Premium home prices to upswing 15-25%: experts

Premium home prices to upswing 15-25%: experts
The Financial Express, August 17, 2009, Page 4

By Mona Mehta

With end-users and investors returning to the real estate market and demand for apartments in the metros picking up bit by bit, experts believe the price of premium residential apartments will rise by 15% to 25% during Diwali this year. They say premium apartments in Mumbai, including South Mumbai, Bandra and Worli, and those in Delhi, including Connaught Place and East of Kailash, which were available at Rs 70,000 to Rs 80,000 per sq ft during January to March this year (Q4 of 2008-09) will be sold at Rs 1 lakh to Rs 1.20 lakh sq ft during Diwali .

Sanjay Dutt, chief executive officer - business, Jones Lang LaSalle Meghraj (JLLM) told FE, "In Q2 of 2009-10, real estate market has started witnessing emergence of buyers, unlike Q4 of 2008-09 when the sector witnessed slowdown and builders were forced to lower realty prices by 40%. But now, builders are planning to bridge the pricing gap by hiking prices of premium properties by 30% in prominent premium apartments in Bandra, Worli and South Mumbai, apart from Delhi's Connaught Place and East of Kailash, by Diwali 2009."

During Q4 of 2008-09, at Altamount Road in South Mumbai, builders negotiated and sold flats at Rs 30,000 per sq ft. Orbit Corporation sold flats in Orbit Arya on Napean Sea Road at Rs 57,000 per sq ft during Q2 2008-09 when the realty market was at its peak, but had to cut down prices of flats in Orbit Haven to Rs 45,000 to Rs 55,000 during Q4 due to the slowdown. During the period, Oberoi Constructions too had stopped sale in Oberoi Skyz, a 65-storey building at Prabhadevi.

But during Q2 of 2009-10, Shapoorji Pallonji's twin towers in Tardeo commands price of between Rs 45,000 to Rs 55,000 per sq ft. Besides this, certain other under construction properties in Mahalaxmi and Tardeo will command prices of between Rs 20,000 to Rs 30,000 per sq ft. Currently, a penthouse spread across two levels in South Mumbai commands prices of between Rs 60,000 to Rs 70,000 per sq ft.

Niranjan Hiranandani, managing director, Hiranandani Constructions said, "The supply of premium housing is expected to increase by 15% due to the emerging demand. Hence, prices for premium housing will increase. We will be launching projects in Powai, Panvel and Chennai at existing market rates in a phased manner in the near future."

There are certain industry experts who believe that the number of real estate transactions will be better by Diwali 2009. According to Pranay Vakil, chairman, Knight Frank India, "By Diwali 2009, we expect number of transactions to be better than what they were six months back. Properties with a sea view will command better values."

Jitendra Jain, managing director and chief executive officer, Neev Group of Companies says, "We are planning to launch premium residential housing in South Mumbai in the next nine months and the joint ventures we will be entering into will be based on the market rates existing during that period."