Washington  - Lenders are taking back homes in the United States at a record pace as families can't afford mortgage payments, according to an industry report Thursday indicating the country's housing crisis deepened further at the end of last year.

The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) said 3.3 per cent of all mortgage-holders were in foreclosure at the end of 2008 - up 126 per cent from a year ago - and 7.88 per cent were behind on at least one monthly payment.

Both numbers were the highest ever recorded since MBA's records began in 1972.

Parsvnath Developers Limited (PDL), a New Delhi-based real estate developer, has notified that it has finally launched Parsvnath Royale Floors, an affordable residential project as part of its integrated township plans in Lucknow.

Under the latest project, the company offers 2, 3 and 4 bedroom units in a price range of Rs 13.95 lakh to Rs 27.50 lakh.

Real estate developer DLF Ltd, which has paid large advance payments to various governments for townships and commercial projects, is now looking for refunds as the projects are not moving at the expected pace.

The refunds, which could run into thousands of crores of rupees, could help the developer pay off its outstanding debt and execute existing and new projects.

In February, the Haryana government refunded over Rs 200 crore of license fees to DLF as its commercial projects were road blocked due to slow execution by the government authorities.

Freebies like costly cars, air conditioners get the thumbs down, caution is the word in the city

Freebies, even if they are a Rs27 lakh BMW, offered by some real estate developers, have not seen prospective buyers rushing to buy homes in the city.

Even though many builders with projects all over the city have dangled carrots like new vehicles, air-conditioned rooms, 40-inch LCD televisions, Sony home theatre sets, and DVD players for every apartment booked, there have been only a few takers.

A recent survey by Delhi-based Makaan.com — a real estate portal run by the People Group — has revealed that 66% of Pune buyers have turned down the freebies.

Real estate prices may be crashing in the city, but many builders are increasing 'loading', or difference between carpet area and built-up area, negating discounts on offer.

Developers charge buyers for every inch used up by amenities like lobbies, staircases, flower beds, storage rooms, lifts, and even walls separating flats. The loading varies from 20% to 35%.

"But hit by the real estate gloom, a cross-section of developers has increased loading up to 50%," said the head of a global real estate firm. "Most builders quote rates on the saleable (built-up) area, which can often be misleading, particularly if loading is high."

Slowdown has hit the realty sector rather hard. Infrastructure projects too have slowed down somewhat. But Ajit Gulabchand, chairman and managing director of Hindustan Construction Co Ltd (HCC), is not worried. The company is going full throttle on its ambitious Lavasa lake city project and has also bid for the Worli-Haji Ali sealink project. In a chat with DNA Money's Ashish K Tiwari and G Seetharaman, Gulabchand elaborates on the reasons behind these moves. Excerpts…

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