Tuesday, January 17, 2012

Does higher Delhi mean cheaper flats in NCR? - Indian Real Estate Forum - www.indianrealestateforum.com

Does higher Delhi mean cheaper flats in NCR? - Indian Real Estate Forum - www.indianrealestateforum.com: "Does higher Delhi mean cheaper flats in NCR?"

The reason why real estate in Gurgaon and Noida is flourishing today is because land is scarce and hence expensive in Delhi. But with the Master Plan proposing vertical growth of the Capital resulting in a leap in housing, will prices of Delhi’s tony neighbours be affected? Most experts believe so.

The Master Plan intends to unlock large tracts of land pockets in Delhi, mostly in peripheral and untapped areas such as Narela, Najafgarh, Kanjhawla, Bawana and extensions of Rohini and Dwarka. Super tall structures are expected to come up in most of these areas with private partnerships, which would supply 14 lakh new housing units.

“Gurgaon and Noida are thriving today because no new housing was being developed in Delhi for many years. When new housing units in Delhi are made available, prices in the suburbs would be affected,” said AK Jain, former Commissioner (Planning), DDA. “In fact, most investors in Gurgaon and Noida are from Delhi,” he said.

The DDA has failed to provide affordable housing in sufficient number since its inception more than 50 years ago. The demand for housing was evident when more than 12 lakh people applied for the 16,000 flats offered by DDA in its housing scheme last year.

“It is a misnomer that Delhi has no land supply,” said Ramesh Menon, director of Certes Realty Limited, a real estate consultancy firm. “Land is being released for urbanisation in Delhi and Zone L (near Dwarka) and Zone N (near Rohini), are the key areas. “Of the 70,000 hectares of land being available, at least 25,000 hectares are meant for residential townships,” he said.

“While Gurgaon and Noida have to create demand, Delhi is sitting on captive demand,” Menon said.

There are others, however, who believe that even with an increase in housing supply in Delhi, Gurgaon and Noida wouldn’t be affected. “Gurgaon and Noida see a different kind of demand and cater to a different demographic. They have enough latent demand, which would not be impacted by additional supply of housing,” said Vineet K Singh, Business head, 99acres.com.

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