Pune’s New ‘Green Living’ Communities

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Kishor PateKishor Pate, CMD – Amit Enterprises Housing Ltd.

Over the last decade, lifestyle has evolved as an important and often decisive factor in the Indian real estate industry. With the increasing presence of the IT / ITeS sector in many cities of the country, a large segment of Indian home buyers have entered a higher level of affordability and therefore tastes in homes.

This has led to a greater emphasis on larger sizes, evolved ambience and interior décor in the choice of properties. India is now seeing a strong trend in ‘smart’ and ‘green’ homes, which have high levels of lifestyle quotient attached to them.

For an increasing number of Indians, the focus of home buying has now shifted from functionality and inflexible budgets to lifestyle homes. Comfort, convenience and environmental awareness and responsibility play an important part in home buying today. Likewise, privacy and self-sufficiency are also part of the new mantra.

Home buyers in India who have been exposed to residential real estate trends in countries such as the US, UK, Singapore, Australia and Canada now wish to emulate the developed world’s focus on sustainable living.

Among other things, this has resulted in an increasing demand for green homes. Many developers now focus on bringing the world’s contemporary residential concepts to India – and projects with green living features are in increasing demand.

green home buyerGreen homes are more than just a prestige tag. Residential projects that have been designed and constructed on such lines ensure the lowest possible environmental impact of the building and its premises during the entire project’s life-cycle. The result is reduced energy consumption, pollution and waste generation.

Interestingly, the fast-emerging concept of green homes is having a visible socio-economic impact on the neighbourhoods which are thus created. Inhabitants of environmentally sustainable residential projects are aware that the onus of maintaining the overall sustainability quotient of the project is not solely on the developers and the infrastructure and facilitation provided. They are aware that true green living requires a new mind-set and a new lifestyle, as well.

The whole concept of green homes is admittedly still in its infancy in India. However, if we take the city of Pune as a case in point, it actually emerges that there is now an annual increase of 10-15% increase in home buyers who will not settle for anything less.

These homebuyers are committed to the health of their families, exercising their option of wasting less energy and towards preserving the city’s environment for the future generations.

As a result, more and more green home projects in Pune are now actually populated by inhabitants who passionately believe in and adhere to sustainable living concepts.

In a market where many of Pune’s neighbourhoods were previously tailored according to professions, income brackets and social status, today we are talking about an entirely new and highly progressive selection process wherein entire residential communities take up the cause of environmental sustainability.

Image courtesy of FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Consider Your Children’s Needs While Buying A Home In Pune

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Kishor Pate, CMD – Amit Enterprises Housing Ltd.

There are several good reasons why your children should be a major factor to consider while buying a home in Pune. It is no secret that everything that transpires within a family is directly or indirectly concerned with its children.

The psychology involved in this dynamic is quite interesting – to some extent or the other, we do base our sense of personal worth on what we can offer our children.

This is why we strive to provide them with everything we possibly can – good clothes, the latest and largest toys, a good school, and so on. Providing them with a good home is a natural extension of this. In fact, even young couples who do not yet have children will still consider this as an important factor while choosing a residential property.

Fortunately, residential property in Pune tends to more than meet the needs of parents who are determined to see that their kids grow up in a suitable environment. This can certainly not be said for homes of comparable size and price in some of the larger cities.

Despite the massive Pune residential real estate boom, most developers in this city continue to honour the larger needs of the family by providing appropriate amenities and facilities.

Keeping the needs of children firmly in mind, listed below are some of the aspects that should be taken into account while choosing a residential property in Pune:

  • Access To Good Schools

Access to the best possible schools is of great importance. Even if a residential project delivers on every other point on one’s wish-list, it will fall short if it does offer convenient access to at least a couple of good schools.

  • Reliable Public Transport

Apart from the obvious need of adults to have convenient access to their places of work, means of getting children to and from school is obviously important.

Amit's Eka

Even though many schools offer ‘winger’ buses, this is by no means a fail-safe system – and it not always feasible for parents themselves to drop their children off at school and pick them up again afterwards. While choosing a home in Pune, one therefore needs to ensure that suitable public transport is available.

