattva Group. Holistically, the current industry scenario has made real estate development costlier, and it is challenging to manage the cost and the funding thereof, from time to time. Hence, few changes in GST become imperative for creating a positive impact on all real estate asset classes. “The mandatory changes expected from the Budget 2022 are waiving of GST on Transfer Development Rights (TDRs) (both government allotted and privately purchased) and Joint Development Agreements (JDAs), new provisions for encouraging rental housing, ease of tax holiday provisions, and cost definitions in Affordable Housing, single-window clearances, input tax GST credit for commercial real estate and additional interest rate deduction on home loans. We are also hoping to see some relaxation in provisions for REITs in commercial real estate and reduction of the income tax burden on long-term capital gains,” adds Agarwal. Hit hard by the pandemic, the real estate sector is looking for a forward-thinking Union Budget that focuses on bolstering the sector’s role in India’s economic growth and making the realty market more appealing to investors and customers. “Low home loan interest rates, as well as customer-friendly schemes and initiatives, have clearly benefited the sector’s expansion in 2021, and we expect that future announcements and measures will have a beneficial long-term impact. It is critical that the government considers expanding income tax benefits in order to make it more lucrative. We also expect the administration to respond to calls for a single-window clearance system. The necessity for an online single window clearance is urgent, as it would speed up the multiple approval procedure. An online single window clearance solution is urgently needed also to increase system transparency. We are optimistic that the government would shape its policy actions to promote real estate demand even further this year,” says Santosh Agarwal, CFO and Executive Director, Alpha Corp. Increase in tax benefits to boost home loan affordability is among the top budget wishes of developers. “Real estate buyers are looking forward to an increase in the tax rebates. India is a country of young people. 66% of the young Indian population – below 35 years of age — are emerging as young millennial borrowers of home loans. It is also true that the home loan market is driven by young borrowers within the age group of 26-35 years – about 25% — and also by people in the age group of 36-45 years – about 28%. These are all active home-loan audiences and jointly account for 53% of annual originations. The average ticket size of a home loan of young borrowers has continued to increase over the last 5 years, with a CAGR of 6.2%. The ticket size continues to increase more for women than men. The cumulative active home-loan base of these borrowers has continuously grown over the last 3 years at a CAGR of 3.5%. The demand towards investments in real estate from these young millennials will only increase with the relaxation in taxes and rebates by the government in the Union Budget 2022,” says Pankaj Bansal, Director, M3M India. Developers say despite severe healthcare infrastructure constrains, the government geared up to combat the pandemic with proactive measures in line with global approaches. They, therefore, believe that the Union Budget 2022 will be pivotal in defining the way forward for the Indian economy amid the ongoing third wave of the Covid pandemic. “We expect this budget to be a reformist and pro-growth as the last year’s budget. There were numerous announcements for the infrastructure sector last year and that need to be sustained. However, there is a need for some substantial measures for the real estate sector to create multiplier effects because the real estate segment creates jobs and growth in multiple. A single step of increase in the tax-free limit on the interest paid on home loans under Section 24 from the current Rs 2 lakh to 100% of interest paid for three years will be the biggest booster this industry can expect. This one step will see the surge in liquidity, investment and sentiments all of which our industry needs now more than ever,” says Vivek Singhal, CEO, Smartworld Developers. Shashank Vashishtha, Executive Director, eXp India, says, “The Union Budget 2022 is expected to give new impetus to the real estate sector and uplift various industries. The challenges of the pandemic are still in place and to sustain growth, the government should bank on policies and measures that attract foreign investments and accelerate capital inflow. To encourage the potential buyers who are willing to go ahead with their purchase decision this year, the government should give tax reliefs on home loans and also focus on tax slabs reconsideration and a single-window clearance system. This will encourage buyers and sellers and boost the momentum for sustainable economic growth.” Fast-tracking infrastructure redevelopment projects will give a boost to the economy and also help the government achieve its aim of making India a $5-trillion economy by 2025. “As we enter the New Year, we look optimistically at new growth prospects for the Indian real estate sector. The challenges faced due to the disruptions during the unprecedented pandemic have given way to

