Affordability Driving Consumer Demand for Residential Real Estate in Peripheral Areas of Bengaluru: Magicbricks Data

* Home buyers are retaining size preference but reducing budgets

* Security, proximity to school, local markets and offices are key deciding  factors

* Whitefield, Sarjapur Road, Electronic City and Bellary Road most preferred localities

With India intermittently unlocking, new encouraging trends are now visible in the real estate sector after a period stagnancy. The sector is witnessing a tectonic shift and according to Magicbricks data, consumer preference in Benglauru is shifting towards peripheral areas due to affordability.

The shift in consumer demand towards Bengaluru’s peripheral areas has been accentuated by the demand-supply mismatch in the less than Rs.5000/sqft price category. Magicbricks data also suggests that Bengaluru’s consumer demand for BHKs and size hardly remain unchanged pre-COVID vis-à-vis post-COVID indicating that home buyers are retaining size preference but reducing budgets to move to the peripheries of the city in search of larger houses at lower cost.

Magicbricks data suggests that peripheral areas near employment hubs like Whitefield, Sarjapur Road, Electronic City and Bellary Road were the most preferred localities for home buyers during the April-May-June period of 2020. The consumer demand in these localities are driven by factors like affordability, better access to IT hubs and sound connectivity to the airport. The extension of metro lines from Baiyappanahalli – Whitefield and RV Road – Bommasandra is likely to boost the demand for the economic hubs of Whitefield and Electronic City in the future.

Commenting on the changing consumer behaviour, Mr. Sudhir Pai, CEO, Magicbricks, said: “We are experiencing a strong recovery in demand after searches dipped by 50% in April. Buyers are back in the market and our data suggests that Bengaluru’s recovery rate is faster than the national average. There is an emerging trend towards larger homes; but with budgets which are lower than earlier, buyers are searching more towards peripheral areas of the city. Our recent survey suggests that around 33% of home buyers in Bengaluru prefer under construction properties, which is significantly higher than the national average, reflecting their trust in branded developers. We are also witnessing an uptick in demand for plots and from NRIs.”

Bengaluru’s home buyers also displayed increasing propensity towards ready-to-move in properties with as many as 67% respondents suggesting that they want to cut down risk factors by opting for ready-to-move in units. Overall, 74% users are planning to reduce their budget preference and around 50% have cut it by 10-30%. Factors like gated community and proximity to schools and colleges remain the two main priorities for home buyers while selecting a property while amenities such as clubs, gyms and open areas have lost their sheen since COVID-19. Our survey also suggests that in Bengaluru, 55% of the respondents said that they would choose any developer (Tier 1/2) who can give the most economical option/best deal.

About Magicbricks: India's no 1 property site

Magicbricks is India’s No.1 property site. With monthly traffic exceeding 20 million visits and with an active base of over 1.4 million+ property listings, Magicbricks provides the largest platform for buyers and sellers of property to connect with each other in a clear, transparent manner.

Brigade Group Announces India’s 1st Virtual Property Expo from August 15-16, 2020

 Brigade Group today announced conducting the first Virtual Property Expo by a developer on 15th and 16th August 2020. While we have conducted many online exhibitions in the past, this virtual expo will be different from the regular online exhibitions. This will be the first of its kind by any developer in the country, where the experience of going through an Expo will be simulated virtually with specific stalls for our various projects, similar to an on-ground event.

The Virtual property Expo will showcase our 30+ residential properties across Bengaluru, Mysuru, and Chennai. Various offers like flexible payment plans, free interiors and price protection specifically address the current situation of uncertainty and at the same time give the discerned buyers an opportunity to own a dream home, from a trusted developer like Brigade. Also, every customer who books a home during this Expo will get an assured Gift worth Rs.40,000.

Commenting on this event, Mr. Rajendra Joshi, CEO Residential, Brigade Group, said, “Brigade has been at the forefront of innovation and we are happy to bring to you India’s first virtual property Expo by a developer. We believe true freedom is having a home of your own and the aftermath of the pandemic has established that owning a home is better than dealing with the uncertainties of living in a rented accommodation. We invite you to choose your dream home during these two days”

The Virtual Expo event will be held on 15 &16 August 2020 and will be open to buyers between 10 a.m. and 7 p.m. on the two days.

Monitoring and Addressing Human-Wildlife Conflict to the Benefit All

Conflict

● Human-wildlife conflict (HWC) incidents, arising from human-wildlife interactions are a global conservation challenge. HWC includes crop loss, livestock predation, property damage, and occasionally human injury and death.

● Wild Seve (‘Seve’ means ‘to serve’ in Kannada), established in July 2015, is a novel conservation intervention program that monitors and addresses HWC. Wild Seve assists people facing HWC-related losses to document and file for ex-gratia claims with the state government.

● In 48 months of operations, the program documented over 13,000 HWC incidents (as of July 2019), often involving large conflict-prone species such as elephants, leopards, and tigers, for families living around Bandipur and Nagarahole National Parks in Karnataka, India.

● Wild Seve isan effective low-cost conservation intervention that uses open-source technology and leverages existing policies to facilitate documentation for ex-gratia payment claims. This model of monitoring and addressing human-wildlife conflict is easily replicable, adaptable, and scalable in HWC-prone regions globally.

