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| REAL ESTATE |
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Residential market Region round up:
Himachal Illusive gains
Party of the year Tax tips Commercial segment Single Window Clearance System to be priority in 2014
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More lows than highs Low sale volumes, fall in the number of new launches and delays in delivery dogged the sector even as the government took landmark steps to ensure fair trade practices in 2013 For all those who had stepped into the first month of 2013 with high hopes of a revival in the real estate sector, the year remained a dismal one as the troubles of 2012 only compounded with each passing month. High rate of inflation, rupee depreciation, poor liquidity, and tottering stock markets plagued the sector over the past 12 months. While the rising cost of labour and construction, fund crunch, rising inventories and low sales added to the woes of developers, delays in the completion of projects gave nightmares to the buyers. “The year was a drag for the Indian economy with poor macroeconomic conditions. Slowing income growth, sustained weakness in the rupee, sky-rocketing inflation and high borrowing rates combined to make consumers vary of spending and this eroded the consumer confidence substantially,” says Anuj Puri, Chairman and Country Head, JLL, India. The year remained a challenging one for the sector as since April onwards the economy registered a growth of less than 5 per cent. This economic slowdown reduced the pace of sales and subdued buyers’ sentiments. With the increase in purchasing cost of daily household objects, the buyers and investors adopted a wait-and-watch policy and delayed their investments. However, certain policy moves and the shift in focus to end users in the realty market kept the hopes of stakeholders high during this year. The year of reforms Some major reforms were rolled out for the sector in the second half of the year. The main being the “Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Bill, 2013”, that was granted clearance by Parliament. The move marked the end of an archaic land acquisition Act and ensured fair compensation to land owners. Market watchers, however, expressed apprehensions that this will lead to price escalation for the end users as developers would pass on the burden of increased land prices to the buyers. The much awaited Real Estate Regulatory Bill, however, failed to get clearance in 2013 also. The developers’ lobby kept on its incessant opposition to certain clauses and bylaws of the draft Bill. The main bone of contention was the proposed ban on the practice of pre-launches that is being used by developers to raise funds. Strict penalty norms for violators were also objected to by developers’ bodies such as CREDAI. RBI also took steps to ensure best practices in the sector by issuing advisory to banks to not support 80:20 subvention schemes (20 per cent of the booking amount in advance and the remaining 80 per cent to be paid after possession) being offered by developers to give a boost to sales. Other key reform moves made in 2013 included the easing of SEZ norms and new fund-raising norms for housing finance companies and builders through external commercial borrowings for low-cost housing. The overseas borrowing norms for infrastructure finance companies were also relaxed. The National Housing Bank formed a Mortgage Guarantee Company to extend mortgage guarantees to banks and housing finance companies against defaults by home loan borrowers. With fund crunch being the major concern for developers, SEBI’s (Securities and Exchange Board of India) move to present draft norms for real estate investment trusts (REITs) opened doors for safe and transparent investments in the sector. REITs give retail investors an avenue to make safe and transparent investment in real estate while providing a lifeline to fund-starved developers. The year of end users A positive trend that emerges while taking stock of the year is the shift in focus towards the end users. With investors getting wary of stepping into an uncertain market, the field was clear for genuine buyers and hence the market, especially in the residential sector became end-user driven rather than investor driven. Talking of trend that changed the market dynamics in 2013 Puri says, “2013 saw a decisive shift of bargaining power in favour of buyers. Towards mid-year, a significant fall in the rupee against the US dollar gave NRIs and foreign investors an opportunity to earn incremental returns of 10-15 per cent merely on the exchange rate movement (the rupee has partially recovered since then). Further, developers’ willingness to lower prices by 10-15 per cent gave serious local buyers a chance to get genuine bargains on their property purchases. Therefore, the market presented good windows of opportunity (albeit small ones) at fairly regular intervals”. Year in glance
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“Throughout 2013 the property prices in almost all the key property markets remained stable and some even saw a minor drop. Most of the property markets exhibited 10 to less than 10 per cent rise, which can be put under the stable category”, says Aditya Verma, CEO, Makaan.com Preference for affordable Some hope on loan front Retail realty
“One noticeable trend was that tier II-III cities emerged as attractive centres due to increasing disposable income, real estate cost advantage and high absorption”, says Behl. “Considering the economical and political instability, investment outlook does not look brighter. But as the capital and rental values are expected to remain stable on weak sentiment, retailers could well utilise this opportunity to consolidate and further expand their businesses”, he adds.
