Around 13 contracts signed for luxury homes last week asking an average amount of $4 million or more.
According to a roundup of deals from Olshan Realty on Monday, on an average note Manhattan luxury real estate ended a bumpy year with 13 contracts signed on homes worth $4 million or more in the week ending Sunday. That’s one less than the 10-year average for the last week of December. Deals comprised seven condos, five co-ops and one townhouse, with average price of $5.99 million, according to the report. Contracts totaled $86.1 million, down considerably from the nearly $225 million recorded the previous week.
The Upper West Side property across from Central Park asked for nearly $9 million in the second-largest deal of the week. The full-floor condo was recently renovated and was sold in 2019 for slightly more than $4.8 million. It includes a long 28-foot entrance gallery, five bedrooms, and four and a half baths.
This year, many Bollywood celebrities have invested in real estate including veteran actors and young starlets who have been making huge strides in their careers.
Here is the list of Bollywood stars who have shelled out crores to purchase new homes.
Ranveer Singh and Deepika Padukone
The popular couple expanded their real estate portfolio by purchasing a quadruplex apartment in Mumbai’s high class neighborhood, Bandra, in July. The apartment is located on the 16th, 17th, 18th, and 19th floors of a high rise residential tower near Shah Rukh Khan’s bungalow Mannat. Deepika closed the deal by paying a whopping amount of Rs 119 crore for the property. The property gives a couple an exclusive carpet area of 11,266 sq ft in the highrise, along with access to a 1,300 sq ft terrace and 19 car parking spaces.
Janhvi Kapoor
Actress Janhvi Kapoor invested the money in a luxurious duplex worth Rs 64 crore located in Bandra’s poshest area, Pali Hill. After selling her stunning Juhu apartment located on the 14th, 15th, and 16th floor of a skyscraper to actor Rajkummar Rao for a whopping amount of Rs 44 crore. The actress bought this new property along with her father Boney Kapoor and sister Khushi Kapoor, earlier this year in November.
Virat Kohli and Anushka Sharma
According to the economic times, this popular couple bought a new lavish 4-BHK bungalow in the coastal town located near Mumbai worth Rs 10.5 to 13 crore in November after a few months of buying an 8-acre land worth Rs 19 crore in Alibaug. The flat is designed by the ex-wife of Hrithik Roshan and well-known interior designer Sussanne Khan. Kohli’s new home is located in a luxurious gated community and comes with modern amenities, an outdoor pool, rich interiors with accented pieces, and more.
Milind Soman
Known as an actor, model, and swimmer, Milind Soman has bought a new home in Prabhadevi, an exclusive southern neighborhood of Mumbai. The property is in a standalone building, Ocean tower by Suraj Estate Developers Limited. The flat has a carpet area of 1720 sq ft and has two parking slots and offers scenic views of the Arabian sea and the Bandra Worli Sea-Link. The exact cost of the apartment is not revealed but as per Ocean Star’s official website, the price of the flats starts at Rs 6.8 crore.
Madhuri Dixit
Madhuri Dixit has purchased a luxurious sea-view flat in one of Worli’s super-premium residential projects. According to the reports, the luxury apartment was registered on 28 September. The area of the apartment is reportedly 5,384 square feet. The apartment has been sold by Calleis Land Development Private Limited.
The report also adds that each sq ft of the apartment is valued at nearly Rs 90,000, making the transaction one of the most expensive deals for a residential apartment in India this year. The actress purchased the apartment for a whopping Rs 48 crore and paid a stamp duty of Rs 2.4 crore for the apartment. The complex is surrounded by five acres of gardens and has beautiful sculptures made by renowned international artists.
Ayushmann Khurrana and Aparshakti Khurana
Known as one of the most versatile and talented actors in the industry has registered another lavish house to his name. Both brothers purchased properties worth Rs 19 crore and Rs 7 crore respectively, in the same building located in Andheri, Mumbai in the year.
The apartment bought by the elder brother is located on the 20th floor and spreads across 4,027 square feet and comes with four car parking. The house is designed by Tanisha Bhatia a close friend of Ayushman’s wife Tahira, the house is intimate and classy all at once. Ayushmann Khurrana’s home has white as the authoritative theme with a mix and match of neutrals or greys in the form of flooring in all rooms.