  • Means To Keep Children Safely Occupied

It is no accident that most residential developers’ brochures make emphatic mention of children’s parks and playgrounds. However, depending on the age of your children, you should also look for crèches, play schools and day-care facilities near to the project.

Also remember that children need green open spaces, both for their health and as a means to expend their excess energies in safe and convivial surroundings.

While checking out the project’s clubhouse, ensure that it offers enough entertaining activities for your children. If the residential project offers a swimming pool, be sure to ascertain that there are enough safety measures such as shallow zone, a wading pool and non-slip tiles around the circumference.

  • Safety Beyond The Obvious

In a city where frequent power-cuts are more or less a norm, the need for electricity backup cannot be over-emphasized – both in common areas and within the units themselves.

This is not only because children are inherently more accident prone than adults. A prospective buyer must be satisfied that the lifts in the building as well as lighting within the home and in key common areas such as hallways and stair wells have 24/7 power backup.

It is also important to verify whether there is a properly equipped hospital with an emergency room in the vicinity. Other factors to consider in this respect are the security features provided in the project and the inherent safety of the neighborhood itself.

 

Why You Should Choose a ‘Green’ Home In Pune

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Kishor PateKishor Pate, CMD – Amit Enterprises Housing Ltd.

Nothing that we see or know of on this planet has remained the same over the last decade. We have used science and technology to improve the quality of our lives, but the very progress that we are so proud is also proving to be a major danger to the planet.

In the papers and on the news, we hear and read about the detriments of climate change – and yet, the whole concept of environmental sustainability remains an abstract concept to most individuals and even industries in this country.

Unfortunately, real estate has been a major contributor towards the gradual environmental degradation of our cities. In and our urban areas, activities like deforestation and draining of water bodies in order to make way for more buildings are rampant.

We are already noticing the change in weather patterns – hotter summers, shorter winters, failed or insufficient monsoons. There is much to be said for traditional values – a hallmark of the Puneri way of life – but it seems that most of the city is still living in the past, where global warming was a distant concept and not a real and present danger.

In cities like Pune, taking the preservation of the city’s ecology and finite energy resources seriously is now more than important – the city is, in environmental terms, already on yellow alert.

green homeDevelopers need to find better, more sustainable methods of designing their buildings in order to reduce their negative environmental impact.

It needs to be understood that the conventional methods of constructing buildings – as well as inhabiting such buildings post construction – are a major drain on available energy while being the single-largest contributors to greenhouse gas emissions.

There was a time when we took great pride in our city’s unique ecosystems and the rich biodiversity to be found in its open spaces, forested areas and water bodies.

Today, we have come very close to decimating this natural wealth by sacrificing it on the altar of mercenary development.

The price that the city is paying goes beyond mere climate change. Though developing buildings with obsolete construction methods is definitely a major culprit in this respect, there is also a greater price to pay for unplanned development.

Reckless and opportunistic creation of buildings basically amounts to inefficient use of land, which leads to increased energy consumption levels, commuting times as well as air and water pollution. The bottom line is loss in economic performance, vastly reduced quality of life and ever- escalating health concerns.

However, the onus of responsibility does not rest on developers alone. Property buyers must also be attuned to the very real necessity of choosing the ‘green option’.

While the response to the need for environmentally sustainable buildings in this city does fall short of the required mark, many developers in Pune have taken up the cause of creating green buildings. The market needs to respond to this, as well.

As long as the demand for homes in cheaply constructed projects that compromise the environment throughout their lifecycles outweighs that for environmentally sustainable ones, the city’s return to its ‘green’ heritage will remain a distant dream.

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Pune Real Estate – A Brave New World

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Kishor PateKishor Pate, CMD – Amit Enterprises Housing Ltd.

Pune is growing – literally every single day. It is home to some of the biggest names in manufacturing, IT, services, retail outlets and more. A steady growth of IT and ITES segments has set off the demand for quality residential projects in new areas of Pune.

In fact, the residential requirements of ITES companies will continue to be the primary demand drivers on the Pune residential property market in the future, as well. Today Pune is ranked best for its quality of living and space, educational institutions, climate and affordable cost, compared to other major metros.