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Region round up:
Himachal The slowdown story continued in Himachal Pradesh too in 2013. The demand for flats has remained low, particularly in the semi-urban areas with the trend of owning independent houses dominating the residential sector in the state. The confusion created by the state government to initially scrap the HP Apartments and Property Regulation Act, 2005, and merge it with the Town and Country Planning Act after changing its implementing authority from the Himachal Housing and Urban Development Authority also acted as a deterrent in the growth of this sector. Districts like Solan, Shimla,Una, etc., that had been the hub of investment by builders from the neighbouring Punjab, Delhi and Haryana in the last several years too saw a decline in sale and purchase in 2013. Stringent measures like change in the rules for granting lease, curb on property transactions executed on General Power of Attorney, inquiries on violators like the Bemloe Project in Shimla, several projects in Kasauli, etc., created an atmosphere of uncertainty thus discouraging major investors from investing in the state. With rules regarding granting permission to buy land by the outsiders under Section 118 of the HP Tenancy and Land Reforms Act, 1972, becoming stringent, very little sale-purchase actually took place in the state. The emergence of several cases of violations of this Act had exposed how shady land deals had been executed by the outsiders in the past. Interestingly, in spite of this grim scenario the price correction remained minimal. Even the prices of flats had not reduced as investors preferred to adopt a wait-and-watch policy. “Though a minimal concession of
Rs 50,000 to Rs 80,000 per flat was at times offered to those buying flats, given high cost of these flats these incentives failed to attract buyers,” says Sunil Kumar, a Solan-based realtor. The brisk sale of land in the past several years had led to prime land being sold off and those interested in small time investment were now looking for interior rural areas where the prices continue to be at an all-time high.
Indirect gains The stringency adopted in according permissions in the rural areas had indirectly proved to be a boon for the municipal committee areas where an average increase of 10 to 15 per cent was witnessed, informs Anil Manrao, a builder who is coming up with a housing project in Shimla. He adds that since an outsider could buy land within the municipal limits, these urban areas were witnessing an increase in demand and were also promising good returns on such investments. A similar boom was witnessed in other MC areas of the state where demand for quality housing appear to be catching up and apart from the local builders even outsiders are launching housing projects. Renowned groups like DLF, BTM, Tata Housing, JLPL, Amarvati, etc., are coming up with luxury housing in different parts of the state. The speedy growth near the MC areas had prompted the Town and Country Planning Department to extend the purview of its Planning Area to 27 other towns. The department presently looks after 23 towns. Though the realty sector had slowed down, the enthusiasm among the builders and buyers was still visible from the never-ending inquires the property dealers received from the prospective buyers.
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The Punjab Government adopted a proactive approach by announcing a new housing policy and a move to regularise illegal colonies in 2013. However, realty fortunes in all major cities of the state remained lacklustre Patiala The whole of 2013 fared poorly for the realty sector in and around Patiala as the sale of both commercial and residential properties saw a slump for the initial part of the year due to escalating cost of building raw material, while in the second half of the year the government’s new policy on illegal colonies made life difficult for property buyers. The royal city of Patiala witnessed a sharp dip in the number of properties being sold.
