Booming economy drives housing demand in Gurgaon

Ten years from now, developers operating in Gurgaon would look back at 2005 as the acme of a housing boom buoyed by fast rising disposable income backed by easy availability of credit and the low interest rate regime. Or would they look back and see it as another memorable year in a series of record years. Only time will tell for sure. But for now, home builders are riding the wave, trying not to be smug while still enjoying unsurpassed sales and profit generated over the past year, Cashing on the boom young buyers would fulfil their dream of owning a house whereas their parents could not have this luxury even after their retirement. Flying high on the wings of realty, Gurgaon has been in the realty news for a few years now, and the boom still doesn’t seem to subside in this millennium city.

The boom has touched unprecedented heights, which is evident from the number of projects being planned to gratify the increasing demand for residential property. Several residential projects are in various stages of construction in this suburb of Delhi and many more are in pipeline of being launched. “What you’re seeing is a very good housing market combined with the nation’s top developers establishing their base in Gurgaon,” said colonel(retd.) Prithvi Nath of DLF, which already has around 10 ongoing projects and announced six more projects last year and is planning more. Unitech, another dominant player, launched 10 projects over the past year, and is proposing to build 800 - 1,000 residential apartments over the next year.

Among quality projects, Valley View Estate on the Gurgaon-Faridabad Road, has been promoted by Ansals. In this residential project, one can opt from a one bedroom unit of 627 sq ft area, two bedroom 0r 2 BHK apartments ranging from 929 sq ft to 1097 sq ft and 3 BHK aprtments its covering 1300 sq ft of space. Parsvnath’s Green Ville on Sohna Road, a residential project of international standards , has been planned to provide pollution free ambience . This premium segment residential project boasts of an exclusive state-of-the-art club along with access to Jacuzzi, sauna, squash court, childrens’ play area, gymnasium , among others. Another premium segment project, Orchid Greens of Vipul on Sohna Road is sure to attract the buyers attention.

Situated on approximately 17 acres of land, with 85% landscaped gardens, Orchis Greens has two premium apartments on each floor. To add more attraction to this already attractive project, three swimming pools, a day care centre and parks for children have been planned. L&T have launched Kensington Park in Gurgaon on Sector Road, while the Essel Group has launched Essel Towers on Mehrauli Gurgaon Road. Also the Ambience Group has come up with Ambience City Lagoon in Gurgaon at an asking rate of Rs 600 per sq ft. Other such projects include the Icon, Pinnacle, Belmonte, Ville Nova and others in the premium segment.

Under the scheme, a total of 321 plots of half acre, one acre and one-and-a-half acre will be allotted wherein Gurgaon will get 30 plots. The gurgaon plots will be allotted on free hold basis at rates depending on the dwelling unit’s size and the town they are located in. The new scheme will definitely help meet the increasing demand for housing in the state, and probably help check the unbridled rise in property prices in Haryana.

Pricing

On the price front, market at Gurgaon has been fairly stable in the last few months and is likely to firm up in the near future. The price appreciation (to the tune of 50%) that was witnessed in 2004 across the various residential markets of Gurgaon was mostly led by apartments in the premium segment. The rate of escalation has reduced marginally over the last few months. However, the current projected figures of supply and sales indicate sustained activity during the coming months. An important feature, however , is that investors are still a major player in the market which can be viewed through, in the active secondary sale market. Projects that were launched across the NCR in early ‘05 have shown a 10% appreciation in their capital values , while the projects launched in mid-2004 have appreciated by 20-30 %, indicating an annualised return of 25-30 %.

The rental values in Gurgaon also rose in tandem with the capital values. The residential purchase prices could continue to appreciate, though the rate of escalation is expected to be lower compared with last year. In Gurgaon (except Gurgaon-Sohna road) the present rate is around Rs 2,700 to Rs 3,000 per square feet. Builders blame this for the high land price. The cost of permissible constructing space in suburbs like Noida and Gurgaon in NCR is around Rs 1,500 per square feet. As the cost of high class quality space is around Rs 1,000 to Rs 1,200 per sq ft, the total cost of gurgaon apartment comes out to be around Rs 2,700 to Rs 3,000 per sq ft.

Source:indiantimes