In previous times, property buyers in Pune showed a marked predilection for low-rise structures like row houses, twin bungalows and independent bungalows.

Today, this trend has given way to a preference for apartments in multi-storeyed residential projects, thanks to the increasing space crunch in the more preferred areas and the overall economies of scale. It is a simple fact of life that flats in multi-storeyed projects can be mass-produced and therefore come at a lower cost than stand-alone or semi-exclusive homes.

Nevertheless, with a definite crystallization of income segments that has emerged on the simultanous growth of Pune’s industrial sector, the IT/ITES segment and the services industry, there is a more or less balanced demand for all kinds of homes today.

Interestingly, Pune’s developer community has been able to cater to all demand segments throughout, though rates for stand-alone and semi-exclusive units have certainly risen in tandem with the aspiration and purchasing power of the targeted buyers.

With the rapid saturation of Magarpatta, Hadapsar and Aundh, the walk-to-work theory has now been almost fully exploited. The next step on the evolutionary ladder of Pune’s residential property market is the short-drive-to-work concept, which is gaining popularity.

With the emergence of more and more projects that offer this facility in key locations, Pune properties are set to become even more attractive investment opportunities. Many developers are actively facilitating this concept in areas such as Baner, Undri and Ambegaon.

AEHL Project

Meanwhile, there are definite danger signals ahead. If not kept in check by a more rational supply pipeline, the ever-increasing property prices in Pune could eventually rob the city of its competitive edge as an investment destination in the face of stiff competition in the IT/ITES race from cities like Chennai and Hyderabad.

Inadequate infrastructure is another key issue. The city’s planning authorities should observe and learn from the steadily declining state of affairs in the larger cities and take steps to ensure proper planning of infrastructure to match the growth.

As the Pune property market in set to grow further in the times ahead, it looks forward to more proactive support from the state government and local municipal authorities in terms of taking the necessary steps. With a conducive environment for growth, Pune is all ready to be a mega city of the future.

Grand Design – Does Aesthetic Architecture Sell Homes In Pune?

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Kishor PateKishor Pate, CMD – Amit Enterprises Housing Ltd

Many factors play a role in a purchase decision by a home buyer in Pune. The price is obviously a major one, regardless of which value segment is in question. Even buyers who are on the market for luxury homes in Pune will shy away from an outrageously high price tag.

Another big influencer is location – proximity to workplaces, schools, hospitals and shopping outlets, availability of public transport and generally good connectivity are all important in this regard.

But today, Pune property buyers are also looking for that decisive extra – a variable that makes them decide on one particular project above the multitude of others available. With this, I am referring to superior architectural design.

An obvious question in the mind of a residential property investor would be – does architectural design really make such a big difference in a cost-conscious market like Pune?

Would Pune property buyers not rather zero in on the right price and location? The answer is yes – it does matter. In fact, it matters quite a lot in today’s evolved real estate market scenario.

One needs to understand the difference in expectations of residential property buyers in Pune as opposed to those from the larger cities such as Mumbai.

In Pune, buyers expect a certain degree of architectural grandeur as they are not merely seeking homes – they are seeking addresses. By this, I mean they wish to own homes that can also act as their very own ‘brand ambassadors’.

Pune property buyers have every reason to expect that extra edge of architectural magnificence to their residential property investment.

In the first place, property prices in Pune are much lower than in neighbouring Mumbai – a city where final value is measured almost solely on how many square feet of carpet area can be obtained.

In Pune, larger homes for the same price are a given. At the same time, there are numerous projects that have units on sale within the same price bracket in almost all locations. As we go higher up the value chain, property buyers in Pune expect distinct differentiators and value-adds from their investments.

Architecture and design are among the aspects which developers in this city can exploit to set their projects above the rest. Aesthetics play a big role when it comes to the final decision.

Aesthetic homes

The younger set of Pune’s residential property buyers tend to have evolved tastes because they have been exposed to a number of value propositions when it comes to buying a home.

With the aspirational quotient being quite high, there is a distinct tendency to prefer homes in projects which have factored in the latest architectural designs – both in terms of environmental sustainability and aesthetics.

