Track2Realty Exclusive: Thane is a cosmopolitan suburb which has evolved from being a mere city of lakes to the nestling zone of the urban middle class. Most of the working professionals in Mumbai have found Thane to be an ideal location to buy an apartment or take it on rent. Affordability has been a key USP of Thane property market, which has further been ignited with better connectivity.
In terms of the culture, even though Marathi population has its sizeable presence nearly half of the residents are the expat population who migrated to Mumbai for work. Why then is Thane property market upbeat on Akshay Tritiya? Is not it a fact that Akshay Tritiya is predominantly a Marathi festival?
Is it just the festive spirit of Akshay Tritiya that is too fancy and tempting for people in this market to just explore the options in property market? Analysts active in the property market of Thane do not think so. They rather believe that the emotional connection of Akshay Tritiya is so strong in this part of the world that people living over here naturally have a spiritual connection with the festival. Added to this, it is not just the Marathi people who look up to Akshay Tritiya as an auspicious day to buy property. As a matter of fact, the same sentiments go true for Gujaratis living in Mumbai as well.
As a matter of fact, Akshay Tritiya is a highly tradition-oriented festival of Mumbai that has an emotional appeal across different cultures that live in Mumbai. People have always been on the buying spree during Akshay Tritiya, with a small component of this investment falling into real estate due to its sheer size.
The ticket size of Mumbai property market has always been a deterrent for those buyers for whom the price range of Rs. 7,500 per sq feet to Rs. 9,000 per sq feet has always been the upper limit. However, the emergence of Thane property market was just the right answer to this set of buyers who are now looking to this market as an ideal location to invest and the festive spirit is only tempting them to commit now.
Ratna Shah, an advertising professional from Vadodara is on the lookout for a mid segment property in Mumbai. Working with one of the leading advertising agencies, she has recently been transferred in the city. Her search of the last three months has made her believe that Thane is just the right market where the location, connectivity and budget are all within her desirable reach. Why then has she been waiting for Akshay Tritiya? Is it a recent Mumbai fad or there are more deep rooted reasons behind it?
“There is no change in my choice over the location of Thane where I have even zeroed on the property but the fact is that my tradition has made me wait for Akshay Tritiya since property investment is very high during the festive spirit and I may even get some discount. Even if there is no discount or freebies, most Gujaratis are any way inclined to link property possession with auspicious dates and Akshay Tritiya is one such important date other than Navratra. Though the same tradition has been following for years, nowadays major property buying occurs during festive times, especially Akshay Tritiya,” says Shah.
This advertising professional is not alone who is an outsider for Mumbai, yet waiting for the festive spirit of Akshay Tritiya to buy property in Thane. As a matter of fact, a lot of buyers prefer to wait for an auspicious occasion like Akshay Tritiya to make new investments in realty. There are definitely a large number of buyers, who want to have the satisfaction of at least getting possession of their dream homes on this day. This year the market analysts believe some new offers, freebies and marketing innovations will ignite the subdued market and change the sentiments to positive. Many even believe this will be the beginning of the revival of property market of Mumbai.
Can the festive spirit of Akshay Tritiya change the subdued sentiments of Mumbai property market? More importantly, can Thane market take a lead in the next property rally with Akshay Tritiya being the rallying point? Going by the optimism in Thane it would not be surprising.
This optimism also stems from the fact that immediately after the Akshay Tritiya there will be a new government taking charge of office at Centre and thereafter the direction of both the economy and the real estate market is expected to go northwards. Hence, this Akshay Tritiya is the right time to buy property as the inventory may not be at this price point again in future. Thane, of course, is the right market across the city of Mumbai due to its attractive price point.
Kamlakar Kumar hails from Kochi and now lives in Mumbai. He is at present living in a rented apartment near Andheri. He is also looking up to buy an apartment in Thane on Akshay Tritiya. What is the connection of South India with the predominantly a festival of western India? This IT professional believes festival is not just about the religion but also it acts as a social connecting platform. At a time when all his friends are looking up to buy something new on Akshay Tritiya, he decided to invest in property on the festive day.
“Initially I was not bothered about any of such festivals, but after having spent five years in Mumbai I have more friends from Mumbai than Chennai. Not surprisingly, even in terms of my cultural connect, I follow more Marathi rituals than typical Tamilian traditions. It is all about your social circle and in any case Thane is a melting pot of very many cultures from across the country,” says Kumar.
So, despite the cosmopolitan culture Thane still holds significant attraction to the festival of Akshay Tritiya. And now with the property prices being a major factor, Thane again stands out as the best market to invest with properties available at right price point and promising better appreciation than most other parts of Mumbai. Analysts are hence keeping their fingers crossed as to whether Thane will be the market that will be catalyst to the revival of property market in this part of the world. If enquiry levels at various developers are any indication, Akshay Tritiya promises to reignite the Mumbai property market with Thane leading the race.
