Realty News Roundup: PM Narendra Modi Forms GoM On Realty Bill; REITs To Start Functioning Soon

Realty News Roundup is PropGuide's selection of top stories from the real estate sector

Top News

Prime Minster Narendra Modi has formed an informal Group of Ministers (GoM) to examine the much-awaited Real Estate Bill. The group will look into the Bill and make suggestions to make it home buyer-friendly, along with protecting the sector's interest. The GoM comprises of Union Urban Development Minister M Venkaiah Naidu, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and Law Minister D V Sadananda Gowda. The decision has come after the government was forced to allow the Land Ordinance to lapse on August 31. Read more.

In another development that is expected to give a boost to the realty sector, the Ministry of Finance has said that Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) will start functioning soon. "As regards investment in housing sector, the REITs structure we positioned in this year's Budget... I would expect some of the REITs to start functioning very shortly," Economic Affair Secretary Shaktikanta Das said in this report.

India's largest mortgage finance company, Housing Finance and Development Corp (HDFC), has reduced its retail prime lending rate by 25 basis points (bps) with effect from October 6. The new home loan rate now stands at 9.65 per cent for men and 9.60 per cent for women, down from 9.90 per cent and 9.85 per cent, respectively. Read more.

Off the front page

Hyderabad-based National Remote Sensing Centre (NRSC) has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Union Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation Ministry for use of technology to monitor construction work in the upcoming smart cities. Read more.

Maharashtra Minister for Finance and Planning Sudhir Mungantiwar has said that the state government is working on a single-window clearance system for realty projects to avoid delays in home delivery. Read more.

Edelweiss will raise up to $1 billion for its first residential real estate fund. It is planning to do a first close of about $350 million in a month's time. Reports suggest that it is going to be one of the largest first closures in recent times. Read more.

Realty Event: Bloomberg Philanthropies, the knowledge partner of the Urban Development Ministry for the Smart City Mission, has started a two-day "Ideas Camp" in New Delhi on Tuesday (October 6). Read more.

Opinion

Real estate expert Vivek Kaul says private equity/venture capital funds are no reason for realty companies not to favour price correction. He says that lending to real estate by banks grew at a much slower rate than the overall lending carried out by banks over the past one year. Read  more.