Projects which have not been able to inculcate the fast-emerging culture of homes that please the senses as well as the pocket are definitely not on the hit-parade anymore.

Though it represents a higher investment outlay, higher accomplishment in design and architecture parameters tend to be the winning ticket for residential projects in Pune.

 

The Increasing Importance Of Amenities In Housing

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Kishor PateKishor Pate, CMD – Amit Enterprises Housing Ltd

Residential real estate in India has been evolving rapidly. The evolution took place in tandem with Indians’ exposure to global trends in style and comfort.

If I were to put a timeline to it, I would say the Indian IT/ITeS revolution really kick-started this trend, as more and more young Indians attained the opportunity and financial ability to travel abroad and witness international home trends for themselves.

Another factor that has been driving the increasing importance of amenities have been the escalating stress levels involved in professional life, coupled with the inconveniences imposed by rapid urbanization.

In many of our cities, the previously mundane function of commuting to and from work has become a nightmare in itself. The rapid multiplication of vehicles on our roads and the inability of our cities’ infrastructure to keep pace with this automotive avalanche are the main contributing factors.

As a result, the home has become more than just a place to arrive at after work – it must now serve as an oasis of calm and comfort after a day of chaos.

As a result, the amenities offered by residential complexes, both on a unit and project level, now represent one of the pillars of success for any residential project – the other three being location, construction quality and pricing.

This holds true for all segments from mid-income to luxury housing. The only exception would be LIG housing, where price remains more or less the predominant criterion.

Today, India’s home buyers expect value for money that goes beyond four walls, a floor and a ceiling. They expect convenience, ambience, comfort, security and means of relaxation and entertainment.

As such, multiple car parking, club houses, swimming pools, gymasiums, jogging tracks, green open spaces, express lifts and ‘smart home’ features are definitely on the wish-list of most mid-to-high income home buyers from the younger set.

Young married couples and the middle-aged also look for means to fraternize and socialize within the project, and the elderly show a greater concern for features such as ramps in addition to stairs in common areas and a higher level of indoor safety.

They will prefer projects that offer healthcare and wellness facilities and advanced security measures. Many projects by the more established developers have been able to achieve a happy blend of most of such features.

In the case of mid-income housing projects, developers are often able to add a number of value-adding amenities at relatively lower costs due to the economy of scale.

The advanced amenities offered in luxury housing projects obviously involve a higher premium, and are focused on a target clientele with matching financial means and aspirations.

 

Not In My Backyard – Does NIMBYism Exist In Indian Real Estate?

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Kishor PateKishor Pate, CMD – Amit Enterprises Housing Ltd.

NIMBY is not a term we often hear in India, though it is quite a popular word (and a dynamic concept) in the West. That said, NIMBY – an acronym for ‘Not In My Back Yard – is definitely an unspoken mind-set when it comes to residential real estate in India.

Basically, ‘Nimbys’ are residents of a locality of project who are opposed to the implementation of a certain initiative by the Government, industries or private developers in their neighbourhood.

Classic examples in the Indian context are flyovers, chemical factories, power plants and in fact any kind of development that could conceivably obstruct the view, disrupt the peace or pollute the air.

‘Nimbyism’ does exist in the Indian real estate space, but the choices of opponents to certain developments within their neighbourhoods is generally quite restricted. The Indian real estate space is still largely unorganized, and problems such as encroachment, unauthorized structures and lack of scientific town planning are still the order of the day in most of our cities.

The concepts of regulated real estate development and macro-level town planning are beginning to take hold and are, in fact, already operational in cities like Chandigarh, Navi Mumbai and even in Pune. While this evolution is happening against a large backdrop of damage that already been done and is difficult to undo, this does not mean that ‘Nimbyism’ is a futile and impotent concept in India.

In Indian residential real estate, middle-class housing societies – administrative bodies comprised of residents within a registered housing complex – have the right to refuse unscheduled construction within the complex premises.

