Real estate in Navi Mumbai is all set to witness yet another boom with the prime minister Narendra Modi laying the foundation stone for the Rs 4,000 crore special economic zone at Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT).

Navi Mumbai where the property prices are as high as those in Thane is all set to witness a surge in prices, says Arvind Goel, president of Maharashtra Chamber of Housing Industry (MCHI), Navi Mumbai unit.

According to Goel, the inauguration of government-owned SEZ holds a lot of significance for Navi Mumbai. Currently, a 2BHK in Navi Mumbai costs Rs 70-90 lakh. A 20-30% rise is expected. Arvind Goel, says demand for commercial property will also go up. “There are 250 supplementary industries, directly and indirectly dependent on real-estate sector. A real-estate boom will develop them as well,” he said.

In three years, the SEZ will start. Since land for the 277-hectare zone is already acquired and in possession of the central government, no delay is feared. Widening existing road network to 6-8 lanes and development of service are also proposed to facilitate the vehicular traffic movement within the city.

The Thane-Belapur belt, known as an industrial belt, is slowly turning into a realty belt with the swanky residential and commercial complexes replacing the smoke stacks. “Just as the property market in Pune developed immensely, thanks to the IT industry. Employment is main factor for the growth of the housing industry and cities. Similarly, Navi Mumbai will grow in the next five years as there will be lots of employment opportunities with new start-ups, BPOs, KPOs and other new age industries coming up in the satellite township,” a realty watcher explained.

“Now developers will buy huge tracts of land in Panvel and other locations to develop townships. It’s a good sign that Navi Mumbai is developing. It will become another developed city in the near future,” says Manohar Shroff, chairman of Shivam Developers, adding that housing and real-estate will attract lots of investors to Navi Mumbai.

Some developers have added a note of caution for their colleagues who are gung-ho about the development of real estate on the back of SEZ planning. They say that the builder fraternity should not create a false euphoria about the housing project or it might turn out to be another bubble burst.