Good morning, Microsoft recently made public its plans to acquire the gaming company - Activision Blizzard, in a blockbuster deal.
Per CNN, this all-cash transaction is valued at USD68.7 billion, and it will make Microsoft the third-largest gaming company by revenue, after Tencent and Sony.
With this deal, the MS Excel maker is also lobbing a direct challenge to Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg in the race to build virtual worlds popularly known as the metaverse.
🎮 And the key that will unlock the metaverse, Microsoft’s execs believe, is video games.
🤑 - Companies selling virtual land in metaverses.
😷↔1 metre↔😷 - Rest of us.
2022 Top Trends: New Launches & Diversification
To get a sneak peek into the minds of India's top real estate developers, CREDAI recently concluded a survey of builders hailing from 21 states, including our 8 tier-1 cities.
The Annual Real Estate Developers Sentiment Survey 2022
Short sips from the report
📎 Around 35% of builders surveyed expect property prices to rise by 10-20%, 25% of builders foresee up to a 10% hike in rates, and 21% expect property prices to rise in the range of 20 - 30%.
📎 92% of the builders surveyed said they were planning new launches in 2022.
📎 65% of builders want to explore new business models like co-working and co-living this year.
📎 74% of builders want more ease of doing business.
📎 55% cent are expected to adopt virtual reality in their business in 2022.
Word On The Street
🎙 “Most of the developers are focusing on digital transformation which has led to an increase in online sales for at least 55% of them, and are adopting new technologies like VR...."
"Interestingly, 39% of the developers are doing 25% sales online which we think will increase substantially this year.”, said CREDAI's National President.
Does Rent-To-Buy Truly Work?
When one is unable to obtain a housing loan, the door to home ownership is impossible to open.
But what if a company made this enticing offer to renters: it would buy a house of her choice and rent it to her, with the promise that she could purchase the property for a fixed price if she came up with the money within five years.
Say hello to the rent-to-buy model. Yup, it's not a typo.
It's A Hot Market, But. . .
Today, companies pushing such offers are hot in Silicon Valley and Wall Street.
But is the rent-to-buy model a financial innovation that will unlock the promise of home ownership for those who have been shut out of mortgage finance?
Or is it primarily a way of sourcing properties to create a new breed of corporate landlord?
Deep dive into an insightful FT coverage this Thursday morning. 👍
Bullish On Office Real Estate
We found a whole load of happy news hiding inside this Bloomberg-Quint report - stuff that office space developers will love.
You Don't Say?
Yes. ICICI Securities has expressed that it remains bullish on office asset developers.
The brokerage feels that improved pace of vaccinations and employees returning to offices will result in an uptick in net office absorption over the next three years.
Also, competitive rentals, in IT/ITeS-driven markets of south India and NCR/Pune, combined with a gradual rise in hiring could trigger demand for office space.
Why So Bullish?
Per analysts from ICICI Securities, who have termed 2022 as 'the year of office leasing recovery', there are 3 solid reasons.
📌 Though occupiers' return-to-office plans were pushed back by a quarter owing to Omicron, new enquiries have gained traction, and from April 2022 onwards, many enquiries could turn into leases.
📌 India's long-term advantage as a high-quality office hub remains intact.
📌 Quality talent pool, affordable rentals and high entry barriers will help established players in the sector.
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In some heartening news, there is little downside risk to the Indian economy in the last months of this financial year from Omicron, according to economists polled by Reuters.
Have a great day. 💚
☕ The Crew@Ginger Chai