That said, they have little or no control over what happens beyond the compound walls. In cities like Mumbai and Delhi, upscale housing complexes continue to co-exist cheek-to-jowl with slums and slapdash tenements. This is more or less accepted as a reality of life, since slums are often under the political protection.

power plant

The ultra-luxury segment presents a rather different picture. Indian cities do have their elite pockets, such as Lutyens Zone in Delhi, Nariman Point in Mumbai, Jubilee Hills in Hyderabad, and so on. In Pune, Sahakar Nagar, Prabhat Road and Boat Club Road are ready examples of empowered neighbourhoods.

In these areas, residents have a stronger voice over what happens in their immediate locality – and they do raise them. This level of influence derives from a combination of factors – including the social strata in which the residents fall and the fact that the zones themselves are under the purview of stricter-than-usual zoning guidelines.

As such, Nimbyism is definitely not a negative concept – in fact, cities like Pune need a larger dose of it. Residents should have a say in what happens in their neighbourhoods. This is especially true if the developments they are opposing are taking place outside of the existing zoning laws and are serious threats to the health, harmony and safety.

What is needed is more exacting city planning, which should ideally be part of the overall development plan for the city. Likewise, developers can also to some extent ensure the sanctity of the residential projects they create.

They can do so by avoiding the acquisition of plots in areas which are known for unregulated development or where major infrastructure undertakings such as power plants and grids are scheduled to come up, by studying the city planning and zoning for the area prior to acquiring plots, by providing the projects with a high degree of integration and self-sufficiency, and by ensuring that the project has generous open spaces both within and around the perimeter.

Image courtesy of FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Sahakar Nagar – Pune’s Blue-Blood Residential Location

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Kishor PateKishor Pate, CMD – Amit Enterprises Housing Ltd.

Sahakar Nagar needs no introduction to Pune’s citizens. This elite residential area is one of the oldest and most respectable addresses in the city. However, those who are not familiar with the city may not even have heard of it.

This is because Sahakar Nagar, which is home to Pune’s hoi polloi – the most established businesspersons and movers and shakers – has always been an extremely exclusive real estate market for decades.

The primary residential configuration at Sahakar Nagar is bungalows and villas, which comprise most of the housing landscape of this high-profile location. The resident profile primarily reflects Pune’s traditional Maharashrian ethos, which has helped preserve Sahakar Nagar’s reputation as one of the last outposts of the city’s communal roots. At the same time, the population of Sahakar Nagar is distinctly cosmopolitan.

Sahakar Nagar is unique in yet another aspect. Because of the fact that the residents of Sahakar Nagar will never want to move anywhere else, it has no resale market. Also, since it is fully developed and occupied for several years now, there is next to no new residential supply.

Sahakar Nagar is largely driven by end users, but the investment potential is massive because of the lack of supply and very high demand for homes in this area.

The location itself is perfect. At a high elevation, it offers a breath-taking view of the Parvati hill area as well as thick reserved forest lands. Bharati Vidyapeeth, one of Pune’s most upscale educational institutions, has its campus close by.

The Pune-Satara road provides ready access to all key areas of Pun e, including Deccan Gymkhana, Swargate, Aundh, Camp and Koregaon Park as well as other key areas of Central Pune.

The Mumbai-Pune Expressway is readily accessible via the Katraj Bypass. It is also within a stone’s throw from City Pride Cineplex and has its own integrated high street shopping area, which most of the local residents patronize.

Thanks to its unmatched locational advantages and also its unique profile, Sahakar Nagar is an address that most Puneites have only been able to dream of. With next to no availability of residential units of any kind, its status as a stronghold of Pune’s elite stands unassailable.

The residential property prices in this exclusive location range between 12000-15000/square foot, but the prospects of obtaining a home here have so far been extremely restricted.

Amit Enterprises Housing Ltd. established its foothold in Sahakar Nagar back in 2007 with the launch of the luxury apartments project, 9 Green Park. This project was finished in 2010 and is, not surprisingly, completely sold out.

However, another upcoming luxury apartments project by Amit Enterprises Housing Ltd. still offers the hope of home ownership to Pune’s discerning few. Arcadia – located adjacent to 9 Green Park – enjoys the most spectacular view yet of Sahakar Nagar’s legendary beauty.

This ultra-luxurious apartments project has been designed by renowned architectural firm Talati & Panthaky – one of the country’s most selective architectural houses that has created some of India’s richest peoples’ homes.

