Uber Luxury apartments in Bandra – Kurla Complex

BKC (Bandra – Kurla Complex), which is turning to be the next leading commercial business districts in Mumbai, is now also the residential hub of HNIs (high-net worth individuals), industrialists and other big names of corporate, as they are booking their ultra- luxury apartments. As per the reports, these people are paying between Rs. 35 crore to Rs. 60 crore for uber – luxury apartments in the Bandra – Kurla Complex, however; some other high ended residential projects are demanding the value of Rs 55,000 per sq ft.

Ultra-rich buyers, who booked their apartment or duplexes in Bandra – Kurla Complex:
The few names who have booked their dream duplexes in BKC (Bandra – Kurla Complex) are; Vikram Pandit Co-CEO of Deutsche Bank for Asia/Pacific, Nimesh Kampani, Kishore Lulla from Eros International, Gunit Chadha, Chairman of JM Financial, Harsh Mariwala from Marico, Ashok Wadhwa from Ambit Holdings, Jalaj Dani from Asian Paints and Gautam Adani Ex head of Citigroup. It is also noticed that the Surat – based diamond merchant , Hitesh Patel, who was the highest bidder for the suit of PM Narendra Modi booked their choice of apartment in BKC, CEO of Citi India, Pramit Jhaveri and MD and Country Head of Credit Suisse Mickey Doshi are among those who have booked their duplexes in BKC (Bandra – Kurla Complex).

Most of the ultra-rich buyers book their luxury duplex in Bandra – Kurla Complex not for investment, but for living and staying here due to the strategic location of BKC. All the ultra-luxury flats in Signature Island, among residential projects which was constructed and build by Sunteck Realty in the Bandra – Kurla Complex’s G Block. However; these apartments are coming in two different sizes as the bigger one is of 11, 000 sq ft whereas; the smaller one are about 7, 000 sq ft.

A report from Cushman & Wakefield, said that presently BKC doesn’t have enough residential developments due to lack of ultra rich buyers. Whereas; the corporate clients of BKC can be identified by their high-income that ranges from mid management people to high management people from top level organizations. In shot we can say that this is class of people who have much more purchasing power than anyone else. It can be noticed easily if you are working in BKC commute and you are coming here from far-flung suburban areas or south Mumbai or central Mumbai,. so it will take two to three hours in travel on daily basis and this can be main reason why real estate developers are developing high – end housing units in BKC, but still some of the real estate developers has not tapped the complete demand of residential space in BKC.

The report also stated that, once develop as ultra rich destination, so it will becomes the house address for ultra rich corporate people and it will also serve the sub – markets of Mumbai such as Worli, Thane and Bandra. It is central location and has easy connectivity with other parts of Mumbai including both south and north Mumbai. However; there is gapping difference between the number of residential units which is launched in BKC and non-BKC location. Approx. more than 4, 300 residential housing units have been launched in the catchment area which includes non-BKC as well as BKC area of which only 220 units belongs from BKC.

RBI cut key interest rate

With the recent news that RBI has decided to cut the key interest rate, it is expected that this move of RBI will boost the affordable as well as premium housing demand and it also improve sentiments in the sluggish property market. Property consultants and real estate developers have demanded that interest rates should be further reduced. According to one of the realty Magazine, “This move is hope for the reduction in mortgage rates, which would improve residential sales in all over the country that have been suffering from general slackness in recent times. As per the recent research of JLL India, “Housing sales drop by 1.75 lakh units in the primary markets of 7 major cities in 2014 against nearly 2 lakh units in the previous year due to less demand. Happy with softening inflation, RBI decided to cut the benchmark interest rate by 0.25 per cent to 7.75 per cent with a view to boost growth.

Positive views of leading realty developer:

According to Rajeev Talwar, Group executive director of DLF, “It’s an awesome New Year gift and it seems that the finance ministry has putting his effort to convince RBI governor. Given the background of RBI governor, even the small beginning will be marked as big signs of hopes for the Indian economy”. The more he added that, this move would definitely encourage buyers now to invest in new homes or second homes.

Anuj Puri, Global property consultant JLL India Chairman & Country Head stated that “I expect this cut in interest rate to be the first of several to come and these will cumulatively make a big difference for home loan borrowers, as in present, the current interest rate cut will help revive market sentiment, which is very timely”.

Parsvnath Developers Chairman Pradeep Jain, appreciated the RBI decision and stated that realty sector has been struggling from the last 3 quarters with lower demand and more inventories. This decision would help reduction in EMIs and thereby encouraging fence sitters to conclude deals. Developers would also get funds at comparatively lower rates.

This move will instill hope as well as confidence in the real estate industry which is recovering from housing sales is around the corner, stated the Sanjay Dutt, Cushman & Wakefield Executive Managing Director, South Asia. Whereas; David Walker, MD of SARE Homes, said, “This step of RBI will cheer up the markets and hoped that financial institutions will pass on this reduction to customers, which in turn would boost housing demand”.

