Satellite towns take the cake with affordable options

Pallavee Dhaundiyal Panthry, ET Bureau Nov 28, 2010, 05.53am IST

If you want a good lifestyle, but affordable one, then projects on the Noida-Gre
ater Noida Expressway can offer you reasonable housing options. Delhi's exorbita
nt housing rates have become unaffordable. But where do people go for affordable
options and lifestyle akin to the capital. Here, small cities like Noida, Ghazi
abad, Gurgaon and Faridabad are striving hard to offer good options.
Housing projects on the Noida-Greater Noida Expressway are gaining lot of moment
um nowadays. Yes, the place is affordable and definite to offer a good lifestyle
. Depending upon the finish of housing projects and their possession dates, the
rates can range between Rs 2,600 square feet and Rs 3,700 per square feet.
The projects on the expressway offer various facilities to current and future re
sidents of the area including Metro connectivity, a wide network of roads and fl
yovers, markets, malls and office spaces. According to a report by realty consul
tants, fresh residential supply of 6,000 units, equaling about 10.76 million squ
are feet, are expected to come up in Noida and Noida Extension by the end of 201
1.
This forms about seven per cent of the total supply expected to enter the NCR ma
rket by the end of 2011. About 90 per cent of this supply will be evenly distrib
uted amongst two, three and four BHK (bedroom hall kitchen) units. If you see th
e Noida-Greater Noida Expressway, what strikes is the frenetic construction acti
vity that is ongoing in the new sectors including 93, 121, 128, 134, and 151. So
me projects have also been launched in Sectors 119, 120 and 137.
Also noteworthy is that all these projects are actively being pursued by buyers
and equally actively sold by the builders. A total of 40 sectors are planned alo
ng the Expressway. These have been further divided into four zones under the Noi
da Master Plan 2021.
The total length of the Expressway is around 23 kmts, three kilometers in Greate
r Noida and 20 kilometers in Noida. Residential stock coming up along the Expres
sway will not only have great infrastructure but will also house world-class con
struction and facilities.
"Overall, healthy levels of absorption trends are being observed for projects co
ming up along the Expressway. This can chiefly be attributed to the area's plann
ed nature, physical infrastructure and future growth potential," says Deepak Kap
oor, director, Gulshan Homz.
Several affordable projects have come up on the Noida Expressway. Paras Buildtec
h has 'Paras Tierea' in sector 137. The apartments range from 825 square feet to
2,900 square feet in the options of 2BHK, 3BHK, 4BHK and lowrise premium floors
.
Then Paras has 'Paras Seasons', an affordable premium housing project in Sector
168 and Panchsheel Extotia has FRESCO in Noida 137. Supertech's Emerald Court is
on Noida-Greater Noida Expressway, which has total of 17 towers and around 660
units. Ajnara's Daffodil will have 1,100 residential in the area; while another
another housing project Logix Blossom County is spread over 25 acres.
Talking highly about his housing project, Harmit Chawla, vice president, sales a
nd marketing, Paras Buildtech India, added, "we have the advantage of a good loc
ation in sector 137 and then Faridabad, NOIDA, Ghaziabad (FNG) Expres sway is ju
st a kilometer from here. We hope to complete the project before anyone else com
pletes their's. What makes us confident about completion of our project is the f
act that we are a debt-free company, which means a lot in the present scenario o
f the real estate sector."
Talking about further development status of the area, R K Arora, managing direct
or, Supertech Limited, said: "The place is developing fast and people want to be
a part of this area. We have given possession of Emerald Court. Then we have Ec
o City in Sector 137 that will have around 1,800 units. Noida, due to its easy a
ccessibility from the capital and other suburbs, offers a strategic location, en
compassed by the proposed metro station, world class infrastructure, residential
and commercial complexes, shopping malls, multiplexes, schools, hospitals, comm
unity centre, parks and shopping centres and other luxuries of modern living."
Now compare this with development in Kolkata. A boom in real estate sector acros
s the country has not left Kolkata behind as a number of upcoming townships in c
ity suburbs are attracting investors and mass housing complexes to some untapped
suburbs.
According to estimates by the Confederation of Real Estate Developers of India,
in the next five years 250 million sq feet will be added to greater Kolkata, req
uiring an investment Rs 37,500 crore. Rajarhat in the north-east , Dankuni in no
rth-west, Howrah in the west, Diamond Harbour road beyond Joka and Batanagar in
the south-west and the Garia-Narendrapur stretch in south-east are areas which w
ill see more than 50 per cent price rise in the next one year, said real estate
sector sources.
