>REAL ESTATE (ANTIQUE)

To Hell and Back

■ The worst is over – Liquidity and demand concerns have abated and property stocks are back in the spotlight.

■ Home buyers are back – After several months of subdued demand, home buyers are back.

■ Affordability has improved – Lower property prices, small apartment sizes and lower mortgage rates have made homes more affordable.

■ Better buyer confidence – Improved job security and income visibility is encouraging customers to buy homes.

■ Liquidity crunch has eased – Developers are in better shape after debt restructuring, infusion of funds through QIPs and non-strategic assets sales.

■ Change in strategy – Focus is on affordable homes and pre-sale of projects. Commercial and retail segments are yet to see meaningful recovery.

■ Catalysts and challenges – Continued improvement in home demand, increase in property prices and revival of the office segment are catalysts going forward while scale up in construction activity and project execution will be a key challenge.

■ Initiate with BUY – We initiate coverage on the sector with a BUY rating on four stocks DLF (Target Price INR520), Unitech (Target Price INR136), HDIL (Target Price INR411) and Indiabulls Real Estate (Target Price INR355).

To see full report: REAL ESTATE