While property dealers in many parts of the city rue the fact that buyers are hard to find, the prices have not come down. Those who have the holding power have managed to stick to their investments and are still playing the wait-and-watch game hoping for better days. “Due to little money in the market, buyers are hard to find, but prices are stable in a majority of the areas”, said Jaswinder Tiwana, a property dealer on Bhadson Road. “Most of the sales that have taken place are desperate sales wherein the owners needed cash immediately and were even willing to sell at lower rates, as there are hardly any buyers to find with instant paying capacity”, he added. The property market in Patiala is still recovering in terms of the meltdown, seen earlier and investments, though slow are pouring in now. The realty sector was hit badly by the increasing economic meltdown due to which people were reluctant to invest and buying has been limited to only for personal use, giving the investment realty buying a halt. Significant increase in the cost of construction material throughout 2013 dealt a severe blow to the property market as developers were not anle to complete the ongoing projects. This delay also drove buyers away from the scene. As a result there was massive stagnation in the market. “While last year the rate in Charan Bagh was around Rs 24,000 to Rs 30,000 per sq yd, it is still the same”, says BB Vij, of VIJ properties, He added that rates were almost stable in all colonies, and buyers are now more circumspect given the government’s recent policy to regularise illegal colonies. “Now only sale and purchase in legal colonies is allowed due to which there is a marginal price hike, but that is not too good for the market”, he said. The rates in residential colonies in posh areas vary from Rs 15,000 to Rs 40,000 per sq yd. Commercial property prices, however, saw appreciation in many parts of the city. The commercial property rates in the city are roughly between Rs 20,000 per sq yard to Rs 2 lakh per sq yd. Ludhiana The real estate scene in Ludhiana remained lukewarm throughout 2013 with no buyers for property. Many housing projects came up near Pakhowal Road, Jalandhar bypass and near South City but absence of end users kept the sales volume dismally low. “The market remained stagnant throughout the year and both sellers and buyers kept waiting for the scale to move downward or upward. It was only the genuine buyer or the end user who was active in the market,” said Vivek Gupta, from V.G. Properties. “The July-September quarter was subuded for the real estate market and was possibly one of the worst quarters in terms of sales across cities. A combination of discounts and flexible pricing was keeping up the sales in the past few months,” said another property consultant, Jasbir Singh from Pakhowal Road. State government’s new polices also added to the woes of the sector in the state in 2013. “State government’s new policies of regularising the colonies, increasing taxes snuffed out whatever little life was there in the market,” says Tejinder Singh, another property advisor. “Builders have pinned their hopes on the forthcoming elections and they are hoping that the new government will help bring the economy back on track,” said a real estate agent, Tarsem Singh. The absence of buyers, ongoing cash crunch, introduction of new taxes, lack of liquidity in the market and builders’ inability to raise credit from banks were the main reasons which affected real estate scene in 2013. Bathinda Ban on mining, property tax, illegal colonies dampened the real estate sector The ban imposed on mining led to scarcity of sand and gravel and hit the construction activity greatly. The revised collector rates were another factor that hit the realty sector greatly. The property dealers opposed this revision vehemently. The increase in collector rates affected the slabs of property tax as well as the procedure of regularisation of the illegal colonies. While government justifies the property tax by stating that the amount being charge is “very normal” as compared to the rate of property, people — especially owners of the commercial establishments have opposed it as it has added to their already overburdened pockets due to other taxes. Owners of illegal colonies have also been demanding a simplified procedure of filing for authorisation of their colonies. People feel that the government officials do not allow their demands to reach the target audience (political leaders), which is affecting not even the government exchequer but also is denting the image of the government.
