India’s largest real estate developer by market value, DLF Ltd, has slashed the pre-launch booking price of apartments at its debut residential project in southern Bangalore as the current slowdown dampens demand for realty.

DLF is now offering apartments at its proposed 80-acre gated community in Bangalore’s BTM Extension for Rs2,775 per sq. ft, against Rs3,500 per sq. ft earlier.

Villa rentals hit Rs 10 lakh plus in Bangalore
What is the highest rental you can imagine a person paying for a luxurious villa at a prestigious address in Bangalore? Rs 4/5 lakh per month said an informal dipstick survey. It's actually multiples of that. Rentals for some exclusive homes in certain gated communities in city have risen to over Rs 10 lakh.

Site-registration freeze may go
The Karnataka government is contemplating lifting the ban on registration of revenue sites in Bangalore. Chief minister B S Yeddyurappa on Sunday announced that the plan was on the anvil.

"A cabinet sub-committee headed by revenue minister G Karunakar Reddy has been constituted for this purpose. Problems faced in this regard will be sorted out once the committee submits its report," the CM told reporters.

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Bangalore Metropolitan Region Development Authority (BMRDA)

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Investing in Property?
The promise of a fancy lifestyle, in a layout free of the city's clutter. Fall for the bait, and you could find the reality is starkly different. As more fringe players enter the city's realty market without credentials to back them, the Bangalore Development Authority (BDA) is looking at long-term measures to check the trend.

The BDA recently issued a notice cautioning the public against buying sites in a particular property, saying the developers did not have the agency's sanction for the plan. While the BDA maintains buyers and related companies are solely responsible for problems arising out of transactions in unauthorized layouts, it is hard not to ask the question: Why can't the law and regulatory measures ensure no builder or developer who doesn't have valid sanctions gets away with tall claims?

Bangalore to provide new address to country’s uber-rich
Once ready, it will be the tallest residential building in India outside of Mumbai, with a height of 165m.

Bangalore, India’s technology capital, will soon boast a 47-floor highrise on Residency Road targeted at India’s uber-rich, with each condominium priced at anywhere between Rs23 crore and Rs40 crore (about $5-9 million).

The residential tower, called Bangalore 47, is being developed by a consortium comprising Bangalore-based realty marketer Asipac Projects Ltd, project management and architecture design firm Synergy Property Development Services Pvt. Ltd (35% owned by private equity firm Blackstone Group LP) and property developer S.S. Kumar at an estimated cost of Rs559.75 crore. The project will have a built-up area of around 287,000 sq. ft and is expected to be ready by 2011.

Mysore authority competes with developers for agricultural land
Mysore city authorities have a proposal for farmers who own land in and around the city: Part with your plot for nothing and get 18% of it back after it is developed and potentially more valuable.The Mysore Urban Development Authority (Muda) thinks it’s offering a good deal to farmers as it competes with private developers for land to build public housing in a city where property prices have doubled in 18 months. Whether the offer will find takers is in some doubt.

Realty prices may go up in Bangalore
A bullish inflationary scenario, ever-rising commodity prices, hardening of interest rates and strengthening of the rupee. These are the key factors that are making real estate developers in the city wake up to hard realities. Despite all these odds, realty players, so far, have been trying to have their feet on the ground shielding severe competition in terms of price pressures and uneven demand and supply conditions.

City realty developers have now decided to pass a portion of their burden to their patrons, realising the fact that they cannot afford to bleed anymore.

New fees push up construction cost
The cost of construction activity in the city has truly skyrocketed. After the recent guidance value and building valuation rate revision by the state government, the BBMP has hiked the fees for pre-construction sanctions - licence fee, ground rent, certified copy fee, building plan copy fee and compound wall fee. This apart, the BBMP has also introduced fees under two new heads - commencement and application fees. These new rates came into effect on Nov 17, 2007.

BDAs hi-rises will lay low your independence dreams
From now on, one- or two-room houses will be allotted only in ground + 3 or + 4 storied structures without elevator facility. This applies to higher-category houses as well but, for such houses, one has to opt for high-rise structures. BDA proposes to go skywards as it finds it necessary to address the increasing housing demand in the City. The master plan (MP) points out that total residential area (built and occupied) in Bangalore has gone up by 44 sq km between 1990 and 2003.

Indian cities see beginning of oversupply situation
According to a study released by global property advisers DTZ, Indian A-Grade leasehold office space markets were currently at an all time high, both in terms of the quantum of space leased per annum and the prevailing rental values.

Land grab by other means?
As the common man grapples with booming property prices, and industries and government departments jostle for space, mass purchase of government land by private developers has become a default target of protesters.

QVC Realty, venture fund real estate co launched
Mr. Prakash Gurbaxani, well known serial entrepreneur and one of the pioneers of ITeS industry in India, today announced the launch of his new venture QVC Realty the first venture-funded Real Estate Company in the country.

Luxury homes come with a price
Luxury will come with a premium. By April, you may have to shell out some extra money to the stamps and registration department if the property you are going to buy boasts special amenities.

Land prices set to move both ways
The guidance value of properties in the city is set to undergo a revision. This means prices will either rise or go down depending on the area. Coming into effect by the yearend, a minimum 30% increase in guidance value is expected.

For the average Bangalorean, owning a house in the city will remain a dream
“While "outsiders' are not the ones to be blamed, we cannot wish away the fact that "locals' cannot afford the high rents that IT professionals can pay and the general increase in the prices of every commodity because of a small percentage (may not remain small for long, though) of these men and women. Those who are non-IT professionals are shooed away when looking for a rented house (I have seen and experienced it myself) because the landlord prefers "Software" engineers. The disparity will, in my opinion, encourage increased corruption among the government employees.”