Longing for booking gets longer for Ahmedabad developers

The strategy was: To cut down new project launches, first try to sell unsold inventory and check prices from further collapsing in the floppy market. However, despite a healthy footfall at the three-day Gujarat Institute of Housing & Estate Developers (GIHED) property show the plan has worked little for the city developers. The GIHED property show, an annual affair for city developers, concluded last 14th October.

Unlike earlier years, this time realtors spent less in adding attraction to the show and went for plain business. The advertisement and branding campaigns for the property show tried to convey Amdavadis that the ‘right time to buy property has come’. But the few bookings during the show suggest that most Amdavadis want to wait for a little while to buy their dream home or invest in a property.

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Ahmedabad Real Estate

The State of Gujarat has been making tremendous progress with respect to the real estate industry.  Year by year ultra modern infrastructure facilities have boosted the real estate industry all over Gujarat. The scenario of Ahmedabad is no different. Real estate prices have shot up significantly over the years. The upward trend in property prices has attracted large number of prospective buyers to invest in Ahmedabad real estate. Residential and commercial spaces are in heavy demand in Ahmedabad.

 A survey on investor behavior has revealed that areas which assure promising returns are sought after by potential buyers. Certain period in the real estate history of Ahmedabad see prices soaring. The current scenario is such a phase in the real estate history of Ahmedabad. Understanding the present trends investors analyze the benefits of investing in booming areas. Also the availability amenities like connected roadways, highways, schools, banks, hospitals and recreational centres play a major role in the investment behavior of the buyer. Areas like Satellite, Bodakdev, Prahaladnagar, S.G.Road do offer good investments returns. Thereby these areas have become the new real estate investments hubs in Ahmedabad.

Prime locations invite more buyers since basic infrastructure in these areas are of good quality. Similarly the availability of essential amenities also is a determining factor for real estate investment. Price per sq.ft starts increasing when there is demand for property in these prime locations. Apart from this other artificial factors also influence the property prices in key locations.

Ahmedabad real estate prices are also exhibiting a similar trend. Real estate prices in Ahmedabad have seen a considerable hike as compared to the previous years. The reason is attributed to the continuous development of roadways, railways and other civic infrastructure of Ahmedabad

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Is it the right time to invest in Ahmedabad market

Propelled by economic and infrastructure growth, Ahmedabad real estate market continues to be a high yielding market for buyers and investors. while properties in the city have yielded 2.8- 4.0 per cent on investment over the past one year capital values have also appreciated in the range of 9-13 per cent in the past one year.
With the capital appreciation of over 10 per cent, localities like Vejalpur, Bopal, Vastra Pur and Bodakdev remain the favourite among the investors, buyers and end-users.
Even investors, who want quick returns by selling over a short-duration, have made profits, as the city has yielded 2-6 per cent consistently over the corresponding quarters.
The Ahmedabad real estate market offers something to each category of buyers. Comprising of affordable and luxury properties, it offers a number of options in the multi-storeyed apartments’ space in the price range that starts from Rs 22 lakh and goes as high as Rs 3 crore.
demand for properties is maximum for properties in the range of Rs 30 to Rs 60 lakh.
Looking at the appreciation potential, several local as well as national-level real estate developers have entered the Ahmedabad market and announced housing and commercial projects.
Some other projects offer plots and villas too. Delivery should not be a concern for buyers,
The city is witnessing good supply of multi-storey apartment projects that would cater to the ever increasing housing demand emanating from the increasing workforce of the city.
Apart from SG Highway, which offers both residential as well as commercial properties, areas such as Thaltej, Satellite, Bopal, Thol-Kadi Road are some other prominent areas witnessing primarily residential developments. Prahlad Nagar, Bodakdev and Vastrapur are some other areas having good appreciation potential.

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Migrant workforce pushing housing demand in Ahmedabad

With Ahmedabad gradually developing into an economic hub in the west of India, professionals migrating to the city prefer to buy property here instead of buying in their home cities or taking an accommodation on rent. The workforce that is primarily between the age group of 28 to 35 is now pushing the housing demand in the area, according to experts.

“Almost 40 per cent of the working population in Ahmedabad is migrant, coming from some or the other city within the state or country. Most of them have stable jobs and do not mind buying a house rather than spending money on rent,”

However, as these buyers are mostly young with limited salaries, demand is mostly seen for properties up to Rs 30 lakh. of the total demand for properties across budgets, city witnessed 16 per cent demand for properties up to Rs 30 lakh. In comparison to this demand, the supply for properties up to Rs 30 lakh stood at 13 per cent during the same quarter.

While Rs 30 lakh budget remains a constraint for most they also prefer localities based on the time of commute and proximity to commercial centres. For instance, new apartment projects of South Ahmedabad have become a favourite among these buyers, as apartments come within Rs 30 lakh budget.