As per the Lalit Kumar Jain, Chairman of CREDAI, the apex organization of real estate developers, RBI’s decision is as a good beginning but said this is not enough as a reeducation of 200 basis point within short span is needed. Whereas; the Consultant Knight Frank India CMD Shishir Baijal, stated that This decision of RBI is positive approach that would benefit the debt burdened developers and stretched households alike and to comment on this RBI decision Anshuman Magazine, Chairman & MD of property consultant CBRE South Asia, said that this decision is good and in current market situation this reduction in the base rate is an important step in improving home buying sentiments.

According to CREDAI (NCR) President Rohit Raj Modi, “The rate cut will help the real estate developers to expedite projects that were otherwise facing tight fund crunch”. The more he added that home buyers are dreaming to own a home that would also get a boost as we expect an accelerated purchase cycle. Mohit Goel, CEO of Omaxe stated, that this move clearly shows RBI’s shift in stance in favor of positive growth and it is also correct time to usher in a slew of out-of-policy measures such as; to allow the banks to lend more to real estate, easy funding norms and more. Now real estate sector will play role of a catalyst in driving the overall economy.”

Amit Modi the ABA Corp Director said, “This was the most awaited change and development in policy and now easing interest rate will help to revive the health of businesses such as; Real-Estate which are highly sensitive to interest rate movements.” According to Ansal API Vice Chairman Pranav Ansal, “This is so positive step from RBI, which will boost housing sales and improve overall sentiments in the real estate market. The more he added it is a good sign and now real estate sector will look forward to RBI take the drastic steps in its forth coming monetary policy”.

Greater demand for dwelling units by 2018

Demand for housing in Mumbai is going to outstrip supply in next four years. The commercial capital of the country is going to witness an extra demand of around 231,000 housing units across all segments by 2018-end while the supply is likely to be around 203,000 units.

Of the total demand, majority (46%) is likely to arise in the Middle income group (MIG), followed by 33% in the Lower income group (LIG) and 21% in the Higher income group (HIG), said a Cushman & Wakefield report carried by the newspapers.

The supply seems extremely skewed towards the HIG (63%), and likely to exceed demand significantly. As a result, due to excess supply in one segment, the overall demand-supply gap seems reduced but a large portion of the MIG and LIG demand will remain unaddressed,” said the report.

Paucity of land in the island city has led to residential housing developments in the suburbs and peripheral locations of Mumbai. With increasing demand, land costs have risen sharply and the developers are finding it difficult to launch the LIG and MIG projects at many locations.

Though the developers have launched projects targeting the MIG in far-off and peripheral locations, the overall physical and social infrastructure at these places has not supported these residential developments and the demand has remained subdued, the report says, highlighting how poor infrastructure is a hurdle in expansion of realty sector in the metropolitan region.

Total new demand for urban housing in India is expected to be nearly 13 million units by the end of 2018 on account of the burgeoning population in urban centres. This is addition to the already existing unmet demand. Of the total additional demand, the top eight cities are likely to constitut

Do you live in a small apartment? Many of us whether by choice or necessity live in smaller apartments. But do you know that you are not alone. Many people are going for smaller apartments as residential flats in Mumbai, Thane and Navi Mumbai have become more affordable due to the reduction in their dimension, says global real-estate consultant Cushman & Wakefield. In its report published in a local newspaper, it says apartments in Mumbai and other cities have become more affordable following a reduction in their sizes in 2014 launches.

Mumbai this year witnessed a 12% reduction in apartment sizes, easing cost by 9% over the last year.

Noida recorded the sharpest decline of 16%. In the over 50,000 mid-segment units which comprise one and two BHKs of new projects across top eight cities in the first quarter of 2014, most cities have seen a reduction in size of approximately 100 sq ft.

Significantly, not just Mumbai but other markets also saw unit sizes drop including Ahmedabad (8%), Chennai (3%), Hyderabad (9%), Pune (6%), and Gurgaon (3%).

Executive Managing Director, South Asia, Cushman & Wakefield Mr Sanjay Dutt, said: “The residential sector is banking on end-user driven demand and developers are tweaking products to make them more affordable. It also signals a degree of stress among developers, which is forcing them to launch products to inject doses of robust sales numbers into their balance sheets. Affordability holds the key right now. End-user buyers have been shying away from making purchases for a long time, owing to lacklustre economic conditions and low confidence.”

Chennai, Gurgaon and Hyderabad witnessed an additional push towards affordable options as they saw a decline in prices of new launches, though most of these launches have been in the peripheral or futuristic locations with lower benchmark pricing. “These locations are generally price-sensitive and driven by end-user purchase, making it necessary to meet price expectations,” the company said.