Even a buzzing real estate market of Rajkot could not hold itself against the glocal meltdown. While realty prices have dipped by 10-15 per cent in major cities of Saurashtra region like Rajkot and Jamnagar, the buying has also come to a halt since sometime.
Rajkot boasts of Rs 2,000 crore share in the Rs 8,000-10,000 crore real estate market of Saurashtra. However, sector experts opine that the number of transactions in the city have dipped by 10 per cent after Diwali. Moreover, land prices have decreased by about 5-10 per cent while rates of residential as well as commercial properties have come down by 15 per cent in Rajkot.
Currently, residential properties cost around Rs 1,600-3,000 per sq ft and commercial properties are priced between Rs 2,500 per sq ft and Rs 5,000 sq ft.
Hitesh Bagdai, president of Rajkot Chamber of Commerce and Industries (RCCI), who also owns Hitraj Developers, a real estate company, says,"People have been restraining from buying land even if they have money in the pocket. They are waiting for prices to fall further. We can say that the liquidity is on hold."
According to Bagdai, "The present scenario in real estate sector is hurting construction projects the most. The only good thing is that NRIs have been showing interest in buying properties in Rajkot. However, we hope there will not be further decline prices in the coming days."
Similar situation prevails in the Jamnagar real estate market. City-based Shrinathji Build well Pvt. Ltd.’s Nilesh Toliya says, "Market is on a hold position. Buyers have not been visiting market and are waiting for prices to come down. Meanwhile, even builders and developers don’t want to sell at lower prices. With global recession, prices in Jamnagar have come down by 10 percent in last few days."
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Ahmedabad based Niva Infrastructure Pvt. Ltd. which is developing City Trade Centre (CTC) at Rajkot in joint venture with Backbone Enterprises Ltd. had experienced a considerable response at the launch of the mall but after Diwali, the interest has dropped drastically.
"Compared to Ahmedabad, effect of recession is not seen so much here in Saurashtra. In such a situation, only self funding company will be able to survive," said Nilam Joshi, assistant head marketing of Niva. Joshi added that prices may further decrease in areas where higher profit margins are prevalent.