Jalandhar Very few investments took place in Jalandhar, especially in the second half of 2013. Barring one or two ongoing projects, no real estate company announced any new residential or commercial scheme in the city or periphery. The owners of shopping complexes claim that it had been a bad year for them as they did not even get any new MNC client even for rental purposes. Several malls in the city have had just a few occupied stores left. Ansal Plaza, falling on the busiest Jalandhar-Phagwara, has gone vacant and is now completely closed. Even plots in the already developed government schemes failed to attract any buyers. Most auctions conducted by the PUDA this year also got ‘zero’ response. Ashwini Verma, a local realtor, said , “First, the government announced a hefty amount of property tax. People were just about to come out of this shock when they were told that no new registry for an unapproved colony would be done. Even a bigger problem came when the policy of regularisation of illegal colonies was introduced. While all such policies were required to regulate the haphazard growth and the charges were later also rectified, but these certainly brought an already slow business to a screeching halt”. However, not everyone is holding the government policies responsible as Sukhpreet Singh, a local builder, said the policies were not wrong but their timing was. “There already was an ongoing recession in the market. When the government introduced these policies, the money which could have otherwise rotated went into the government kitty. Now it will be only when the government invests its collection for some development that this money will come out and get circulated.” On the ongoing situation, he said that he hardly did any sale-purchase this year. “The only buyers in the market now are the genuine ones for whom investing in a house is a necessity”, he said. Even government bodies did not float any new scheme this year. The Jalandhar Improvement Trust had announced its plans of constructing Super Deluxe Flats in Surya Enclave last year but these did not materialise even this year. It could not be worse for the authorities as the allottees of plots in a two-year-old Surya Enclave Extension Scheme even stopped paying further instalments. Jalandhar Development Authority also dwelled on quite a few commercial and residential schemes at old jail site and old DC office but these have been withheld. The plan of Urban Estate Phase-III at Pholariwal, too, got shelved as the farmers did not show any response to the scheme. SE JIT Mukul Soni said, “In the coming year, it will be even more difficult for the government to plan any scheme owing to harsher policies under the land acquisition Actthat will come into effect from January 1, 2014. Land acquisition will become far more difficult”.
Haryana’s pool of NCR towns grew bigger this year. While the realty sector remained upbeat in Gurgaon, it struggled for survival in rest of the cities. With Affordable Housing Policy: 2013, the Haryana Government took steps to encourage the planning and completion of group- housing projects within a targeted time-frame to ensure the increased supply of affordable housing Gurgaon
Rohtak Infrastructure development prepared the pitch for a booming realty scene in Rohtak. The city has as many as 13 flyovers planned and work on these is likely to improve connectivity in a big way. The property rates in residential segment remained stable and the commercial segment saw some appreciation due to consistent growth in the past couple of years. Currently, the prices in a majority of the developed sectors are between
Rs 30,000 and Rs 60,000 per sq. yd depending upon location. However, the growth of illegal colonies remained a sore point during the year. The fate of thousands of residents of as many as 37 colonies, who are awaiting regularisation, has been hanging in balance as there is no clear cut policy in place in this regard. The state government has not taken any action in this regard. Some of the growth drivers in the city are:
The newly built byepass ring road near Sector - 6, Rohtak The newly built byepass ring road near Sector - 6, Rohtak Setting up of several educational institutions Ambala
Even as a boom continued evade the property market in and around Ambala, the prices stood steady all through the year dashing the hopes of buyers who were expecting a major market crash by yearend. This has spread optimism among the sellers who now believe that the revival of the property market was just around the corner in 2014. The fact that the state government has recently cut down the regularisation fee for the unapproved colonies in the state, has also raised the expectations of the property dealers that the sale and purchase of the property would soon gain the required momentum. The fact that the RBI had delayed hike in interest rates and the Supreme Court banned registry of properties on the basis of general power of attorney (GPA), had hit the property markets stalling the day-to-day deals, which earlier kept the business going. The slowdown had hit the property dealers badly and many shifted to other trades because of dwindling gains and virtuall no business. However, the changing trends are likely to give a boost to the property business and make it as lucrative as it used to be, said Omkar Nath Pruthi, an ex-president of the Ambala Property Consultants’ Association. Meanwhile, despite the slowdown, the property prices remained steady. While till last year there was talk of big companies such as Unitech, Reliance Industries and DLF acquiring land for their SEZ on Ambala-Naraingarh road, these projects also got shelved due to the slowdown. No new projects were announced in Ambala, this year. — Inputs by Sunit Dhawan, Bijendra Ahlawat and Manish Sirhindi
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Party of the year Leave the last year blahs behind when
New Year rolls in by hosting a party that will be remembered for long
You don’t even have to spend a lot of money to achieve this. You can take a few pieces that were hot for 2013 and revamp them to reflect the 2014 trends. By giving flight to your imagination and a dash of creativity, you can do wonders for the party even in a small space.
