Swanky malls, hip hangouts, eateries, and multiplexes make the commercial complex in Sector 18, NOIDA, one of the most happening places in the NCR.
Real estate in NOIDA is on the ascending graph and expected to receive a further boost. A large number of corporates in recent years have been looking at NOIDA as a commercial address, which has in turn fuelled the supply in this area. Today, NOIDA is a consumer haven, leading leisure and entertainment players do roaring business here, and the Sector 18 market has emerged as an extremely popular retail destination. Virtually every well-known prominent national and multinational brand has opened shop in Sector 18. Adidas, Benzer, Blackberry's, Bentley, Benetton, City Look, City Palace, Color Plus, Dockers, Ebony, Future Zone, Tekson’s, Galgotia's, Gaint, Gautier, Hallmark, Indigo Nation, Li'l Tomato's, Levi's, Louis Philippe, Store 18, Proline, Reebok, Van Heusen, and more, have jumped on to the bandwagon. Apart from these, food joints like Aroma, Bamboo Shoots, Barista, Bon Bon, Domino's, Kebab Factory, Karim’s, Kathis, Lasagne, McDonalds, Nathu Sweets, Nirula's, Pizza Hut, Punjabi by Nature, Super Stars and Fortune Cookie are all here. Sector 18 now successfully combines the key elements of local market life, typical of the area, with the style of the city - in a whole new world.
Chill-out Zone
The shopping complexes of Delhi pale into insignificance when compared with the commercial paradise that is NOIDA. Gone are the days when shoppers from NOIDA would make a beeline for Connaught Place or Lajpat Nagar. It is quite the opposite now; the good planning and the alluring atmosphere at Sector 18 pulls customers not just from Noida but from South as well as East Delhi. “This is not surprising, considering that nowhere in Delhi do you find a concentration, in one complex, of all such brands of consumer items and such a variety of cuisines to intersperse your shopping experience,” says Mohamed Mustafa, president of the Sector 18 commercial complex. “Good infrastructure, regular power and water supply, wide roads, a working sewage system, ample parking space, and now better connectivity, have boosted consumers interest in the area,” he adds. On the other hand, well-known real estate developer Getamber Anand, managing director of ATS Infrastructure Limited that is located in the heart of Sector 18 feels that there are several basic flaws in the planning which can be seen now that the area is fully developed. “To put NOIDA on the international map as a commercial hub there needs to be some semblance of aesthetics in this sector. It is not very well kept and there is no traffic discipline. The administration should make it ‘only for pedestrians’ or only allow non-polluting vehicles in the area,” he says.
Courtesy Realty Plus

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

With Property Rates Rising Steeply Across The Country, It Has Become Increasingly Difficult For People To Own Their Dream Home In Delhi And NCR. At A Time Like This, Faridabad Comes To The Rescue With Quality Houses At Reasonable Prices. Et Realty Finds Out More…

Even though food, clothing and a shelter are only the most basic necessities of mankind, with all these fabulous sales on clothing and cheap and quality food dished out by famous restaurants, quality food and clothes are very much within the reach of the common man but, the same cannot be said for a shelter, which is his dream home. Owning a fine home and living a peaceful life is the dream of every common man.

However with property rates rising steeply across the country, it has become increasingly difficult for people to own their dream home in Delhi and NCR. Even, the pre-launched projects come almost at the price equivalent to the price of a completed project and further take two to three years for possession. Even in newly developed cities like Indirapuram and Kundli, prices have risen exponentially; taking them out of the reach of common people in these times of overpriced properties in Delhi and NCR, there is a fully developed place near Delhi where people can still by quality houses at reasonable prices. Located just eight kilometers from the Delhi border are sectors 21 A, B, C, D, 45 and 46 in Faridabad. These sectors are places where a person, even today, can buy a flat here at a reasonable price. People have a wrong notion about Faridabad that it is a city with poorly developed infrastructure, bad roads, massive power outages and water shortage. But things have changed over the past few years, which have seen a drastic change in the infrastructure and living conditions at Faridabad. Especially, in the sectors of 21C, 46 the living conditions and infrastructure have improved drastically and are in many areas better than many places in Delhi and NCR.

