Real estate inventory await bulk buying

In an encouraging development in the country’s real estate sector, score of real estate dedicated funds are keen for bulk buying of inventory from developers and holding it for two-three years, said an avid market watcher, adding that the trend reflects another variant of structured debts and gives an opportunity to cash-starved developers to attract fund to ongoing projects. In such a scenario, the funding companies provide money to projects in near-completion stages and buy apartments at a discount of 20-25% and hold the asset for a period of two years. In the emerging development, players like Piramal Fund Management, Nisus Finance, Centrum-owned IPAL and JLL’s investment arm Segregated Funds, ICICI Prudential’s real estate arm, and Edelweiss are among those who have been embarking on such initiatives. Real estate focused fund Nisus Finance Services Co says the company is able to secure good deals, said player, adding that it is looking at bulk buying of inventory at deep discount and the company invests in projects which are nearing completions and hold on to the investment for about 2-3 years. Similarly, Piramal Fund Management has already been doing such deals and has made several such investments in Mumbai and Chennai among others and has even raised funds to the tune of Rs.500 crore for such projects. Similarly, Segregated Funds Group, which is the investment arm of the consultancy firm, Jones Lang LaSalle India, has also been investing heavily in bulk buying of inventory and currently commands assets worth Rs.600 crore under management, said CEO, JLL Segregated Fund Group, Mridul Upreti, adding that the company has invested in projects in NCR, Bengaluru and Pune among others.