Dining high Soft colours and fresh flowers will remind your guests of this bright, cheery party all through the next year. You can keep votive candles in glass holders around the base of your centerpiece to add a soft, radiant glow to your serving table. White votives have a fresh look, while pastel candles add a slight touch of an evening colour. Display food items on a variety of serving trays, plates, tiered dishes, bowls and pedestals. You can even take an option of Woven baskets and trays in light colours as these can add textural interest. Assorted serving dishes in a variety of heights and shapes help make a serving table more visually appealing and make your table look bigger in its size.
Stylish toast Around the stem of each glass, attach a small strip of paper with a toast typed on it. Deck up the champagne display by incorporating gold or champagne-coloured accents on the table. For a fun twist, add gold noisemakers and party favors to the display. If you’re throwing an elegant affair, try a gold table runner and white craft beads to mimic the effect of champagne bubbles.
Bar basics It’s a well known fact; a bar is the centre of attraction for every party. Having a small bar at home is not very uncommon for today’s urban couples. Entertaining guests takes on a whole new meaning when you have a well-stocked mini bar in your living room. Keep some vintage wines and limited-edition of scotch bottles to allure the guest; the bar also has some rare and interesting knick-knacks that add to its attraction.
Something to talk about As every party needs a conversation starter, so use a bare wall to make a statement. Create a photo montage by putting black-and-white pictures of your guests on the wall of the living area. Stack clocks on the mantel to signify the passing of the year; place some sideways or at an angle to add interest. Set the mood with some aromatic flowers by keeping them in a vase for a display on a side table. Pull the Christmas decorations back out and wrap white twinkle-light strands around the aromatic flowers to create a wonderland atmosphere. Place tea candles randomly on every table and the mantel. Spray foam balls gold and hang them from the ceiling using string or monofilament fishing line and white painter’s tape.
Maintain a colour theme Try to keep everything within the colour scheme. Add a single accent colour like pink, red or blue for small items like a vase, candles and beaded garland, but keep coloured accents to a minimum to showcase your primary color scheme. Even the beautiful hue would look great paired with crisp whites, creams and other bright colours such as teal, turquoise and yellow. Of course, so much colour in one room isn’t for the faint hearted, so introduce these tones slowly to avoid being overwhelmed! Furnish your living room with fabrics that go well with the party themes. You can use the beautiful satin, go with novelty prints, the white fur, fleece or netting. This is one of the essential party decoration ideas. You can give your New Year’s party the special treatment it deserves instead of leaving it as an entertaining afterthought at the end of a whirlwind holiday season. New Year’s decorations often get overlooked because most people keep their other winter holiday decorations up through early January, but many people still host New Year’s parties and gatherings and you can add New Year’s items to your other holiday baubles. Make your party the one to remember by planning your decorations and special touches in
advance. Thinkstockphotos/Getty images
— The writer is Creative Director
of Elvy Lifestyle
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Tax tips Q. My mother bought a shop in November 1996 for
Rs 1,60,000 + registration charges Rs 26,000 i.e. for Rs 1,86,000 & sold the same on April 8, 2013 for
Rs 14,00,000. Please advise the price index and cost inflation index for the same for the year 2013-2014. The construction of double storey was done on the shop between June 2004 and November 2004, at a cost of
Rs 1,17,465. Please advise the price index and cost inflation index for the same for the year 2013-2014 and the construction cost at present. Do we have to deposit the capital gain in the capital gain account. What is the time period in which we have to deposit the amount in the capital gain account?
