Editor’s Note

With this issue Realty & More completes its two years of uninterrupted run. Next in the offing is our second anniversary issue. I thank all for the support extended to us during the past two years.

At the time of this issue going to the press, there was heavy monsoon in Parliament. As the name suggests, the monsoon session has turned out to be a complete washout. Most of the working days were marred by disruptions on various issues between the ruling BJP
and the Congress-led Opposition. And among the major casualties was The Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Settlement (Amendment) Bill, 2015, popularly known as Land Acquisition Bill. The Congress alleges that the present Government has tweaked the original Bill to favour the industry, thereby causing a loss to the farmers’ interest. It seems very unlikely that the Bill will sail through the monsoon session. The industry, meanwhile, is keeping its fingers crossed.

As per a report the population of GO-plus citizens in the country is set to touch 24 crore by 2050. And the new breed of elderly unlike in the past, has evolved into a financially self-dependent, ready to spend on facilities and products that are tailor-made to their specific needs. Among these, one of the basic requirements is a house to live in. It seems the realty players have timely woken up to this reality. In our cover story this time we take a look at the fast emerging and evolving senior living concept homes in India.

Though the overall mood is very gloomy for the real estate sector, rays of hopes do keep coming in every now and then. This time the mood booster is the Q2 RICS’ Global Commercial Property Monitor, according to which the commercial property rentals this year are expected to yield positive growth. On the other hand, a Knight Frank report mentions drop in new launches, but that is in the NCR. The report also has a mood-booster – it says consumption of residential units in first half of the calendar year has improved in comparison to the second half of the previous year.

The fact is stimulating considering that the second half comprises festive season which traditionally generates more sales. If one has to draw any inference, this means housing sales are going to increase in the NCR during the next four-five months. So far looking at these reports we can probably say that the coming festive season might turn out to be turnaround time for the housing sector, provided no major negatives erupt in the macro-economic scenario of the country. And while talking macro- economic factors, it is important to mention that the RBI Governor kept the key rates unchanged in its policy announcement this month. For a change, real estate players did not express their anguish on the apex bank’s decision. Probably, this was on their
line of expectation.

One NCR town which has long been notorious for various reasons surprisingly and smartly came in the news this month. Ghaziabad has been selected by the Uttar Pradesh Government as one of its 13 smart cities. The next stage now is the ‘City Challenge Competition’.
Quite unexpectedly the much-expected twin cities Noida and Greater Noida, do not find a mention in the state Government’s list.

NCR-based developer Gaursons has recently come up with its vision of luxury, Mulberry Mansions. Manju Gaur, Director, Gaursons, details out how this project will redefine opulence. Another NCR developer Mahagun’s Director Dhiraj Jain says it is imperative for
the developers to go green. He stresses on the point that it is not atrend, but need of the time.

The new circle rates came into effect in Noida, Greater Noida and Ghaziabad with the beginning of this month. Though this won’t make a radical change in the housing prices in these areas, the development certainly made news and we could ill afford to ignore it in our magazine.

Also the issue contains your regulars – the property rates of key localities of some of the key cities, the new launches in major cities, the home loan rates of top lenders, Vastu this time on hospitals and your horoscope forthe period August 15 – September 15.
Happy reading! !!