Track2Realty Exclusive: The east coast of Delhi-NCR has been on a roll and bucking all the trends of slowdown areas in and around, most importantly Ghaziabad, NH 24 stretch and Noida have done better than the national average in the last couple of years. To say that the property market in this part of the world has been more realistic having registered more property transactions would be stating the obvious.
However, this success also demands that the market must scale up in qualitative terms, since quantitative growth has not been very challenging with less inventory pile up than many other more matured property markets across the country.
Analysts maintain the east coast region for long has maintained the low profile and it is time to scale up with high end projects. Places like Ghaziabad, Raj Nagar Extension, Indirapuram, Kaushambi, Vaishali, Vasundhara, Noida etc have for long been seen as the affordable destinations, and it is time that the region collectively grows out of the shadow of a mere affordable market.
As a matter of fact, experience of urbanisation across the world suggests that some regions grow close to the CBDs (Central Business Districts) taking first-movers’ advantage, while others see more matured, sustainable and holistic growth having late-movers’ advantage with learning from the mistakes of first movers. This has happened everywhere from Manhattan to New York.
In the context of Delhi-NCR, the growth of east coast beating some of the prime locations of the region in terms of property transactions during slowdown indicates the growth corridors are shifting towards East. Analysts even maintain this has happened by design and not default.
Around a decade back who would have thought that pockets of affluence will shift from South Delhi in this part of the world. After South Delhi, we saw the emergence of Gurgaon which was conceptualised as an extension of South Delhi. However, the growth in the Eastern Corridor of Delhi-NCR promises to redefine the holistic urban development. And it was not easy since Noida was also initially conceptualised as the industrial belt and affordable zone for the working class. Similarly, not many people were ready to believe when Time Magazine glorified Ghaziabad as a potential global destination.
Analysts tracking the property market in this part of the world say while the government is talking about inclusion of new regions in the Delhi-NCR all the opportunities in the East coast has not really been exhausted. Noida, Ghaziabad and the entire East coast is a gold mine for investment that will also ease the pressure from saturated pockets of Delhi-NCR.
Rahul Gaur, CMD of Brys Group questions what can change this. According to him, there is a consensus within the built environment of east coast that what is needed now is an image makeover for the region. Haryana successfully did that by showcasing Gurgaon as the gateway of investment and reaped the benefit. Why can’t east coast be showcased as a gateway to the new pocket of affluence? If done properly, the East coast in general will emerge as new pocket of affluence in Delhi-NCR. Just look at it from the investors’ perspective—will they continue to invest in over-heated market or an emerging market which is nowhere near its peak and offers better appreciation?
“I think it is time we outgrow this affordable tag and launch more luxury projects in the region. It will invite crème la crème in this part of the world who also happen to be big employers. Once they settle here with luxury offerings with better infrastructure as the traction point, they will also need quality retail and commercial spaces. Collectively, this will lead the market to big ticket investment. First movers in luxury segment will set the trend and get rewarded; something I can vouchsafe with our luxury launch,” says a candid Gaur.
Gaurav Gupta, General Secretary, Raj Nagar Extension defends the tag of affordable destination when he says that the idea behind establishing this region as an affordable housing destination was to invite people to explore a satellite place close to Central Delhi where houses are within the reach of their pockets. According to him, today, there is a well built infrastructure and many people are residing happily here. If we talk about Raj Nagar Extension, already 4000 families are residing here and around 10,000 apartments are expected to be delivered in 2014. Ghaziabad already has many affordable housing projects.
“The next development phase in this part of Delhi–NCR is the coming up of luxury projects. Uttar Pradesh Government in its recent investment plans has announced to invest Rs. 1000 crore in Ghaziabad and Raj Nagar Extension. Since this region is going to witness a further boost in the infrastructure, we expect a large number of real estate developers to come forward with their luxury projects. This is beneficial for customers who are looking out for luxury living and has offices in this region and are forced to travel from Delhi-NCR, Gurgaon and Noida,” says Gaurav.
Nitin Gupta, MD, Star Realcon agrees that the affordable housing projects have seen a huge sale in the Ghaziabad and Raj Nagar Extension region, and now is the scope for luxury projects in the coming years. He feels nowadays buyers who opt for luxury homes are the second generation buyers who are high with disposable income and have different approach towards lifestyle as compared to the yesteryears luxury seekers who were individuals with wealth inherited from their ancestors with a taste for royal congeniality.
“Delhi and Gurgaon has already seen the peak of demand. Ghaziabad and Raj Nagar Extension are still at the nascent stage. We assume with the huge investment coming from the government and the industrial belt developing, the requirement for luxury projects are soon to increase. Currently there is a niche target audience but I assume with time, the demand is going to increase as it did for affordable housing,” says Nitin.
The change in perception is all visible in the east coast and the analysts feel that to catalyse the economic activity the region needs more number of employers’ presence in these pockets. Answer to this lies in providing them work-life balance the way they desire. Creating better social infrastructure and top-end luxury projects will have a chain effect on the overall economic activity in the region.
This itself justifies why the developers are determined to shrug off the tag of affordable destination and jump for big ticket luxury projects across the east corridor. Many of the developers have already taken up the challenge of scaling up the value chain and the response of the buyers to the first movers is encouraging the rest of the developers.