Scientists from the Centre for Wildlife Studies showed (in 2018) that although Karnataka leads the country in terms of reported human-wildlife conflict incidents and ex-gratia payments, thousands of incidents remained unreported and uncompensated for. Difficulty in accessing and delays in the application process for financial compensation, inconsistent policies, lack of transparency, high transaction costs, ineffective implementation, and variable payment amounts often anger communities, leading to increased retaliation against wildlife.

In a new peer reviewed article published in the journal, Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution, Dr. Krithi K. Karanth and Anubhav Vanamamalai highlight the design, implementation, operation, and results of a novel conservation intervention in Karnataka, the Wild Seve program. Drawing on over a decade of research in the landscape, and designed to improve HWC reporting, response, and participation in ex-gratia payment schemes within the established policy framework, Wild Seve was launched in July 2015.

The Wild Seve program created an efficient mobile technology-based platform and toll-free helpline for reporting incidents, collecting data and evidence, and filing ex-gratia claims on behalf of the affected. Wild Seve wasable to effectively contribute to the monitoring of wildlife occurring outside protected areas, thereby aiding in long-term landscape-level conservation efforts. The program assists the most vulnerable communities living around wildlife reserves and helps bridge the gap between people and the government.

Quote 1: “In megadiverse countries like India which host large populations of charismatic conflict-prone animals such as elephants, leopards and tigers, HWC poses a serious conservation challenge. If we are serious about resolving conflict and conserving endangered wildlife we need to build adaptability, resilience and support people who are directly impacted so that retaliation doesn’t take place. Wild Seve improves community tolerance towards wildlife, and reduces retaliation against them,” says Dr. Krithi K. Karanth, Chief Conservation Scientist at CWS, and the lead author of the study.

The novel research outlines the results of 48 months of Wild Seve’s operations in 600 village settlements around Bandipur and Nagarahole National Parks. Wild Seve filed and tracked over 13,000 ex-gratia payment claims for human-wildlife conflict incidents, which included 12,978 crop and property loss incidents, 782 livestock predation events, and 48 human injuries and fatalities. Wild Seve even facilitated the construction of over 48 predator-proof livestock sheds for those facing repeated livestock predation. Wild Seve’s field staff are proud members of the local communities they serve, and are dispatched to the location of HWC incidents to assess and document the damage and compile an ex-gratia payment claim with all requisite evidence and documentation.

Quote 2: “Managing expectations, especially in conflict events is of utmost importance to promote coexistence in regions where people and wildlife overlap. Wild Seve directly benefits people through its process, science through rigorous collection of data and analysis, and informs policy through its experience. Our use of simple technology and ef icient processes makes Wild Seve an easily scalable and replicable solution in addressing human-wildlife conflict incidents across the country,” says Anubhav Vanamamalai, Research Fellow at CWS and former Program Manager of Wild Seve.

The study, titled Wild Seve: A Novel Conservation Intervention to Monitor and Address Human-Wildlife Conflict, authored by Dr. Krithi K. Karanth and Anubhav Vanamamalaiappeared in the journal, Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution. The open-access study can also be directly retrieved from the journal.

Centre for Wildlife Studies

Centre for Wildlife Studies (CWS), based in Bengaluru, is an internationally recognised centre-of-excellence in the arenas of wildlife research, in-situ conservation, policy, and education. In collaboration with Central and State Governments, as well as partnerships with several national and international institutions, CWS practices science-based conservation to promote the protection of wildlife and wildlands.

Dubai real estate suffers major setback

Dubai's property sector suffered a series of blows this week after brokers confirmed a rise in distressed sales, a real estate guide downgraded its rating on residential property and an Islamic lender suspended new loans.

The once-booming real estate sector of the emirate is showing signs of collapsing due to the global credit crisis, as prices fall sharply and buyers struggle to get mortgage loans.

"There is a sizeable increase in the number of property owners in an urgent state to sell," Robert Macnair, sales director of Dubai-based Elysian Real Estate, told the media.

"It could be they have a large payment coming up or they've seen the market dropping over the last month ... there is a real sense of urgency."

Property prices on Dubai's Palm Jumeirah island, a man-made peninsula developed by government-owned Nakheel, have fallen as much as 40 percent since September, real estate brokers said on Thursday.

Elysian this week sent out a text message to up to 40,000 mobile phones advertising distressed property sales offering a luxury six bedroom, six bathroom villa in Dubailand, a multi-billion-dollar luxury theme park.

The villa advertised costs 21 million UAE dirhams ($5.72 million) - half its original price - and will be completed in 2009, the text read.

Dubai downgrade

Global Property Guide cut its long-term investment rating on Dubai residential property on Wednesday from neutral to negative due to the drop in gross rental yields from last year.

"Gross yields are now an average of 5.5 percent, significantly down from an average of 7.5 percent a year ago ... At these levels, Dubai is less attractive than it was previously as an investment property," it said in a research note.

Global Property Guide said Dubai has "an enormous" amount of new supply and expects prices to fall over the next 2-3 years.

To compound matters, Dubai Islamic mortgage lender Amlak AMLK.DU said it suspended new loans. This follows moves by several banks to tighten lending conditions in August and September.

"It is very hard to get loans now. Customers are suffering," Rehab Gouda, senior sales agent at Al Jabal Real Estate said.

"Either they have pre-approval from before the crisis, or they are cash buyers."

Source: Agencies