Why Indian Luxury Residences Don't Match Up to International Standards
(L-R) NCPA Apartments, Mumbai; One Hyde Park Apartment, London. Image courtesy: BCCL, Reuters
Mumbai is no exception to the global trend of fancy duplex apartments in exclusive residential enclaves fetching astronomical prices. A 10,000 sqft apartment in the 60-storey Imperial Heights at Tardeo fetched its developer S D Corporation over Rs 90 crore a few years ago. But a company official said the price was "much, much lower" for the five-bedroom apartment with a deck. Recently, a sample flat of 4,000 sqft on a lower floor went for Rs 32 crore.
At Nepean Sea Road, the upcoming skyscraper Lotus Villa built by the Satellite Group on the erstwhile Morarka bungalow property, is touted as one of the most expensive buildings in India. Sources said a few duplexes-over 10,000 sqft each-sold in excess of Rs 60 crore each. The builder had earlier quoted Rs 100 crore for each flat, but failed to receive any offers at that price.
On Pali Hill, Bandra, two apartments in the newly constructed 20-storey Sandhu House are believed to have been sold for Rs 38 crore each to a Dubai-based NRI. The super-built-up area of the flat is 6,700 sqft, but the actual carpet area is around 3,500 sqft. At Worli Seaface, a politically connected builder recently bought a 10,000 sqft apartment for around Rs 70 crore.
Architect Hafeez Contractor said the quality of construction of luxury buildings in cities like London and New York is far superior to those in Mumbai. "The construction cost there is five times what it is here. However, land prices in Mumbai are far more astronomical than in these global cities," he said.
Mumbai's Luxury Buildings Inferior to Global StandardsPiramal Group chairman Ajay Piramal, whose Piramal Realty builds premium apartments in Mumbai, said although local developers are matching the amenities, the "finishing and construction quality is far superior abroad". In Mumbai, people want to use every square inch of FSI, he added. Piramal said cities like London attract businessmen from all over the world as they find it a safe investment destination and safe to live in.
Property developer Ravi Vaswani said the Indian consumer is not always willing to pay a premium price. A Mumbai developer said Indians want to do their own furnishings and interiors. "Our larger flats are offered as bare shells. Abroad, such condominiums are fully furnished," he said.
Richard Osborne-Young, the London-based director (residential) of property consultants, Jones Lang Laselle, said there is strong demand for luxury apartments mainly from buyers in Russia and the Middle East. Prices in the premium segment range from £2,000 (Rs 1.48 lakh) per sqft to £6,000 (Rs 4.44 lakh) per sqft. "Larger the apartment higher the cost per square foot," said Osborne-Young. "London developers realized overseas money the city attracts is mainly for large apartments. They offer more security compared to a house, which is more vulnerable," he said.
A Mumbai developer said that prices in New York are based on carpet area while in Hong Kong and Mumbai rates are 50 per cent higher than the carpet area.
Source : Nauzer K Bharucha,
http://luxpresso.com
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New set of Rs.100 crore homes rises in Mumbai
Areas such as Worli and Lower Parel are emerging as the new tony neighbourhoods in Mumbai
At the World Towers project in Upper Worli of Lodha Developers Ltd, homes are priced between Rs.12 crore and upwards of Rs.100 crore in three towers, World One being the most expensive.
Home sales, especially of luxury apartments, have been tepid in most large Indian cities, but that hasn’t deterred a clutch of Mumbai developers from launching apartments priced at about Rs.100 crore each, or a little more than $16 million.
That’s about $300 per square foot for an apartment. To put that in perspective, the median price of a luxury apartment in Manhattan was $4.2 million, Bloomberg reported in July.
With conventionally expensive south Mumbai localities such as Malabar Hill and Altamount Road becoming saturated, areas such as Worli and Lower Parel are emerging as the new tony neighbourhoods in the country’s financial capital.
