Indian News Queensland | BUSINESS
Many firms may not survive COVID-19 onslaught, fear CEOs
W
ith the prospect of a prolonged recession hardening as the spread of the coronavirus hardly showing any signs of slowing down drastically, many business leaders believe that some companies may not survive the impact of the pandemic with CEOs in Asia seeing the greatest impact to their revenues, says survey. More than half of those surveyed had already experienced negative impacts to their revenues, and far more -- 82 per cent -- expect more severe and negative impacts over the next six months, according to the survey by Young Presidents’ Organization (YPO), a business leadership network. Around 84 percent of CEOs in Asia said revenues had already been impacted, followed by CEOs in Middle East and North Africa (74 per cent), and then in Europe (70 per cent). While the hospitality and travel segment has taken the highest hit, the construction sector got least impacted, the results showed. The findings are based on responses from over 2,750
78,000 'ready to move in' homes unsold across top cities: Report
A
round 78,000 ready-tomove-in housing units, valued at Rs 65,950 crore, remain unsold in India, according to a report by Anarock Property Consultants.
global business leaders. “Most expect the slump to last less than a year. 54 per cent of global respondents expect their revenues to be the same or better in a year’s time. However, if the respondent was in a more severely impacted region they were more likely to expect a greater than 20 per cent decrease in sales over the next 12 months,” Randall Tavierne, Partner and Global Deputy for Growth Markets and Global Assurance at EY (London), wrote in a LinkedIn post, while summarising the survey results. “In Asia, where the impacts were felt earlier, 34 per cent of respondents expect a greater than 20 per cent decline in sales over the next year while in the US a mere
13 per cent did,” Tavierne said. A leading US public health chief warned that a new wave of coronavirus hitting the US next winter could be “even more difficult” for the country to deal with than the current outbreak as it would coincide with the normal influenza season, The Guardian reported on Wednesday. “There’s a possibility that the assault of the virus on our nation next winter will actually be even more difficult than the one we just went through,” Robert Redfield, Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) federal agency, said in an interview with the Washington Post.
It accounts for nearly 12 per cent of the 6.44 lakh unsold units in major cities. The report suggests that homebuyers seeking de-risked ready-tomove-in properties can leverage the COVID-19 period to their advantage. The report said that although construction activity is completely halted across India, first-time homebuyers are at an unprecedented advantage to negotiate good deals on ready-to-move-in options and simultaneously benefit from all-time low interest rates of 7.15-7.8 per cent. Anuj Puri, Chairman, Anarock Property Consultants, said: “Of the total unsold ready stock, MMR and Pune together have approximately 35,200 units, which are
collectively worth Rs 37,550 crore. This accounts for 57 per cent of the total value of ready unsold homes across all top seven cities.” The National Capital Region (NCR) has around 15,600 unsold ready units, followed by Bengaluru with nearly 10,100 apartments. Hyderabad has least unsold ready stock of around 2,400 homes worth Rs 1,870 crore. Puri was of the view that the lockdown period has kick-started rapid technology-led evolution on the Indian real estate market. “Some states are now also mulling the introduction of e-registration of property documents, thereby completing the entire value chain. This is necessary since physical site visits are unlikely to pick up quickly even after the lockdown ends, as both buyers and sellers will remain wary,” he said.
Real estate in Telangana to be bullish post Covid-19: Experts
R
eal estate sector will become bullish and positive post Covid-19 and Hyderabad will remain the most favorite investment destination, real estate experts and consultants have forecast. They believe that this phase is only a pause for growth and investment traffic is neither lost nor diverted. They were speaking during a webinar conducted by The Federation of Telangana Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FTCCI) on ‘Facing the global pandemic The way forward for real estate’. “The centre’s ‘Make in India’ programme might get a boost from this difficult situation in the medium to long term, but short-term pains for developers are inevitable,” said K. Bhasker Reddy, Vice President, FTCCI. “Dropping prices in a scenario like this is hardly the answer. However,
www.indiannewsqld.com.au
the government might launch measures to make it more lucrative for buyers to invest in property. It is also expected to support real estate, the second-largest employment generator in the country, by waiving off tax on unsold inventory,” he added. Srikanth Badiga, Chairman, Infrastructure, Real Estate and Smart Cities Committee, FTCCI, said the trade was planning to give representations to the government on various issues like timeline extension, property tax and stamp duty exemption for next one year.
R. Chalapathi Rao, President, Telangana Real Estate Developers’ Association (TREDA) suggested that the government should give relief on property tax and stamp duty for the next 6 months. “Government of India estimates the economic loss as 6 to 7 lakh crores. Out of this, real estate is 1 lakh crore. In this scenario, developers will not reduce the prices but offer some discounts to sell the properties,” he said.
HDFC cuts prime lending rate by 15 bps, home loans to be cheaper
H
ousing Development Finance Corp (HDFC) has reduced its prime lending rate by 15 basis points with effect from April 22. The change will benefit all HDFC retail home customers, the company said in a regulatory filing the previous day. Floating loan rates are benchmarked on the prime lending rate.
Follow us on Facebook at facebook.com/IndianNewsQueensland
“HDFC reduces its retail prime lending rate (RPLR) on housing loans, on which its adjustable rate home loans (ARHL) are benchmarked by 15 basis points with effect from April 22, 2020,” it said. Post the reduction, rates will range between 7.85 per cent and 8.15 per cent for salaried class borrowers.
MAY 2020
17
