Want to buy property: Check this real estate reckoner

CNBC-TV18's brand new series Prime Property is your weekly real estate reckoner; from new launches to hot deals, national price checks and trends. We bring you all the news in realty with the biggest voices in the business.

Last week, Mumbai base realty company HDIL sees a brutal sell off in the markets on bankruptcy fears fuelled by the sale of 50 lakh shares by the promoters to fund a land buy. HDIL denies rumors of a cash crunch and possible defaults.
HDIL's woes take the realty index down; concerns over high debt, pledged shares resurface. Also read: Can real estate Bill protect you as a property buyer
The country's largest developer DLF says 2013 will see property prices go up by 5-6 percent as the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) continues to maintain a tight monetary policy stance.
It wasn't a good week for real estate developers. Mumbai based HDIL, saw its stock crash amidst fears of bankruptcy.
The trouble began on January 22, when HDIL's co-founder and Vice Chairman Sarang Wadhwan cut his stake in the company by more than half to 0.99 percent to raise Rs 57 crore to fund a land buy. The company claimed the sale was only because of an urgent need of funds and allayed concerns of a liquidity strain. But the clarification failed to convince and in 24 hours big investors like Citigroup and Credit Suisse sold the HDIL stock.
Concern over margin calls resurfaced as 98 percent of the promoters' 37.36 percent holding in HDIL is pledged. Another round of clarifications followed but several questions remain unanswered. Why did the promoters need to sell stake to make a mere Rs 64 crore payment to the regulators? How will HDIL service its Rs 4000 crore debt?
While HDIL's management tried to douse fears, saying it’s on schedule for debt repayment via internal accruals. This story once again highlights the problems many property developers are facing: high levels of debt and pledged stake by promoters.
We bring you up to speed with what's happening with property prices in our price-o-meter. Mumbai
After a tumultuous 2012, real estate developers, Unitech and Lodha see a 10-12 percent increase in property prices across India. But the country's largest developer DLF disagrees.
Rajeev Talwar, Executive Director, DLF said, “It would be at best 5-6 percent because interest rates are unusually high. They have been high for the last two or three years and therefore any new buyer or investor would think twice before coming in.”
Prices in Mumbai continue to trend higher than the national average, but have stagnated after a minor uptick around Diwali. In Central Mumbai's Worli, Lower Parel and Prabhadevi areas, flats in the 2,000-3,000 square feet category are going for Rs 19,000-25,000 per square feet. Similar sized apartments in the prime South Mumbai region are much higher at Rs 30,000-50,000 a square feet. The going rate for a 1200-1500 square feet flat in Thane is Rs 84 lakh to Rs 1.05 crore. Rs 90 lakh to Rs 1.5 crore in Navi Mumbai for an apartment in the 1,500 square feet range.
Anshuman Magazine, CMD, CBRE South Asia said, "Navi Mumbai is settled with all the infrastructure coming in place, in the long term will give a very good return and the entry point will be lower than Bandra."
Rajeev Talwar said, "I think Mumbai is just waiting for the next economic boom cycle and the moment that happens then all the launches which have taken place will surely see an upside in prices thanks to the secondary market." New Delhi
Prices in New Delhi have not budged despite low deal activity. The asking price for a 2,500-4,000 square feet place at the prime Chanakyapuri, Golf Links and Jor Bagh remain at Rs 72,000-90,000per square feet. South Delhi's Panchsheel Park and Safdarjung being quoted at Rs 30,000-40,000 a square feet.
The price difference between the suburbs Noida and Gurgaon has widened. A flat of upto 1800 square feet in Noida is being pegged at Rs 81-99 lakh where as in Gurgaon a 2,000 square feet flat can cost anything between Rs 2-3 crore.
Anshuman Magazine said, “ If you are looking for a short-term investment, it is Gurgaon. If you looking for medium to long-term, Noida city will also perform well.” Ahmedabad
If you want to go shopping in Ahemdabad, do it quickly before the April 1. The city's municipal corporation has proposed to revise the base property tax. The civic body is seeking to double the base tax rate on residential properties to Rs 20 per square meter and hike it by 60 percent for commercial properties to Rs 32 per square meter.
Anshuman Magazine said, “Ahemdabad certainly is a potential market to watch out for. A lot of investment going on but still a relatively a small real estate market. It will take 3-5 years to develop.” Chennai
Rates in Central Chennai's T. Nagar and Nungam-baakkam have gone up to Rs 15000-18000 or Rs 2.25-2.7 crore for a 1500 square feet accommodation.
In Hyderabad prices in central areas like Banjara Hills and Jubilee Hills may move north from the current level of Rs 5,000-6,000 per square feet.
Rajeev Talwar said, “I think you are seeing a shortage of supply again and that is what is leading to an increase or in upside in prices rather than anything else.” Bangalore
North Bangalore near the new airport and with all the new infrastructure is being seen as another exciting market. Prices of mid segment housing in Hebbal and Bellary Road have already appreciated to Rs 5000-7000 per square feet.
So if you are planning to invest in property maybe this is a good time to go shopping. A check on what is buzzing on Deal Street.
Motilal Oswal sold 7,442 square feet of office space on the third floor of Mumbai's Hoechst House in Nariman Point to Stock broker RK Damani for Rs 25 crore which works out to 33,500 per square feet.
Barclays is believed to have leased 2 lakh square feet in Nirlon Knowledge Park at Mumbai's Goregaon for an annual rent of Rs 24 crore or an average monthly rent of Rs 100 per square feet.
MTNL has mandated Feedback Infrastructures and property consultant DTZ to monetize its 0.78 million square feet of built-up office space, and 50 land parcels aggregating 6.1 million square feet in Mumbai and New Delhi.
Knight Frank says absorption of commercial real estate in Bangalore has declined by 24 percent to 7.3 million square feet in 2012. It says the IT sector share in the city's commercial real estate has dropped from 80 percent to 60 percent. Launchpad
On launchpad every week we will put the spotlight on new launches and if they are worth your while. This week we visit, Blue Moon in Worli, the new residential project by Lodha Developers in Mumbai. Incidentally, the site of the project, is the 18 acre land parcel that Lodha recently bought from real estate giant DLF for a whopping Rs 2700 crore.
The pre-launch of this project saw 1000 buyers rushing in with their applications in just three hours. Lodha Developers claim they stand to make about Rs 4,000 crore from this. While the company is tightlipped about the numbers of apartments up for sale in the pre-launch, of this 17-storey building, they are more than happy to talk about using an IPO-like automated algorithm to decide which applicant will get a flat, apparently a first in India.
The rush of buying interest is on account competitively priced smaller apartments; 40 percent lower than other projects in and around the Worli area starting with a price of Rs 3.2 crore for a 2BHK to Rs 3.9 crore for a 3BHK spread across 1675 square feet. Compare this to Indiabulls Blu Project half a kilometer away where the asking price for a 3BHK is Rs11 crore but larger than Lodha's Blue Moon. Next week on CNBC-TV18’s special show Prime Property, Lodha Developer's Managing Director Abhisheck Lodha will talk to us about Blue Moon and their world one project, which has the world's largest residential tower designed by Casa Armani.