Forthcoming projects in these areas, many of which are replacing dilapidated housing societies and slums, may not offer the quiet and privacy of an Altamount Road address, but make up for that in terms of size, a view of the sea and a promise of exclusivity.
It’s not that demand for luxury residences has suddenly revived, but several of these projects are coming up in prime neighbourhoods where real estate firms can’t price the homes any lower than a few crore rupees. To maximize profit, the builders are adding larger residences at far more exorbitant prices that only the seriously rich can afford.
In the last week of July, Omkar Realtors and Developers Pvt. Ltd, a mid-sized developer that focuses on slum redevelopment projects in Mumbai, launched Omkar 1973 Worli. The 400 apartments here are being marketed as so-called bespoke sky bungalows (made to the customers’ specifications) of 2,500-18,200 sq. ft. and priced at Rs.15-100 crore.
In the Rs.100 crore category are 25 apartments, one per floor, that will offer a 360-degree view of the city.
Omkar Realtors’ officials said the pre-launch reception for the project was positive and all the apartments in one of the three towers had been sold.
“We hope to sell off the entire stock in three-four years,” said Bharat Dhuppar, chief marketing officer at Omkar and chief project officer of 1973 Worli.
Another four acre project in Worli, being developed by K Raheja Corp., claims to be more exclusive, with 80-90 homes of 5,000-20,000 sq. ft. While the apartments at Omkar are priced at Rs.38,000-40,000 per square foot, at K Raheja Corp.’s 42-storey single tower project, the rate is about Rs.50,000 a square foot; the larger apartments here cost Rs.90-100 crore or more.
“It’s a niche project and will not have a proper launch because it doesn’t require any marketing or publicity. Work has already started and sales will happen to a select group of buyers by word of mouth,” said a company official, declining to be named.
Mumbai was ranked the 16th most expensive residential location in the world in the last quarter of 2012, according to the Wealth Report released in March by property advisory firm Knight Frank. Monaco, Hong Kong and London topped the list. Mumbai was the only Indian city in the top 20.
For wealthy individuals with net worth upwards of Rs.25 crore and annual income of Rs.3.5-4 crore, the key factors in buying a luxury home are: location (25%), interiors (18%), size (16%), exclusivity (15%), architecture (13%), automation (8%) and price (5%), Kotak Wealth Management and Crisil Research said in their Top of the Pyramid 2013 report released this week.
Developers have selectively and cautiously launched luxury projects in large property markets such as the national capital region centred on New Delhi, Bangalore and Chennai in the recent past, wary of the demand these would generate.
According to Om Ahuja, chief executive of residential services at real estate consultant Jones Lang LaSalle (India), there is good demand for residential apartments priced at about Rs.10 crore from interested, but choosy customers who haven’t been hurt by the economic slowdown.
“Density, reputation of the developer, location, neighbours are some of the criteria they look at before buying, and when you consider all these they have limited choice,” said Ahuja. “Worli continues to be a hot spot among buyers.”
But sales of luxury residences have dropped in most cities, said Pankaj Kapoor, managing director of Liases Foras Real Estate Rating and Research Pvt. Ltd.
“The luxury segment grew the most between 2006-08, after which it didn’t revive fully. However, in the last two-three years, there has been a huge supply of luxury residences in Mumbai in newer areas such as Lower Parel, which don’t match the standard of south Mumbai,” Kapoor said.
“In Mumbai, because of the many redevelopment incentives that are given to developers for projects in south and central Mumbai, there is a lot of supply coming in,” he said. “But where are the buyers?”
Developers aren’t unaware of the risks. To attract a wider range of buyers, many builders of luxury residences are selling smaller homes at lower prices than the larger, costlier homes.
At the World Towers project in Upper Worli of Lodha Developers Ltd, homes are priced between Rs.12 crore and upwards of Rs.100 crore in three towers, World One being the most expensive.
The most expensive homes in the World One tower—duplex flats—occupy two entire floors and offer 360-degree views of the city, set at a height of about 1,000 ft. above the city. The residences have double-height living rooms, private pools and private gyms, said chief marketing officer R. Karthik.
