Properties in the metros are literally going out of the reach of common people; the latest is to invest in affordable houses on the periphery, and later on encash these assets to purchase another house in the city. ET realty explores the idea of buying property in the peripherals
Meet the new home buyer, who is actually a medium-term investor with a long-term enduser perspective first, an investor on the outskirts of the city, and later, a buyer in the city.
Take a look at the case of Sanjit Baijal, a guy in his late twenties who works with a retail company. He wanted to own a house in Delhi itself. Anything which can be called a decent accommodation comes for nothing less than Rs 50 lakhs, whereas, he had only Rs 15 lakhs to spare. The result- he explored options in this range and combed the projects across Delhi NCR.
The projects in affordable range were all on the periphery of Delhi, further away from the suburbs. He finally invested at the Ansal Town project at Karnal where he bought a plot of land measuring a little over 200 sq yards for Rs 16 lakhs. "I think I got a good deal - I am happy with the corner location of this plot. I hope to sell it off for good returns, in the next five years, and then buy a decent three bedroom flat within Delhi," he says.
As affordable housing becomes the key to sales in a slowing market, key Delhi real estate developers are developing affordable residential property along the National Highway No 1, 2, 8, 10, 24, 58, 65 - left, right and centre! So whether it is Kundli, Sonepat, Panipat, Karnal, Ambala, Chandigarh or Faridabad, Mathura, Agra on National Highway No 2; or, Manesar, Dharuhera, Bhiwadi on NH-8, they all abound in projects in a price range of Rs 15-30 lakhs. What's more, they come with add-ons of lifestyle living.
Says Radha,"Delhi is now beyond end users. It is only when one gets lucky with a lottery or a windfall of ancestral property that one can afford to buy a decent accommodation here. The rising interest rates are also not helping anybody." She adds that there is hardly anything available for the middle and the lower middle classes. Most of the affordable properties being launched now are in the peripheral areas where infrastructure is yet to come.
Meet another investor-buyer Parikshit Satija, a banker with a private company. He invested with the Ashiana project at Bhiwadi. Parikshit expresses, "How much can a middle class person afford to shell out more than Rs 25 lakhs, today? When I saw Ashianas tag line middle class budget, world-class living, I said this is it." On an average, a 3BHK covering 1275 sq ft area costs Rs 23-25 lakhs and this includes lifestyle features of a landscaped large central lawn, internet enabled apartments, club house along with gym, swimming pool, Jacuzzi, games room, TV lounge and party hall, besides other regular features.
But on second thoughts, he was not very happy with the location of the project at Ghaziabad. And since it was only an investment, he surfed more options and the Ashiana Angan project appealed to him immensely. This one was at Bhiwadi, a better destination and at lesser price - a 2BHK of 1200 sq ft was going for Rs 20-22 lakhs.
Developers have an interesting take on the new buyer. According to Ansal APIs Kunal Banerjee, President Marketing, "In all these peripheral real estate projects, the client-mix earlier comprised a ratio of 70% speculators or short-term traders in real estate and only 30% long-term investors. The latter would hold on to the property for 2-3 years, just as they would treat their blue chip account or ITC shares. But this was the scenario two years back, when real estate investment reaped immediate returns. In the current situation there are zilch speculators and 50% long-term investor and 50% actual buyer.
The affordable properties on the periphery are certainly driving and acting as revitalisers in a slowing down real estate market.
Courtesy: ET Realty 06-06-08
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