In what may serve as a proxy to the long-delayed realty regulator, the National Housing Bank said it will soon come up with a rating for housing projects in association with banks, to help buyers make informed decisions. “We have sought RBI nod to launch the NHB-IBA rating for real estate projects. We expect to launching the rating soon. But we are not planning to make it mandatory for all,” NHB chairman and managing director RV Verma said. Using the rating ranging from 1-7 (seven being the best one) for a project, a buyer can make a more informed decision and go for the best project. The rating will be given by one of the registered rating agencies and be made public. Aspects like financial details, legal issues like land titles, track-record of the builders, approvals received by the project and repayments made to financiers among others will be considered while arriving at the rating.
‘Residential land prices jump over 35% in 2 years’
Prices of land, which are used for development of residential projects in Mumbai, have appreciated by almost 35.2 per cent over the last two years mainly due to change in norms and increase in property prices, a recent survey said. A survey conducted by Knight Frank of 13 top Asian cities on the parameters of prices of land used for residential and commercial projects, pointed out that Mumbai is an expensive market compared to Delhi NCR and Bangalore, which have been studied in the report. According to the report, Mumbai’s residential development land prices appreciated by 35.2 per cent in the last two years, while those of Bangalore grew by 26.1 per cent and Delhi NCR by 24.9 per cent.
KEC International sells land to Tata Housing
KEC International has sold 7.3 acres of land in Thane city, to Ardent Properties, a subsidiary of Tata Housing Development Company Ltd, for about Rs 211.70 crore. The company has signed an agreement to sell the property and is expecting to complete the formalities in about three months, KEC International, a RPG group concern said in a statement. Tata Housing, the housing and real estate arm of the Tata Group had recently bought a 20-acre land parcel in north Bangalore for about 120 crore from engineering major Alstom and a one-acre land parcel at Hailey Road in the heart of New Delhi. Tata Housing is currently developing 70 million sq ft across markets.