A Lodha Developers spokesperson said around 60% of the project had been sold so far. It was announced in 2010.
Property analysts said Lodha’s proposed project in Altamount Road, a property it acquired from the US Consulate last year, will be in a similar price category. Lodha hasn’t disclosed its plans yet.
At Sunteck Realty Ltd’s Signature Island project in Bandra-Kurla Complex, a business district in Mumbai, two levels comprising 16 residences have been reserved to be sold later. The developer is looking for tie-ups to make these more exclusive than those in the rest of the project. For the other units, the sale price is Rs.50,000 per square foot.
“For the right location, the ultra HNIs (high networth individuals) are sometimes willing to pay staggeringly high prices, irrespective of the general state of city’s property market,” the Kotak-Crisil report said.
However, even these individuals are beginning to postpone big-ticket purchases. “The supply of luxury houses is high, but the UHNIs have become very cautious. There is a double-digit drop in the demand,” said Manoj Mohta, director (customized research) at Crisil Ltd.
Source : http://www.livemint.com, Madhurima Nandy, Unnikrishnan S.
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Mumbai finds no takers for super-luxury Rs 100-cr flats
The 55-storey Sasen building. (IE Photo: Pradeep Kochrekar)
The palatial 15,000 sq ft duplexes in the under-construction 55-storey Sasen building on tony Napean Sea Road offers the country’s costliest residences at Rs 100-120 crore each. But for six years now, the project, earlier known as Lotus Villa, has not sold a single unit.
Since the 2006 boom, similar islands of super-luxury residences carrying price tags of over Rs 20 crore each have come up in the city. However, almost half of these remain unsold, reducing new launches to a trickle, according to data compiled by real estate research firm Liases Foras.
The city has a total marketable supply of 1,000-odd apartments spread across 27 premium residential projects priced at Rs 20-100 crore each. According to the available data, 85 per cent of such projects were launched between 2006 and 2010.
Over the last two years, just one new project — 1972 Omkar in Worli — has been launched in the Rs 20 crore-plus segment.
The pattern of unsold stock repeats itself across big ticket projects that are on offer from listed players like Indiabulls Bleu in Worli, D B Realty’s Orchid Heights and Orchid Turf view in Mahalaxmi and Razzak Heavens by Orbit group on Napean Sea Road.
Pankaj Kapoor, managing director, Liases Foras, said at today’s rate of absorption, it will take another 100 months (over eight years) for the existing stock to be sold.
“The ideal rate of absorption in a healthy market should not be more than 20 months in the super-luxury segment. In fact, our data on unsold super-luxury houses itself is an underestimation. If the stock being held by investors rolls back into the market, the actual
Source : Shalini Nair, http://indianexpress.com
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Rs 100-crore apartments are hot!
At a time when prices are merely notional if the address is right, it's hardly surprising that the cost of residential properties in New Delhi and Mumbai are going, quite literally, through the roof. Hold out long enough for the right buyer and even the most generous estimates by real estate agents or consultants could go awry.
And as Indians gain the confidence to spend as well as aspire to A-lists everywhere, a few more crores are hardly likely to matter when the price of even an apartment matches that of a decent, mid-sized company!
Only a week ago, the Oswals bought a bungalow on an acre of land on New Delhi's Tilak Marg (in prestigious Lutyens Delhi) for Rs 100 crore (Rs 1 billion). Other industrialists who own houses in the neighbourhood are steel tycoon Lakshmi Mittal, Bharti Enterprises managing director Sunil Bharti Mittal and DLF chairman K P Singh.
The most a property in this central part of Delhi has fetched is a whopping Rs 137 crore for a bungalow on Amrita Shergill Marg, becoming the most expensive residential real estate to change hands in India. The one-acre plot was purchased by Sanjay Singal of Bhushan Power & Steel.
