Over 62 per cent loan advances totally stress-free: Study

In fact, the stress on this segment is largely on recovery of interest and not on principal amount. $14 bn (or merely 16%) of overall lending to Indian real estate is under ‘severe’ stress, meaning that there has been high leveraging by the concerned developers who have either limited or extremely poor visibility of debt servicing due to a combination of factors. The ‘stress’ loan amount in real estate is not as bad as seen in other major sectors like telecom and steel. For instance, the entire ‘severe stressed’ loan value in real estate is spread across more than 50 developers. In the telecom or steel industries, default by a single company alone equals a sizable portion of the overall stress in the real estate sector. Also, every real estate loan is backed by hard security, which is anywhere between 1.5 times to 2 times. Even if the loan is NPA, there is enough security for the lenders to get a significant portion of their money back. Even if defaulting developers decide to sell their real estate at a discount, there is enough margin for them to pay back.”

Housing Finance Companies (HFCs) accounted for the largest share of total realty loans equalling 38%, followed by banks which comprised nearly 34% share while NBFCs have 28% (including loans given under trusteeships). Of these, banks and HFCs are much better placed with 70% and 65% of their lending book in a comfortable position. However, it also comes as no surprise that nearly 58% of the total NBFC lending is on a watchlist.

“In retrospect, there has been continuous shrinkage of lending to Indian real estate in recent years by both banks and NBFCs/HFCs amidst non-repayment of some loan dues and NBFC crisis post the IL&FS default,” says Agarwal. “Prime reason was that sluggish residential sales over the last few years completely dried up cash flows for many developers, resulting in unsold inventory pile-up and, thus, their inability to service their loans. Moreover, some developers have even filed for bankruptcy in the backdrop of stricter regulatory norms under RERA.”