Hyderabad, Bangalore, Chennai, Pune, Noida and Navi Mumbai, in that pecking order, are the top residential property investment destinations, said Om Ahuja, chief executive, Residential Services, Jones Lang LaSalle, a global property consultant.
He chose these destinations based on existing infrastructure readiness, execution / implementation timelines for new infrastructure initiatives, demand for commercial space in the market (leading to job creation), social infrastructure, and price trends.
According to Ahuja, the current absorption of residential apartments in Bangalore, Hyderabad, Pune and Chennai shows the lion’s share of demand coming from IT/ITES and BFSI employees. "The average age of these buyers ranges from 27 to 33 years, with the easy availability of mortgages and the desire for a self-owned home apartment before marriage being the key drivers. The highest demand is for apartments where price tags fall within the Rs. 40 lakh-1 crore range," he said.
In Noida and Navi Mumbai, there are market drivers over and above job creation at play - namely superior infrastructure and affordability. Navi Mumbai and Noida are absorbing investor demand from Mumbai and Delhi, where affordability plays important role for investors. In the case of Navi Mumbai, one can further extrapolate the investment potential to Kharghar, Kalamboli and Ulwe. For Noida, the extended growth corridors are Noida Extension and Noida Expressway, he said.
To a large extent, the aforementioned growth drivers are clearly visible to varying degrees in these cities. The on-going trend in their commercial real estate space tends to reflect a serious growth and expansion of various corporate offices. There is certainly very healthy demand for Grade A commercial spaces in cities like Hyderabad, Bangalore and Pune. In these cities, the demand for Grade A commercial real estate exceeds the supply scheduled for the near and long-term future. Their employment generation potential is established and assured.