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[ad_1] Share Market News Today | Sensex, Nifty, Share Prices LIVE: Dalal Street benchmark indices opened with losses on Friday morning amid weak global cues. S&P BSE Sensex tanked over 700 points or 1.25% in the opening minutes of trade to sit near 58,700 while NSE Nifty 50 was down below 17,550, support zone. Bank Nifty dived more than 1.6% and broader markets mirrored the falls. India VIX skyrocketed 10% to regain 19 levels. Power Grid and Hindustan Unilever were the only two Sensex stocks in gains. Bajaj Finserv was down 3% as the top drag, followed by Tech Mahindra, and Dr Reddy’s. [ad_2] Source link

[ad_1] The National Association of Realtors reported that existing home sales for December came in as a miss of estimates at 6.18 million. This number is in line with my sales range for 2021 of 5.84 million to 6.2 million, but a tad higher than my existing home sales range for 2022, which is between 5.74 million and 6.16 million. From NAR: In the last few months of the year, existing home sales have been outperforming my sales ranges noticeably, and I talked about how sales could moderate, but mortgage demand ended 2021 on a solid note. As I have stressed for many years, years 2020-2024 would differ from what we saw from 2008-2019 due to demographics. More Americans bought homes in 2020 and 2021 than any single year from 2008 to 2019, which looks normal. I have never been a housing sales boom person because I don’t believe we can have a credit boom in America like we saw from 2002 to 2005. However, total home sales — new and existing — during 2020-2024 should be 6.2 million and higher, and so far, two out of five years have checked that box. This is something that couldn’t have happened from 2008 to 2019. The only thing that can drive total home sales below 6.2 million is if home prices accelerate above my five-year cumulative growth rate of 23% and mortgage rates rise. The downside for housing is that my five-year price growth model has been broken in just two years. I stressed early in 2021 that people should have been more concerned about home prices overheating in 2021 than a forbearance market crash. Still, we live in a society where professional doomsday grifting is how adults want to be remembered. The housing bubble boys of 2012-2020 turned into the forbearance crash bros of 2021 and have been nothing but an epic disaster in their forecast, which has now ended with the lost decade of bad housing calls. The concern in 2021 should have always been priced overheating, not crashing back to 2012 levels.  As you can see below from the charts the NAR has provided, the housing crash of 2021 never occurred. The exact opposite did, however. When people ask why it seems like I’m rooting for higher rates, the truth is that I believe in balance, and once the balance breaks above a trend, the faster it gets back to trend, the better. In 2021, I didn’t discuss the possibility of my crucial level on the 10-year yield breaking above 1.94%. Instead, I focused more on the range mentioned on April 7, 2020 as part of the America’s back recovery model of 1.33%-1.60%, which for the most part was created. However, 2022 is different, and if global yields can rise together, we have a shot at breaking over 1.94% and sending mortgage rates over 4%. However, still today, even with the hottest economic and inflation data in decades, the 10-year yield as of this minute is at 1.83%. In my 2022 forecast, my range for the 10-year yield was 0.62%-1.94%, similar to 2021. Accordingly, my upper-end range for mortgage rates is 3.375%-3.625% and the lower end range is 2.375%-2.50%. As I noted then: “This is very similar to what I have done in the past, paying my respects to the downtrend in bond yields since 1981. “We had a few times in the previous cycle where the 10-year yield was below 1.60% and above 3%. Regarding 4% plus mortgage rates, I can make a case for higher yields, but this would require the world economies functioning all together in a world with no pandemic. For this scenario, Japan and Germany yields need to rise, which would push our 10-year yield toward 2.42% and get mortgage rates over 4%. Current conditions don’t support this.” As we are getting closer and closer to the spring selling season, we are at fresh new all-time lows in inventory and mortgage rates, and the unemployment rate is below 4% still. Yikes!  