Vivek Agnihotri
Filmmaker Vivek Agnihotri bought a luxurious house in the same building as Amitabh Bachchan. Located on the 30th floor of Parthenon Towers, the apartment spreads across 3,258 sq ft and comes with modern amenities like a gymnasium, a swimming pool, a library, and more. The property comes with access to three car parking slots within the high-rise residential tower situated in Versova. It is reported that Vivek Agnihotri paid the stamp duty of Rs 1.07 crore for his new luxurious home. Vivek’s new home is expected to have a sprawling green running balcony across the multiple rooms, dining hall, kitchen, and elegant light-colored bedrooms with enough sunlight to keep their home energized.
A report from Redfin on Wednesday said that luxury home sales in the U.S. fell 38.1 per cent in the past three months ending 30 Nov. 2022, the biggest drop in at least 10 years.
Meanwhile, the decline reported a 31.4 per cent drop in sales in the mainstream market. Though that’s also a record, according to the data which goes back to 2012.
Simultaneously, inventory for expensive homes rose 5.2 per cent YoY during the same time period, the largest increase since 2016 as per the records. The supply of non-luxury homes diminished by 5.7 per cent to about 552,000 units.
The luxury residential market and the overall housing market have lost momentum this year due to inflation, recession fears, relatively high interest rates, and a sagging stock market. But the high-end real estate market has witnessed sharper slowdown.
Luxury goods, including homes, are the first things that are eliminated from tight budgets for starters. In addition, high-end homes witnessed unsustainable thrive during the pandemic, so have further fallen now that the economic environment has changed, while wealthy buyers may have seen significant market losses over the last year.
The report said that luxury properties are being frequently used as investment properties, and investment prospects are lackluster with home values and rents about to fall in 2023. Redfin defines luxury homes to be in the top 5 per cent based on market value, while non-luxury homes are in the 35th to 65th percentile based on market value.
According to the report, Nassau County located on New York’s Long Island registered the biggest drop in luxury home sales by 65.6 per cent annually, followed by four California metro areas — San Diego (-60.4 per cent), San Jose (-58.7 per cent), Riverside (-55.6 per cent ) and Anaheim (-55.5 percent).
Even when the economy is thriving, these markets are prohibitively expensive for most buyers, so it’s not surprising more buyers might back off during a downturn.
Although there are some indications that the high-end housing market may improve next year. As interest rates decline, mortgage applications and Redfin’s Homebuyer Demand Index, which tracks requests for tours and other services have risen.
Seattle Redfin agent Shoshana Godwin said in the report that there has been a small shift in the market that’s not fully showing up in the data yet. A lot of house buyers see this as their moment to come back and compete, as mortgage rates are falling. Many of my buyers are taking loans and mortgages typically used for purchases of high-end homes. Some of my buyers are getting rates in the low 5 per cent range, while some data shows jumbo mortgage rates above 6 per cent.”
Nagpur: Devendra Fadnavis, Deputy Chief Minister said that scrutiny was being done, including Adhaar cards verification, to weed out names and sort out names of those dead as well as those ineligible in slum rehabilitation projects.
On Thursday, Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said in the state Legislative Council that Maharashtra Government is making efforts to speed up slum rehabilitation projects by deploying the Auto DCR method and also the auditing process to remove irregularities.
He also added that scrutiny was being done, including verification of Adhaar cards, to weed out names of those dead as well as those ineligible in slum rehabilitation projects.
Minister said in the house that the government is working to speed up slum rehabilitation projects. Approvals are being given with celerity by using the Auto-DCR method. Audit of the automatic process is being completed.
Auto-DCR is also known as the Automatic Scrutiny of Building Plans and Building Plans Approval Management System. It is a special software that is used to scan CAD drawings of projects and map them to development control rules (DCR) to help municipal bodies while approving the projects.
Shiv Sena (UBT) MLC Anil Parab said around 20 projects under the slum rehabilitation scheme have been attached by the Enforcement Directorate as part of the Central agency’s probe.
Fadnavis said he would urge the ED to release attached properties that are connected to slum rehabilitation.
Nagpur: Revenue Minister asked the Amravati divisional commissioner to investigate the sand smuggling cases considering it a major issue.
On Monday, revenue minister Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil said that the Maharashtra government would soon introduce a new sand mining policy to prevent it from being smuggled. It will be announced by January 15.