— Arun Pasricha A. Your queries are replied hereunder:
Can I use capital gain to buy house in US? I bought this piece of residential land for
Rs 32 lakh in Gurgaon in my and my wife’s name, bought in 2004. The land was registered in our name in September 2006, and I am in the process of selling it now. The payments for the entire amount were made through my wife’s NRE account. We will get about Rs 200 lakh for the property which had cost me
Rs 32 lakh. I would like to:
Does it matter whether the investment in India is in a residential house/flat or a piece of residential land? Am I restricted in the number of properties in which I can invest in India? If yes, then does the house in America or the remittance to America just treated as overseas remittance by the Indian tax system? Do I get the capital gain exemption for this property in America? What is the indexed value of the
Rs 32 lakh originally spent on the property in Gurgaon? How much tax would I have to pay on the above mentioned investments, including
the exemptions? — R.M. Lal A. Your queries are replied hereunder: On the basis of the facts given in the query capital gain on the sale of plot of land would work out at
Rs 1,42,10,405. The tax has been computed on the basis of the cost inflation index notified for the financial year 2006-07 (the year of registration) and the index for the financial year 2013-14, the year of expected sale. The indexed cost on the basis of the cost inflation index referred to hereinabove would be
Rs 57,89,595.
The amount will have to be invested for the purchase of a residential house within one year before or two years after the date of sale or towards the construction of a residential house within three years after the date of sale. In case you are not able to utilise the entire amount or part of the amount for either of the above purposes before the due date of filing the return, you will have to deposit the net consideration or part thereof as the case may be in a bank account under capital gains scheme account. The amount so deposited can thereafter be withdrawn for the purposes of utilisation towards the purchase or construction of the residential house as the case may be. You have an option to invest the amount of capital gain in the acquisition of tax saving bonds within a period of six months from the date of sale. Such bonds can be purchased for a maximum amount of
Rs 50 lakh in a financial year. These bonds have a lock-in period of three years and carry interest @6% p.a. Taking into account the benefit of exemption of 20.6% tax, the rate of interest is not unfair.
Can an NRI purchaser remit sale amount to NRE account? Q. I am an NRI and own a plot in India which I want to sell and buy a house in India. Is it possible for the purchaser of the plot, who is an NRI, to remit the money to my NRE account? I can then use that money to buy house in India. — Sanjeev Kumar A. It is possible for a non resident Indian (the purchaser) to remit the money to your NRE account towards the sale of plot owned by you in India. You can utilise the amount so deposited in your NRE account for purchase of a house in India.
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Commercial segment The growth was slow in the commercial and retail segments, also, due to the overall dampened economic scenario. According to Puri, “In 2013, the trend of subdued demand for office space continued from the previous year. Thus, rental value (RV) growth was slower than that observed in 2012 (with the exception of Mumbai, where growth was relatively faster). However, capital value (CV) growth was faster than rental value growth during 2013, resulting in a fall of market yields”. Calling the commercial market to be an occupier’s market, real estate expert Vinod Behl says, “Amid mismatch between supply and absorption and low vacancy and commitment levels in functional and under-construction properties, corporates put their expansion plans on hold, while taking to space rationalisation and cost-cutting, thereby giving boost to demand for small and medium office spaces”. Most of the fresh office supply in 2013 came from suburban areas as well as smaller centres due to price differences as several companies shifted their back-end operation centres to the cheaper suburban areas. The IT and outsourcing sector was the main driver of office realty. Reeling under heavy bank debt, the commercial office segment is looking up to new instruments like REITs and bonds backed by rental income from office and shopping malls. “With absorption rate expected to pick up in 2014, this segment — offering stable rental yields, with prospects for capital appreciation with low risk — is expected to gain momentum and remain attractive for occupiers”, adds Behl.
