To some the news of the possible changes in project finance by banks and other sectoral lenders might appear to have come out of the blue. But the fact is that RBI has been in a process of tightening and cleaning up the system of every segment and subsegment of banking and financial services for more than the last one and a half years. Infact the first set of companies where the tightening of the norms was implemented were housing finance companies. Right from raising capital to disbursement norms, everything was tightened. Whenever there is tightening of norms, stocks from that sector tend to correct. Same has been the case with housing finance companies, they have underperformed in the last one year of bull run. But as the companies adjust to new norms, there will be some players who probably would make a comeback faster. Given the fact that despite all the problems which the sector has faced, it has still grown on an overall basis and there is no reason to believe that this will n
First, it was unsecured loans, then it was housing finance companies and in the last two days, it has been micro finance companies. RBI has been taking stock of each segment of the financial service and tightening the norms so that accidents like 2018 can be avoided. Whenever there is tightening of norms, stocks from that sector tend to correct. The question is whether that correction is something which is an opportunity or not. One part of the answer lies in looking at overall market size and the growth. In the case of the housing finance segment, there is hardly any doubt about growth potential. So, if the growth potential then corrections are opportunities. But that is for companies which are able to adapt to the changing regulatory provisions, they will stand to gain in the long term.
In the last Budget speech of the Modi 2.0 government, the FM said the scheme will help deserving sections of the middle class, who are currently living in rented houses or slums or chawls and unauthorised colonies, to buy or build their own houses. The top gainer in the pack was HUDCO, whose shares jumped 18% to hit a 52-week high of Rs 204.40 on the NSE. Repco Home Finance surged up to 14% and also hit a 52-week high of Rs 463.25.
Even though the Union Budget stepped away from lining up populist measures in the election year, it did provide some stock-specific measures that brought cheer to pockets within the market
Housing finance as an industry had its fair share of controversies. If one looks at the root cause of the NBFC crisis, it is clear, it was housing finance companies which were at the centre of the crisis. If one looks globally also, either directly or indirectly, they have been at the root of a financial crisis or a scam. One of the reasons why this sector carries such risk is that the underlying asset, which is real estate itself, is both cyclical and non-transparent. Despite all the ills, one of the biggest wealth creators in the history of the Indian stock market has been a housing finance company, erstwhile HDFC which now merged with HDFC bank. So, while they must have a portfolio, what you own is more important.