Good connectivity to Corporate Road and Prahalad Nagar, key commercial hubs of Ahmedabad add value on their investments. Localities in and around Prahalad Nagar, such as Vasna, Bopal and Vejalpur are in great demand and offer properties in the range of Rs 20 to 30 lakh. “South Ahmedabad has plenty of options. Vasna for instance has seen few projects by developer who are targeting these younger professionals and bringing out projects at a price range that would suit their pockets,”

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Ahmedabad realtors take celeb path to push up sales

Furthering their innovation in launching projects, Ahmedabad-based real estate developers are now banking on celebrities. With formidable names like Amitabh Bachchan, Hema Malini, Juhi Chawla, Bappi Lahri and Darsheel Safary being roped in for launching projects, developers hope to push sales amidst slowdown in business.

For instance, city-based Om Realty Group had invited to Juhi Chawla and Bappi Lahri for the launch of their residential scheme 'Nastaniya' on the outskirts of Ahmedabad. Similarly, Amitabh Bachchan is now almost synonymous with Savvy Infrastructure's Kensville Golf Course-cum-residential project on the Nal Sarovar road.

Developers attribute the growing trend of roping in celebrities to the advent on       national players in the Ahmedabad real estate market. "The Ahmedabad real estate market is now gaining grounds outside the state of Gujarat with some national players also launching projects here. This has helped developers in gaining celebrities' nod for joining in with them," says Suresh Patel, CMD of Surya Group, a real estate development firm.

This explains the foray of Mumbai-based jewellery group, Shukra Jewellers Ltd., into real estate with launch of 'Royalwoods', a residential project in Ahmedabad which was unveiled by film actor Hema Malini. Under its realty arm, Shukra Land Developers, has been promoting the residential scheme as a 'dream project launched by the dream girl Hema Malini'.

However, industry experts doubt the effectiveness of such efforts by city developers.

"Sales are already down by 80 per cent over last few months. Developers have not been able to sell much and hence have been desperately trying to attract customers by roping in celebrities. Customers, on the other hand, are intelligent and will rather go and survey the area before buying," says Rajeev Shah, managing director of RBSA, a real estate consulting and valuation company.

On their part, apart from roping in celebrities, developers have also been offering freebies like discounts on equated monthly installments (EMIs) and free modular kitchens amidst dwindling sales. “Incentivised schemes and freebies have risen in the past few months. However, these are some of the gimmicks by developers to hold on to their prices. Instead of reducing prices, they are offering value additions or freebies which are not any innovation in the products,” says Nirav Kothary, regional director of Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL) India, another real estate consulting firm. Meanwhile, industry experts also cite decline in business due to deferment in buying by consumers. In anticipation of a possible correction in prices, consumers are believed to be postponing purchase of properties, experts add.

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C.G. Road – active commercial hub of Ahmedabad

C.G. Road, located at Ahmedabad West is among one of the premium locations of Ahmedabad. It houses most of the premium commercial offices and retail showrooms of the city. The road starts Mahalaxmi Crossroads and ends at Sardar Patel Stadium Crossroads, connecting Paldi to Navrangpura. C.G. road is strategically located and has well developed physical and social infrastructure. Next to premium commercial complexes, five star hotels and upmarket residential localities, it is an ideal place to set up offices and showrooms. Good connectivity with the major hubs of the city as well as with developing areas in the outskirts are the other additional features attracting demand from buyers and developers.

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Ahmedabad Retail Market

After a lull for almost a year, the Ahmedabad retail market is set to witness some activity in 2011. With the likes of Alpha One city centre and Acropolis Mall set to offer retail space in near future, industry sources estimate an addition of 700,000 square feet of retail space being added in Ahmedabad this year. While on one hand buoyancy seems to be returning in retail space in Ahmedabad in terms of supply, the same may not result in rise in rentals, Business Standard reported, citing sources.“Many retailers are anticipating a further improvement in consumer spending and have started executing their expansion plans. As a result, the city recorded a rental growth of 7-11 per cent across most micro markets,” the report stated.

With continued preference for established main streets in the city, areas like SG Highway and Satellite Road remained the most preferred main streets in Ahmedabad, with the latter witnessing the highest rental value growth of about 11 per cent in first quarter of 2011. Ahmedabad, which did not witness any new mall supply in 2010, is expected to record new mall supply of approximately 700,000 sq ft in the next six months.

While many retailers are exploring opportunities for expansion in the city, most of them are cautious about footfalls and revenues. To sustain the positive sentiments, most developers are likely to refrain from any increase in rental values across malls and high streets. “While there are positive signs of improvement in the retail scenario in Ahmedabad with fresh supply set to be added, footfalls will be an area of concern. In recent times, rentals and footfalls have been steady after much correction in the past. However, rentals will only increase when all spaces are utilised. With new projects coming up, it has to be seen how much of retail commitments in these malls are fulfilled and only then can a upward trend in rentals be gauged

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