There is a shortage of housing of over 20 million dwelling units in both rural and urban areas. The investment required to achieve the National dream of everybody owning a home is estimated to be around Rs.400,000 crores including cost of civil infrastructure like water supply, sanitation, electricity, roads etc. Till a decade or two ago, the responsibility of providing housing and urban infrastructure was left to the Improvement Trusts/Housing Boards/Development Authorities. However, it was observed that despite best efforts, they have not been able to meet the challenges and expectations of the public. There is a shift in the approach to encourage more competitive participation of private sector in housing and civil infrastructure development. Following this trend, Delhi-based real estate developer, Ansal Housing and Construction Ltd will develop houses for the economically weaker sections (EWS) of the society at Ashiana Colony in Lucknow. The company will develop a total of 2,352 houses for the EWS sections of the society, which will be constructed under the scheme of 'Mayavar Kanshi Ramji Nagar Awas Yojna'. The company has been awarded the contract worth Rs 48.5 crore by the Lucknow Development Authority (LDA). These houses will be developed by December 2008. Also, concerned over the rising shortage of housing in India, the National Housing Bank (NHB) has announced the launch of pro-poor housing finance schemes in India.

Despite of the fact that the Haryana government has failed to provide adequate water and power to the existing population, the Haryana government continues to indiscriminately release licenses to developers for more projects. Being worried about the severe depletion of groundwater which will in turn lead to environmental and ecological degradation due to mindless and unplanned development. The residents' associations of Gurgaon have moved the Supreme Court, seeking a complete ban on any more residential and commercial projects in Gurgaon and surrounding areas. They have demanded that the state agencies should first ensure adequate water supply to the existing population before thinking of future expansion. The petition also sought immediate ban on mass-scale extraction of scarce groundwater and its misuse for construction and commercial activities by the builders. What's more, due to shortage in canal water supply, 70 per cent of the total water demand is being met by extracting groundwater The Central Ground Water Authority has announced Gurgaon as 'Dark Zone' and as per its report groundwater is being drawn three times its recharge. The petitioners have also claimed that a number of developers had managed to get environment clearances from the Ministry by furnishing false information that fifty percent of the water used in the construction process was supplied by the municipal sources (canal supply) and rest half by the contractors. The petitioners have brought into notice that in less than 15 years more than 10, 000 acres agriculture land has been converted into modern townships comprising state-of-the art residential, commercial and industrial townships.

Real estate developer Landmark Group would invest over Rs 4,000 crore in developing 12 properties across the northern region in the next 3-4 years. The company would fund the projects through internal accruals and raisings from private equities. Though the prime source of funding for these projects would be company’s own resources but it will also encourage private equity players' participation. The NCR-based firm has planned to develop three hotels, two five star and one budget hotels in the next three years, which could entail an investment of about Rs 700 crore. Landmark Group is developing a 3,000-room five-star hotel in Dharuhera and a budget hotel in Gurgaon with about 120 rooms. Besides these projects, Landmark Group is currently developing 600 flats in a residential project at Gurgaon. Landmark Group has posted a turnover of Rs 430 crore during the last financial year. The net worth of the company, at present, stands at about Rs 1,350 crore.

Many expect a further correction in home prices in India. Since the volumes of property transactions are going down, hence the asking price for property will also go down. Additionally, over-supply of property is posing as a major reason for the slow down in Real Estate prices.Recent media reports have also suggested the same trend. Reports suggest that Real Estate Prices in Mumbai, Bangalore, Pune, and National Capital Region have corrected 15-20% in the first quarter of this year. Market-watchers say that this trend will be repeated across the Tier II cities and suburbs too. No wonder property developers are wooing prospective users with all sorts of offers. Some are even offering lower EMIs for flats while some are offering goodies like cars along with property. Still others are wavering off the stamp duty prices.
Are the property prices coming down in your area? Is the property slow down really impacting the end user in a major way? Should the home seekers cheer for some reasons? Is there a possibility of a market dive? Or is this a temporary phase in the housing segment?

The main difference between a realtor and a real estate agent is credentials. People use the terms REALTOR® and real estate agent interchangeably, but that is incorrect. There are differences between REALTORS® and real estate agents. They are not the same. Although both are licensed to sell real estate, the basic difference between a real estate agent and a REALTOR® .As such, the main difference that you hear a lot about -- but are likely confused about -- is that a REALTOR® must subscribe to the REALTOR® Code of Ethics. But what does this mean to a consumer? A realtor has more training and experience in the real estate market than does a real estate agent. Where both a realtor and real estate agent have licenses, the realtor has gone the extra mile in obtaining a further level of expertise in their professions. Realtors® follow a code of ethics and typically receive many helpful tools from the Association including a legal hotline and official contracts to write offers. When you hire a real estate agent you are essentially hiring the brokerage. The broker is your agent and his salespersons are his agents. So when you go out looking at homes with a salesperson, you are essentially dealing with your agent’s agent. However, usually everyone down the line is a Realtor® because every agent in that company is a member of the Association of Realtors®.