Purchase application data is a very seasonal data line and the bulk of the activity in this data are really from the second week of January to the first week of May. Typically volumes always fall after May. So far, demand is stable and stable demand means it’s unlikely we will see inventory rising at a high velocity. Remember that we still have COVID-19 comps to deal with until mid-February, so the year-over-year data needs context. Many untrained housing people were pushing for a second-half crash in 2021 due to the purchase application data being negative year over year, which means they made no COVID-19 adjustments due to the high comps in 2020. This is a terrible rookie mistake. Demand picked up toward the end of the year and inventory collapsed. Now, total inventory levels will rise as they do every spring and summer, just as they fade in the fall and winter. The fundamental goal is to get total inventory levels between 1.52 – 1.93 million to stabilize the market. I know this is historically low inventory, but the market won’t have the prices gains as we have seen in 2020 and 2021. As we can see, we didn’t come close to creating that range in 2021, and now we are at all-time lows in inventory at 920,000 for a country where the total population is running over 322 million today. The real goal is to get the days on the market to grow. Preferably 30 days or more creates balance. As you can see below, we are far from that type of housing market. From NAR Research: First-time buyers were responsible for 30% of sales in December; Individual investors purchased 17% of homes; All-cash sales accounted for 23% of transactions; Distressed sales represented less than 1% of sales; Properties typically remained on the market for 19 days. From NAR Research: Unsold inventory sits at a 1.8-month supply at current sales pace, down from 2.1 months in November and from

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[ad_1] The Job What I love about my job is the fact that there is immense learning across all levels, and in the industry as well. Personally, the learning and growth matters the most to me. Being a dynamic field, digital is evolving rapidly, and this is keeping everybody on their toes. In such a challenging environment, it feels great to be around colleagues, clients and partners who bring so much enthusiasm and optimism to the table. I would like to see the agency folk, clients, and partners adapt faster to the tech advancements that are coming in, especially in the creative space. Everyone talks about it, but only a few leverage them to their full potential. The Weekdays My weekdays are super busy. I love the live action as it makes me feel alive. Every morning I take an hour to figure out what I need to achieve in the day, and then I dive into my calls and meetings. I do not prefer to take any breaks during the day honestly, because I feel it disrupts the flow of things. However, I do squeeze in 20 minutes for lunch, but even during that time I watch some of the latest work in advertising across the world, or something around tech that’s shaping our future. The Weekend My weekends are for everything that I love to do. Catching up with family and friends, some entertainment, and lots of learning. I have been spending substantial time and money as an early-stage investor across start-ups, various asset classes, and now the cryptoverse. I go through at least three pitches every weekend and watch a lot of content on YouTube. The Toys I am a complete Apple fanatic. While I have many gadgets around, the latest entrant is my new iPad. I am absolutely hooked onto it for everything. Next on my list is the AR headset that Apple will hopefully release in 2022. The Logos Apple is the only brand I am loyal to. Although I belong to the world of brands and marketing, I am not brand conscious. I buy everything that’s appealing to my aesthetic. Read Also: LEAD launches campaign to boost admissions in affordable private schools Follow us on Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, Facebook [ad_2] Source link

[ad_1] Jody Bishop, president of Appraisal Institute The residential real estate appraisal industry is staring at a fork in the road. The latest reminder is a report released Wednesday from the Appraisal Subcommittee, a part of the federal government in charge of monitoring appraiser standards. The report gives the familiar litany of news stories about instances of alleged racial discrimination by appraisers and proposes as a solution a more diverse appraiser workforce, and, just in general, more appraisers. “The appraisal profession lacks diversity and does not reflect the population of the United States,” reads the report. “Remedying this gap is not only likely to reduce the number of biased valuations, but also reduce the acute shortage of appraisers, which is impacting transactions across the country.” The Appraisal Subcommittee recommends doing away with the requirement that an appraiser must apprentice with a supervisory appraiser for 1,500 hours. The report’s authors also question the wisdom of appraisers needing college degrees, or different licensing requirements for different states. They call for more uniform instruction on Fair Housing Act compliance. And they question the power of The Appraisal Foundation, a private, nonprofit group that has become the de facto maker of appraiser qualification standards. The report was released as the Biden administration’s task force on appraisals – Property Appraisal and Valuation Equity, or PAVE – has yet to make their own recommendations. The Appraisal Subcommittee stated they have “closely coordinated to share findings with the President’s PAVE initiative.”   