Two years back, property prices in Rajarhat were not more than Rs 1,200 sq feet.
Prevailing prices are not less than 2,800 per sq feet. Unitech, which is develo
ping a 150-acre township in the area, is selling at around Rs 3,000 square feet.
By the next year, Unitech expects to sell at not less than Rs 4,000 sq feet.
In Dankuni, a mega township by the DLF group along with a couple of infrastructu
re projects are pushing up property prices. The second Vivekananda Setu (across
the Hooghly River) and the Belghoria Expressway, which are under construction, w
ill further boost the prices here as Dum Dum airport will only be 20 minutes fro
m Dankuni once the construction is over.
Property prices in Dankuni have escalated by 40 per cent over the last year, and
about 50-60 per cent rise is expected the next one year. It is only after two-t
hree months that the exact price rise in the Dunlop area can be anticipated, but
the area will see a substantial price rise after the DLF brand.
In the west, Howrah is another developing area as it has emerged as a suitable d
estination for middle income group housing and small businesses based in Kolkata
. Along with high-end township, a number of shopping malls and other public-util
ity service centres, which are coming up in the area are expected to jack up the
prices. The Kolkata West project, a mega township project, is attracting a numb
er of NRI investors in the area.
In the south-west, the proposed township on the surplus factory of Bata India at
Batanagar is pushing up the prices. The selling price per square feet area in t
he township is expected to be around Rs 2,000, whereas the ruling prices in the
area is around Rs 900 per square feet.
"It is wrong to say townships are pushing up the prices in a particular area, th
e construction cost over the last year has gone up so much, that it is impossibl
e to built houses at less than Rs 1,000 square feet," claims Sumit Dabriwal, man
aging director of Riverbank Holdings Pvt Ltd, which is executing the Batanagar t
ownship project.
In the south-west, Diamond Harbour road stretch also witnessed moderate price ri
se over the last year, mainly due to the government's proposal to develop a town
ship in Baruipur. Alongside, Raichak-Kukrahati bridge is expected to drastically
cut travel time to Haldia. Both the projects are scheduled to be built by Indon
esian company Salim. However, the fate of the projects appear uncertain as of no
w because of local opposition to the presence of Salim as an infrastructure deve
loper.
In consequence, real estate analysts do not predict substantial price rise in th
e area over the next year. Garia and Narendrapur in the south are other areas at
tracting investors and occupiers, as metro rail extension till Garia will ensure
easy connectivity to the rest of the city. The prevailing prices in Narendrapur
is around Rs 1,500 square feet.
A moderate 15-20 per cent rise in price is expected in the coming year. Areas li
ke Patuli, Baishnabghata, Barrackpore, Sonarpur and Barasat are some other upcom
ing areas drawing the attention of small investors and MIG and LIG occupiers. Fo
llowing industrial development in smaller West Bengal towns like Durgapur and Ha
ldia, a number of housing projects are driving real estate sector development in
the areas.
As Kolkata appears to be poised for rapid information technology sector led grow
th in the coming years, many property consultants feel the time is just right to
invest in Kolkata. It is the right time to invest in property in Kolkata, as at
least 50-60 per cent price rise is assured in the some of the developing areas
in Kolkata.
Suburban locations are witnessing some pressure as increasing interest rates hav
e magnified the outflow for genuine purchasers. While Kolkata market has traditi
onally been know to be less volatile compared to Mumbai and Delhi, and hence, an
y investor who is comfortable with the city and moderate long-term returns, can
consider this is as a reasonably safe destination.
Kolkata continues to be a tier-II location in terms of property and land valuati
on, and most experts think the city will take quite some time to catch up with d
eveloped markets like NCR and Mumbai. Kolkata is referred to as a Tier II City f
or commercial growth and as of now does not compare to the real estate prices wi
tnessed by more established markets like Mumbai and NCR, despite Kolkata's recen
t emergence (or relatively newer emergence) as an IT/ITES.
Furthermore, there is still hesitation amongst new entrants for Kolkata as a des
tination; hence the demand will be a factor which will act as a deterrent to gro
wth. Price appreciation has been in the range of 15 per cent to 20 per cent on a
n average through the past 12 - 18 months in Kolkata and may remain similar in t
he next year.
Certain areas like New Town Rajarhat where several mass housing projects are nea
ring completion, the prices may appreciate five per cent more than the other are
as. The suburb is something like a film which has been refused by all leading me
n of the time but the dark horse.