The minister replied to a calling attention in the assembly that sand smuggling is a major issue and the offenders were getting political support. They will ask the Amravati divisional commissioner to investigate the cases.
Vikhe Patil admitted that the state exchequer was suffering losses due to smuggling. He added that all the district collectors were also directed to take action regarding the case.
There is a violation of environmental regulations, as excavation is underway on a large scale. Instructions have been given to take action, said Vikhe Patil.
On Wednesday, the Kochi high court bench of Justice PV Kunhikrishnan said, “the notices issued by Greater Cochin Development Authority (GCDA), demanding more amount from buyers of its land plot and constructed homes is like a sword of Damocles above the buyers’ heads”.
While stating that it cannot agree to GCDA’s demand for more money for the land sold over 40 years ago, the court said that GCDA does not have any right over a plot once it is sold. Court also said that a house is every citizen’s dream and with hard-earned money people build homes.
Petitioners allegedly said that the GCDA sent notices demanding more money without any such provision in the agreements executed while buying the plots. While GCDA asserted that more money being asked from the buyers is the pending dues from during the registration process.
HC quashed the notice issued by GCDA and asked, why no such provision was included in the agreements. It has to be enquired whether there were shortfalls on the part of GCDA officials while selling plots, the court added while directing for an enquiry.
JK Paints and Coatings, a wholly-owned subsidiary of JK Cement, has come into a share purchase agreement with Acro Paints and its shareholders to own a 60% stake in the company, it said in a BSE filing.
The company plans to invest an amount of Rs 153 crore in the first tranche and remaining 40% will be acquired in the period of 1 year as per the definitive agreement entered between the parties.
Current promoters of Acro Paints, Charanjeet Gaind and Ashok Gaind will continue to be part of the company and on the board for the next one year.
Managing director of JK Cement, Raghav Singhania said that they are committed to ensuring the successful integration of our businesses and are excited to bring our combined experience to the table.
Acro Paints manufactures architectural and high-performance paints and coatings in Northern India. While JK Cement, is a manufacturer of wall putty and this segment has a significant overlap with the paint industry.
JK Cement comprising 1,00,000 dealers,75,000 influencers, and 1,500 distributors bolstered the Pan-India distribution network, Acro’s distribution network will enable the company to reach wider market-ready accessibility to customers.
Madhavkrishna Singhania, Deputy Managing Director, and CEO of JK Cement Ltd. added to the announcement that they have a focused plan to gradually deepen their presence in the strong markets over the upcoming few years and have identified specific geographic, product, and channel niches where they would dominate. They will leverage the strengths of both their brands as they expand their presence in the paint industry. They believed Acro to be synergistic with their portfolio and will help them comprehensively address the rapidly growing paint and putty cement industry.
The managing Director of Acro Paints Ltd. also said that he is delighted with their association with JK Cement and its dynamic management team, which is the epitome of humility and passion, driving the next era of growth.
The legislative assembly passed a bill on Sunday, seeking regularization of unauthorized constructions in urban areas by collecting “impact fee” from the owners.
In a long session of the newly elected Assembly, “Gujarat Regularization of Unauthorized Development Bill-2022” was passed unanimously as the opposition Congress, as well as Aam Aadmi Party, gave their consent for the passage.
The bill replaced an act issued by the previous BJP government in October for the regularization of unauthorized construction in cities and towns.
Legislative and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Rushikesh said, according to a survey, nearly 42% of the buildings in eight major cities and 87% of the buildings in the jurisdiction of 156 municipalities did not have the mandatory “Building Use” permission.
The bill provides for the regularization of such unauthorized constructions within the jurisdictions of municipal corporations, urban development authorities, and municipalities on payment of Impact Fee.
Minister Patel said the Act was needed as many people would become homeless if such buildings were to be demolished. The provisions of the bill apply to any unauthorized construction done before October 1, 2022.
Such properties must be regularized by their owners through the e-nagar portal. The Minister said the construction in industrial areas and on public or government properties like roads will not be regularized.
Minister also said that the collective impact fee will be put into the Infrastructure Development Fund which will be used for encouraging infrastructure development and facilities such as setting up fire systems and creating parking facilities.
The fee will be ranging from Rs 3,000 – 18,000 for unauthorized constructions between 50 square meters to 300 square meters.
The fee would be charged double if the property was used for other than residential purposes, and also additional Rs 150 would be charged for every square meter above 300 meter square.