One wild card in designing new standards for the appraisal industry is the appraisers themselves. Appraisers are frequently described as “lone wolves,” but they have a trade group, the Appraisal Institute, and that group is aware the profession must change. By the group’s own statistics, 78% of U.S. appraisers say they are male, 1.3% identify as Black and 4.3% as Hispanic. More than 70% of appraisers are over the age of 50. The Appraisal Institute’s 2022 president, Jody Bishop, fits this demographic. He’s a white male who has appraised in Charleston, South Carolina since 1984. But Bishop believes the profession must become more diverse and aware of its role in the racial home valuation gap. “I don’t want to say we’re archaic,” Bishop said. “But we’ve had to look inward a little.” One specific change: Bishop would like to do away with the apprentice requirement. The Appraisal Foundation has signed off on it, but there still needs to be buy-in from state regulators. Bishop spoke this week with HousingWire about what the Appraisal Institute would like to change about the profession, while still advocating for its members. Here’s an edited version of that conversation: HousingWire: What are the challenges that the Appraisal Institute is facing now? Jody Bishop: Where do we start? There are the allegations of appraisal bias. And we’ve got an industry moving into modern times. We’ve adopted a new strategic plan. We’ve had to look a bit at our process and internalize if there is anything we can do better, diversity wise. We have to make sure the face of the appraisal institute is a mirror of society. HousingWire: What are you doing about racial bias allegations? Jody Bishop: What I can tell you is that the Appraisal Institute is trying to address unconscious bias. We are trying to enhance our diversity recruiting. We are pushing for higher ethical standards. This is a work in progress. I can tell you from personal experience that there are biases that enter my work. I don’t like those split-level homes, like the one in the Brady Brunch, and that was big in the late 60s and early 70s. I could be held out as being biased about that type of home. That’s kind of what unconscious bias is. And we have to understand the actual events that have occurred. Now, there’s an appraisal diversity initiative between the Appraisal Institute and Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and the Urban League that’s playing a key role in helping to diversify the profession. JPMorgan Chase donated money to the initiative. Our membership is available to help mentor those folks into the process. We’re developing a diversity, equity and inclusion initiative to try and help with recruitment. There’s also the implementation of PAREA (Practical applications of the real estate appraisal) and we have received a grant of half-a-million dollars to help build the program. Right now, if you want to be an appraiser, you have to find a supervisor. PAREA will provide a robust educational alternative. There will be a series of case study modules and we will have some mentors getting you through the process. HousingWire: There are questions about PAREA being put in place, because while the Appraisal Foundation has approved it, state regulatory boards also must. What is your sense about states approving this alternative? Bishop: We’ve identified 18-20 states that are willing to give 100% credit for PAREA – and some are looking at giving 50% or 25% credit. A lot of states are waiting to see how we put the process in place. HousingWire: Let’s go back to bias. You have a chance in your role to address what part appraisers play in purportedly undervaluing homes of Black and Hispanic homeowners, or in Black and Hispanic neighborhoods. You mentioned putting in place a diversity, equity and inclusion initiative. Could you say more specifically what you’re doing? Bishop: I’m spending time talking with different folks. I’ve personally met Dr. [Andre] Perry [of the Brookings Institutions. Perry is author of a 2018 study, The devaluation of assets in Black neighborhoods: The case of residential property] twice now. I want people to understand what the appraiser does, and that the appraiser component is part of an ecosystem, a whole industry. There’s the lender, the appraisal management companies, and the appraisers are fitting in underneath all these folks. We are a small part of this process. President Biden has the PAVE initiative, and we’ve been speaking with those folks, having them ride along on the appraisal. I