I Don’t See Any Property Bubble in the Making

Within a short span of three years of its inception, NCR-based Rise Infraventures has emerged as a sought-after real estate brokerage firm, achieving a valuation of over Rs 250 crore. Today, this Gurgaon-based real estate consultancy that largely works in the high-end residential and commercial segment, has more than 15000 clients and has facilitated the sale of 25 million sq ft of real estate.

Rise Infraventures promoted by Sachin Gawri and Shantanu Gambhir has three verticals. Rise Homes deals in mid-segment properties in the range of Rs 1 crore- Rs 2.5 crore while Rise Infraventures caters to luxury apartments and commercial real estate. Rise International deals in international sales. Presently, the company which has offices in Delhi, Gurgaon, Mumbai, Dubai and Singapore , has drawn up ambitious plans for expansion. In an exclusive interview with Torbit Realty, Sachin Gawri, Founder & CEO, Rise Infraventures, talks about the pricing trends, rise of luxury realty and company’s expansion/growth plans. Excerpts       Vinod Behl

How did you achieve an impressive valuation of over Rs 250 crore within three years of the formation of the company and how do you look forward to capitalising on it ?  

We are able to achieve this incredible valuation on account of our robust performance in the luxury segment and the big expansion in our customer base. It is also the result of our massive expansion last year, extending our footprint in western India and opening our new offices in Mumbai and Delhi.Today, we have two offices each in Gurgaon and Mumbai and one in Delhi. We have been able to earn the trust of customers as we sell the products of top notch developers like DLF, Prestige, Godrej, Lodha, Hiranandani, M3M, Signature Global and offer seamless services with full transparency .

How do you look at the trend of dip in affordable housing and rise in luxury real estate?

Such cyclic phases are common in real estate . About a couple of years back, affordable housing was reigning supreme and today luxury housing is on the rise. As per market history such trends normally go for 2-3 years. As things stand developers will continue to focus on luxury housing as they won’t like to miss out on opportunity cost. But let me add that though luxury housing is doing phenomenally well, affordable housing continues to do well.

There is this growing trend of brokers turning developers. Do you have any such plans ?  

For us it is very easy to become a developer. especially when so much is going in favour. We have an excellent sale record. We can get land on PDC and  avail construction loan  on account of our sound financial health. We can  even benefit from asset light model  and get land as equity from a JV partner. Land owners are looking for selling partners. We are getting very good offers but we have taken a strategic decision against turning developer. Instead we will continue to focus on our core business of real estate consultancy and leverage the immense opportunities that are there.

The way property prices are going up, there is a fear property bubble in the making. Please comment.

I don’t see any property bubble in the making .The 2012-13 case was different. At that time, the market was unregulated and the infrastructure development was low. Yet the correction in delivered projects in Gurgaon was just about 5-10 percent. However, today the real estate market is well-rgulated and reforms like RERA and IBC have considerably improved the market sentiment as well as the confidence of property consumers. Moreover, the massive infrastructure development programmes launched by the Modi government have provided big connectivity boost to real estate. That explains why despite price increase, demand remains high. Earlier it was an end-users market but today both end-users and investors are driving it Moreover, in view of strengthening dollar, NRIs are making substantial investments. In this scenario, I don’t see prices coming down . These may at best remain stable, if not go up.

What are your expansion/growth plans? 

Buoyed by 20-30 percent share of NRIs in our overall sales, we will be tapping  the burgeoning NRI market We will be entering newer high potential global markets of UK, Australia and the US (Newyork). We will make NRIs invest in Indian real estate, besides tapping Indians for making investments in overseas destinations. As part of our strategic expansion plan, we will be targeting Tier 2 cities of India including Lucknow, Tricity of Chandigarh, Noida, Jaipur. there is a lot of traction in these cities and people prefer to have even second home there. By 2024-25, we plan to enter Bangalore market. Plans are also afoot to get into Pune market.

What will be your focus areas and targets?

Delhi-NCR, Mumbai and South India are our focus markets. Also our focus will remain only on primary market. In 2023, the company expects to do a business of Rs 3000 crore. By 2025, we aim to clock sales of Rs 9490 crore. Rise Infra aims to capture atleast 4 percent market share in Delhi-NCR and 2 percent share in Mumbai market in next two years.