Lakshmi Mittal, who bought a 12-bedroom mansion in London's Kensington Palace Gardens in 2004 for $125 million (Rs 550 crore), also got a slice of Delhi's residential pie for a more modest Rs 40 crore (Rs 400 million) on Prithviraj Road. Today it is valued at Rs 80-100 crore (Rs 800 million- Rs 1 billion).
According to real estate anaysts, Treveni Infrastructures picked up a 2.8 acre property on Sikandra Road for Rs 115 crore (Rs 1.15 billion). In another recent transaction, the Jindals bought a 3.2 acre property on Mansingh Road for Rs 125 crore (Rs 1.25 billion).
If Lutyens Delhi is the city's power address, in its Tony Khan Market or Jorbagh areas you should expect to pay Rs 3 lakh per sq yard. On S P Marg, where liquor baron Vijay Mallya owns a house, the going rate is around Rs 5 lakh per sq yard.
There is news now about highrise apartments being developed in central Delhi's Connaught Place. These 4,000 sq ft apartments could cost as much as Rs 16,000 per sq ft or Rs 6.4 crore (Rs 64 million) overall.
DLF is building a nine-storey apartment complex on 2.5 acres in W-block of Greater Kailash II, in south Delhi. These 6,000 sq ft apartments are being sold for over Rs 21 crore (Rs 19,000-25,000 per sq ft), by invitation only. Sources tell us about a possible development of apartments and individual bungalows by DLF in GK-II's E-block.
DLF also has a plan for very high-end villas in posh Chanakyapuri. These 6,000-7,000 sq ft villas could cost between Rs 12-14 crore (Rs 20,000 per sq ft).
Gurgaon too has some big ones. The top-end penthouse at Ansal's The Ivy could cost between Rs 5-8 crore (Rs 50-80 million). A 2,500-4,500 sq ft apartment at DLF's new Park Place and Park Tower ranges between Rs 1.75-3.15 crore (Rs 17.5-31.5 million). Omaxe's The Forest Noida offers apartments ranging from 4,000-6,500 sq ft for Rs 2.25-4.5 crore (Rs 22.5-45 million).
Delhi may have raised the bar where expensive residential rates are concerned, but Mumbai is still leagues ahead on average.
"Every second building in Mumbai commands a huge price, anything above Rs 25,000 per sq ft to sometimes even upto a whopping Rs 75,000 per sq ft," says architect Hafeez Contractor.
The NCPA Apartments at Nariman point are among the most expensive in Mumbai with an uninterrupted view of the sea. Rs 60,000 per sq ft is the current rate there. The vice-chairman of Reliance Capital, Amitabh Jhunjhunwala, recently bought a 2,880 sq ft apartment at NCPA for Rs 18 crore (at Rs 63,000 per sq ft).
Other expensive areas in Mumbai are Cuffe Parade, Napeansea Road, Carmichael Road, Altamount Road and now Worli and Bandra as well.
Shah Rukh Khan's bungalow Mannat, on Bandra Bandstand, is currently valued between Rs 70-100 crore (Rs 700 million-Rs 1 billion). The approximate rate here is Rs 30,000-plus per sq ft, as opposed to Rs 15,000-20,000 per sq ft at Juhu, where Amitabh Bachchan owns a bungalow.
Indiabulls promoter Saurabh Mittal recently bought a 5,500 sq ft apartment in Maker Building on Cuffe Parade for Rs 40 crore (Rs 400 million). The rate here is a whopping Rs 72,000 per sq ft.
A recent transaction in Sunita Building on Malabar Hill for a 3,450 sq ft apartment, where the rate is even higher, fetched Rs 1.03 lakh per sq ft. Leading stockbroker Rakesh Jhunjhunwala bought a 4,400 sq ft apartment at El Palazzo on Malabar Hill for Rs 25 crore (at Rs 57,000 per sq ft).