These sectors are just 16 km away from Ashram and take 15 to 20 minutes drive from GK-I & II to reach these Sectors. It takes a maximum of 20 minutes to reach sec 46 from South Delhi, a time and distance that no other place can boast off in NCR. Sector 21C and Sector 46 are well connected by Mathura Road and they are connected through another 4-lane Surajkund Road. In South Delhi, where price of land ranges from Rs.3 lakh to Rs.4 lakh per sq yard, the price of plots in these sectors ranges from Rs.22,000 sq yard to Rs.35,000 sq yard. In areas such a Gurgaon and Noida where plot prices range from Rs.70,000 to Rs.90,000 per sq yard, and flats from Rs. 50 lakh to Rs. 80 lakh, a 3-bedroom group housing flat here can be purchased for almost Rs. 45 lakh.
Thus, the amount of money a person will spend in buying a flat In Gurgaon or Noida will fetch him a whole house in these sectors. These sectors are well developed and include all basic amenities they are ideally located between Gurgaon and Noida. Nitin Kapoor, a software engineer says, “I work in Gurgaon and my wife works in Noida. Property rates were quite high in South Delhi. So, we bought a plot and constructed a house in Sector 46, Faridabad. Now, it takes me and my wife only half an hour to reach office with no commuting problems, and further, our dream of living in an open pollution free environment has also come true.”
The prime sectors among these are Sec 21C and Sec 46. People can buy plots between 160 sq yard and 1000 sq yard in the price range Rs.25, 000 - Rs. 34, 000 per sq yard. These sectors contain markets. Schools and Hospitals Sec 21A has bigger plots - 500 sq yards to 1000 sq yards. It is ideal for the construction of farm houses and very big homes. The average flat in these areas costs around Rs.2,400 – 2,800 per sq ft. residential apartment are available in sizes ranging from 1,200 to 2,200 sq ft. A two bedroom apartment costs around Rs. 29 Lakhs, while a three bedroom flat can be bought for Rs.46 lakhs.

Omaxe has come up with two housing projects on Surajkund Road – Omaxe Green Valley and Omaxe Hills. Omaxe Green Valley caters to high-end luxury apartments available at Rs.6, 000 per sq ft, whereas in Omaxe Hills non luxury flats are available at Rs. 2, 8000 per sq ft. In Sector 21-D, One finds a lot many group-housings, beautifully constructed and ready for possession. These apartments are priced between Rs, 29 lakhs and Rs.60 lakhs. Over the past two years, property rates in these sectors have increased by two to three times. A person from Royal Estate agency explains, “Past two years have seen a lot of high-profile people moving to these sectors, thus increasing the prices considerably. Though property prices are falling across India, prices over here have seen an appreciation of 22-25% in the past providing around Rs.250 crore for complete development of roads in Faridabad and the power ministry assuring people and industries of Faridabad with adequate power supply, it will be ideal place to live in.

Courtesy ET Realty 06-06-08

Delhi-Based real estate developer BPTP has again received a month's reprieve to deposit the first installment of the Rs 5006-crore Noida land deal — the largest ever land acquisition by a private developer in the country. Now the deadline for the company to deposit the first installment of Rs 1,250 crore with the Noida authority is July 12, which if missed will lead to cancellation of the deal. BPTP has already missed the original April 12 deadline.
BPTP chairman Kabul Chawla told ET, "We will make payment in the next three days. We have enough funds." BPTP, which bagged the 95-acre Noida land deal beating larger rivals DLF, Omaxe and Ansal, had to pay the first installment by April 12. The rest of the payment was to be made in sixteen six monthly installments, along with an interest of 11% compounded annually on the due amount. Unable to pay the first installment, BPTP sought and was granted 60 days' relief, which ends June 12. The company has now got the deadline extended to July 12. BPTP will have to pay an interest of 14% on the due amount for the extended period. In the case of cancellation of the deal, BPTP will have its earnest deposit of Rs 100 crore forfeited by the Noida authority.
"There is a provision for 90 days extension and that's why we sought it. There is no problem of fund raising," Mr. Chawla said. Following the land deal, the company has raised $160 million (approx Rs 640 crore) through stake sale in its SEZs to Citigroup's realty arm Citi Property Investors (CPI). The money, however, is not enough to pay for the land deal. Mr. Chawla didn't disclose from where he had raised the additional funds to be able to make payments in three days. The company's reserves are likely to be too small to fill the gap. BPTP clocked a turnover of around Rs 1,100 crore and a net profit of Rs 220 crore in FY08. The company is said to be in talks with more international investors to raise debt to fund the land deal. The consortium comprising BPTP and its three subsidiaries had offered a rate of Rs 1, 30,207 per sq meter to win the bid for 95-acre land on March 12.

Courtesy: ET dtd – 05-06-08

Real Estate major DLF on Wednesday announced a consolidated net profit of Rs 7,812.03 crore for the financial year ended March 31, a four-fold growth over the year-ago period. The company had a net profit of Rs 1,933.65 crore in 2006-07 fiscal, DLF said in a filing to the Bombay Stock Exchange. The total income rose to Rs 14,683.91 crore from Rs 4,053.3 crore in 2006-07. The board has declared a dividend of 200% at the rate of Rs 4 on shares of face value Rs 2 for 2007-08 fiscal. For the year ended March 31, DLF reported a net profit of Rs 2,574.59 crore, over six-fold rise over the year-ago period. The company had a net profit of Rs 406.91 crore in FY07. The stand-alone total income rose to Rs 6,058.46 crore in FY08 from Rs 1,429.49 crore in the previous fiscal. Shares of DLF were trading at Rs 574.15 at the BSE, down 1.43 per cent in the early morning.

Courtesy: ET dtd – 05-06-08