Small City Buyers Do Not Find NCR Real Estate So Tepid

“Noida is a second home for me,” says middle-aged Vineeta Gupta, a homemaker in Patna. Her husband works at the AG's office in the city and is looking forward to his post-retirement plans which were hatched almost five years ago ever since Geet, their only daughter went to Delhi for her higher education. “We used to visit Geet very often and while she landed up with HCL, we knew job opportunities for her back home were limited. We were in the middle of buying a property for investment. It looked like a perfect time to consider Noida,” she adds.

More and more prospective buyers from smaller cities are finding bigger cities as an attractive option. How long will this trend last? Let's take a look:

Who is eying this market and why?

The National Capital Region (NCR) has been very welcoming to homebuyers both in terms of price as well as choice. Coupled with job opportunities in and around the area, the NCR helps Delhi, with a limited land bank, to offload its burden to accommodate teeming millions. The bulk of the population willing to call NCR their home is either those who are looking for a second home for rental returns or those from other Tier-II cities of the country. However, trends show that while housing in NCR remains an attractive option, sales numbers haven't picked up. At the most, they remain stable, says the latest Proptiger Datalabs report. The report brings us closer to what by far is a plague in terms of real estate, unsold inventory. The number is voluminous at about 90,547 units (in Noida) and the age of this unsold inventory is about 45 months. The major bulk of this unsold inventory is those that fall in the range of Rs 25-75 lakh constituting a good 75 per cent stock. However, not everything is a downside.

DataLabs report suggests that some of the key features that will help market look up sooner than later.

• The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) has approved a proposal by Niti Aayog to boost construction sectors and restart stalled infrastructure projects. Here are the top features of the key recommendations Niti Aayog made.

• Central Government is all set to impose a “betterment charge” on land sale in the areas where the prices have appreciated due to infrastructure development

• Central Government has allocated Rs 18 lakh crore for improving urban infrastructure.

• Haryana Urban Development Authority (HUDA) to spend Rs 700 crore to acquire nearly 102 acres for the construction of the Central Peripheral Road (CPR) to connect Dwarka Expressway with the Southern Peripheral Road (SPR) and NH-8

• Haryana Government to build a new 4.5-km-long four-lane-road from Bajghera in Gurgaon to Bijwasan in Delhi

• The proposed airport at Jewar, Greater Noida has got the no-objection certificate from the Ministry of Defence. Here is how the Jewar airport would impact real estate.

• Ghaziabad to get a direct Metro link with Noida, with the extension of the Blue Line of the Delhi Metro Noida Authority has decided not to increase the FAR in under-construction projects

Despite the boost by the authorities, the ample choice and the pricing, is there something that bothers to-be settlers? “With the real estate slump, NCR did see a bad time in terms of sales. Either new launches were not in a popular price bracket or they were in locations that buyers were not considering. Together with issues such as land acquisition, National Green Tribunal's decision of banning construction within 10km of the Okhla sanctuary and cost of steel and cement on the rise, the sector had to suffer a neglect from buyers,” says Gurpreet Singh, broker, Mitra Homes. Industry insiders say that 2017 is hopefully better and brighter with the Real Estate Regulatory Authority coming into effect. It will infuse a much-awaited confidence back into the market.

Susheel Bajpayee, a broker based out of Patna says, “If conditions in NCR were bad, those in Patna are worse. Sales conversions were very few in the city and the only ones who are willing to buy are those who are looking at premium locations such as Pataliputra, Boring Road, SK Puri and such established locations. The land bank is very limited here but if a 3BHK moves here, it fetches a good Rs 80 lakh, such is the popularity.” Marketing shops of popular Delhi and NCR based realty players have already set base in the city because here lies the pool of potential buyers. Vikas Bhatt, a businessman, approached this centrally located office in Boring Road to enquire about investment opportunities. He says, “It is also about the cultural connect. I wouldn't want to be displaced from my roots. Delhi NCR is not very far from home and I needn't have to adjust there as much as in Bengaluru where my son works, so an investment doesn't come across as an odd agenda at all.”

Marketing shops of popular Delhi and NCR based realty players have already set base in the city because here lies the pool of potential buyers. Vikas Bhatt, a businessman, approached this centrally located office in Boring Road to enquire about investment opportunities. He says, “It is also about the cultural connect. I wouldn't want to be displaced from my roots. Delhi NCR is not very far from home and I needn't have to adjust there as much as in Bengaluru where my son works, so an investment doesn't come across as an odd agenda at all.”In a nutshell, the NCR doesn't seem that glum after all.

In a nutshell, the NCR doesn't seem that glum after all.