Among the most impressive buildings under construction in Mumbai is Shapoorji Pallonji's Imperial Towers on Kambala Hill. Two 65-storey towers, with the first 12 storeys reserved for car parking, have two 25,000 sq ft penthouses on top. At a conservative Rs 50,000 a sq ft, each of these penthouses could cost Rs 125 crore.
Standing tall at 36 storeys, the building on the old Chattan Bungalow site at Altamount Road, being developed by K Raheja Universal, will blow your mind. The first 12 stories offer just amenities.
The remaining 24 storeys have 12 duplex apartments stacked on top of each other. Each apartment has its own huge terrace and an elevator to take the car right up to the living room. The whole building itself is on a hill, enhancing the view.
The view might be better from the top, but luxury living seems to be a goal in itself.
Source : Ravi Teja Sharma, http://www.rediff.com
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Mumbai's Rs 100-cr flats
Jacuzzis and sit-out decks are standard in these high-ceiling, 13,000-sq ft homes high above the city
The loud whirring of machines and generators from nearby industrial premises is cut off as one enters a soundproofed glass building at the site of Omkar 1973 in Worli. This is one of the few recently-launched super-luxury projects, where some
homes will claim an astounding Rs 100 crore and where outrageously rich buyers are being courted. Six months after sales opened, three of the seven premium flats have been booked, says Babulal Varma, managing director of Omkar Realtors.
As one might expect in a Rs 100-crore home, everything gleams gracefully. The supple rugs are cut out for John Lobbs or Jimmy Choos .
Each adornment is picked after careful deliberation and sourced mainly from foreign countries, the developers declare. Lodha tied up with Armani/Casa, the luxury interiors division of Giorgio Armani, for its World Towers, with mansions set at 1,000 feet above the city. At the Omkar project, in the living room decorated by Hirsch Bedner Associates, the chandelier with leaves fashioned from crystal and silver came from the Czech Republic. The furniture - velvety sofas and swanky wooden tables - was imported from Spain and Germany.
These homes are palatial flats or duplexes, spread across 13,000-18,000 square feet, with ceilings that are 14 feet high. "In Delhi, you have the concept of farmhouses, which are often worth hundreds of crores. There is a similar clientele in
Mumbai but geographic restrictions don't allow us to build farmhouses," says Varma. "So we wanted to create that kind of luxury in an apartment."
The Rs 100-crore apartments have 360-degree views and because they are landscaped and dramatically elevated, the temperature is (according to brochures) at least 5 degrees cooler even without air conditioning. The living room has a sit-out deck with informal furniture while the bathroom leads to a deck with an open-air jacuzzi. A number of buyers are said to prefer gardens to jacuzzis on the deck. Not entirely surprising in a city starved of green spaces.
Habitation often starts around the 10th or 15th floor, the lower levels being reserved for parking and common entertainment areas. For exclusivity, there is a dedicated concierge service, personal lifts that open into the living room and a separate entry and staying area for the household help.But many developers also make bare-shell home that buyers can decorate according to their desires. "The buyer has his or her own thought process and expectations are sky high," says Mudassir Zaidi, national director, residential services at Knight Frank. Also, since the core and key beams on the exterior walls bear all the weight of the structure, the inner walls can be demolished and remodelled as buyers please.
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Big businessmen and industrialists are willing to part with enormous premiums to minimise the commute, prompting plush residential projects to emerge around commercial hubs such as Worli, Lower Parel and Bandra-Kurla Complex. ICICI Bank CEO & MD Chanda Kocchar and a top cricketer are rumoured to have scouted for such apartments in central Mumbai. A few super-luxury propertiesare located in old, celebrated parts of south Mumbai, including Altamount Road and Nepean Sea Road. All homes are sold "by invitation only", which means buyers will share an address only with fellow members of the swish set. Developers reach out to the high-net-worth individuals or request those interested in buying these flats to send them a profile. Appointments are given after a thorough screening. Besides Omkar, Lodha Developers, Avighna Group and Sunteck Realty are some other developers in the space.
Source : Ranjita Ganesan, http://www.business-standard.com