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Single Window Clearance System to be priority in 2014 The NCR Chapter of Confederation of Real Estate Developers Association of India or CREDAI-NCR has mooted a proposal to intensify its efforts for a single window clearance for projects. In a meeting to take stock of 2013, Anil Kumar Sharma, President, CREDAI-NCR & CMD, Amrapali Group and the members of the body were of the view that unnecessary and sometimes motivated delays in clearances of projects and subsequently in issuing the NOC for possession purposes are not only affecting the buyers but also negatively impacting the developers. In the view of experience faced during 2013, the members supported a proposal for concerted and sustained efforts for making the single-window clearance system a reality in 2014. The NCR body also took stock of market and discussed issues such as status quo on policy rates by the RBI, lower sales in 2013, the Real Estate Regulatory Bill, slowdown in economy, impact of RBI’s advisory on subvention scheme, Land Acquisition Act, NGT order in different issues etc. The meeting praised RBI’s bold move to hold policy rates.
— TNS
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Low sale volumes, fall in the number of new launches and delays in delivery dogged the sector even as the government took landmark steps to ensure fair trade practices in 2013
Ambika
Sharma
Punjab: The Punjab Government adopted a proactive approach by announcing a new housing policy and a move to regularise illegal colonies in 2013. However, realty fortunes in all major cities of the state remained lacklustre
The impact of low investor confidence is becoming evident in price correction being seen in the last quarter of the year. According to a report by real estate portal makaan.com there is a fall of 1 to 5 per cent in prices in most of the active real estate markets across the country. 
Price stability
Inflationary pressures hit the retail real estate too. The high costs, rentals and restrictive FDI norms kept this segment tied down in 2013. According to a JLL report the growth of the retail sector, which forms part of the Trade, Hotels and Transport component of India’s GDP, stood at 9.7 per cent y/y on average during the five years until FY2011-12. Last year (FY2013) it fell to 6.4 per cent y/y. In the first quarter of 2013-2014 the performance was even worse, recording growth of a mere 3.9 per cent y/y.
New investors, too, stayed away from the market while waiting for the right time to invest. Those who were already in the business kept waiting for the price to surge a little. 
While the dark clouds of slowdown loomed over realty fortunes for most part of the year, there were a few occasions when the rays of hope seemed to penetrate these dark clouds. The depreciation of rupee against dollar invited interest of the NRIs for investing back home but this proved to be a shortlived hope as once the rupee stabilised, the NRIs also lost their interest. 
The real estate sector of Bathinda and nearby areas witnessed dampened property transactions due to the ban on mining, imposition of of property tax and the complicated procedure of getting illegal colonies authorised.
Local builders and colonisers blame the state government for introducing a multitude of confusing policies for the big crash in the real estate market this year.
“You can’t go wrong if you invest in Gurgaon property” is cited as an undisputed rule by experts. And in 2013 the city lived up to this once again. The “golden” city of Haryana that is also a strong pillar of the economy of the state retained its Midas touch in spite of the depressing scenario in the sector all over the country. While water woes of the city continued this year too, the connectivity factor improved after the launch of Rapid Metro here. Launch of rapid metroScores of new property ventures were launched here in 2013 as the demand remained upbeat. According to a CBRE report, the developer focus in the first half of 2013 remained largely upon luxury housing, attracted by the higher returns offered by this niche segment. There was supply addition in the mid-end/high-end segment as well, but mostly along the Dwarka Expressway and the New Gurgaon area.
New Year’s Eve is the perfect excuse to get your creative juices flowing. The right decor makes your celebrations complete, it also helps your party to stand out from all the other New Year Eve bashes. 
For a celebration your serving table should reflect the arrival of glorious moments. Home bash on New Year’s Eve with a small table of loved ones might even be an ideal for those who especially enjoy cooking, hosting, and the ease of never having to figure out where to park. 
Don’t be afraid to mix and match solid-coloured, patterned and white serving dishes with sparkling crystal servers. 
New Year’s Eve can make you even call for a champagne toast. Allow the champagne to inform some of your New Year’s party decorations by creating an elegant display out of champagne glasses on a buffet or other table. 
Q. I am an OCI (Overseas Citizen of India) and hold an American Passport. I was an NRI and held an Indian passport when I originally bought a property in Gurgaon.