Arcadia will consist of between 14-16 stories of residential apartments, backed up with seven stories of reserved parking. Arcadia will be a signature residential tower offering a distinctive final flourish to one of Pune’s most sophisticated and exclusive addresses.

The IT Effect On Pune Real Estate

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Kishor PateKishor Pate, CMD – Amit Enterprises Housing Ltd.

Pune real estate and information technology are inseparable concepts today, and it is interesting to reflect on how this came about.

To understand the ‘IT Effect’ on residential real estate in Pune, one needs to understand how Indian real estate has been changing over the years.

Every year, we hear of new property investment destinations coming up. Some work out well for property investors, and some do not. Whether or not a property investment destination in India lives up to its initial potential or not depends on a number of factors.

One of the main factors is employment. An area in which a number of companies are opening up job opportunities for the local population becomes of interest to residential property developers, because they know that people want homes near to their places of work.

Developers do a lot of research before they decide to launch a residential project in or around an area with a lot of existing or emerging job opportunities. It is important for them to know what kinds of companies are offering jobs, because the nature of these jobs indicates the employees’ salary range.

If the jobs are mainly for retail or support services, this indicates that the employees will be drawing relatively smaller salaries. In other words, budget housing will be in greatest demand in such an area. Luxury housing would not draw any interest.

On the other hand, jobs created by large corporates and multi-national companies tend to offer a much wider band of incomes. Such companies create back-office, middle management as well as ‘C Suite’ jobs.

This means that developers can launch projects that cater to a wider band of income levels – affordable housing, middle-income housing and luxury housing. Homes in all these categories will be in demand.

This would have remained a predictable formula for Indian real estate developers to follow if job creation in India would have remained at the level of manufacturing, retail and financial services. However, matters changes drastically when India launched into its Information Technology boom in the mid-1990s.

eon freezone pune

Eon IT Park, Kharadi

This was the period in which more and more companies, mainly from the United States, started outsourcing IT-related jobs to India. Even when the resulting employment was mostly limited to call centre jobs, a lot of young Indians began at salary levels which their parents had worked half their lives to reach.

Back then, home loans were quite affordable at interest rates between 7-8%. High salaries at a young age meant long repayment tenures for home loans, translating into attractively low EMIs. This, coupled with the inherent yen for every Indian to own their own home, launched the IT-linked housing boom in India.

Within a relatively short period, the jobs being created by the IT industry in India went beyond call centres and medical transcription and began involving software development.

Salaries skyrocketed, and more and more young Indians were sent for training to the US – returning with a wider world view, higher aspirations and a taste for luxury. This is when cities like Bangalore, followed by Hyderabad and Pune, became hotbeds for high-end housing.

These foreign IT companies needed large spaces to set up shop. But unlike banking and retail, they did not need to be in the city centres, so they opted to launch their campuses in areas of Indian cities where the land costs were still low.

To compensate for the distances that employees living in the city would have to travel to reach their work places, they offered them gratis shuttle services.

However, then the ‘real estate effect’ began to take hold in these areas. Developers started launching housing projects around these IT hubs, and the demand for homes close to these companies continues to be huge. This is why the profiles – and the real estate prices – in these previously unknown areas began rising.

Today, IT hubs such as Hinjewadi, Tathawade, Kharadi and Magarpatta in Pune are literally dictating the trend of residential real estate development in and around these areas.

Aundh, Baner, Ambegaon, Undri and many other locations from which these IT parks can be reached are seeing massive development. The response by property investors has been huge, because residential real estate rates in these locations are rising with every passing quarter.

What Pune’s Property Market Needs From The Union Budget

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Kishor PateKishor Pate, CMD – Amit Enterprises Housing Ltd.

The upcoming Union Budget will address the nation’s overall financial concerns, within the framework of powers vested in the Finance Ministry.

It is eagerly anticipated every year, since it announces policy changes which have a direct or indirect bearing on the economy, the industries that drive the economy and – not least of all – the common man.

These policies are formulated on the basis of a national perspective. In other words, they may not have same relevance in various States, since States have their own policy mechanisms.

It therefore makes little sense to expect the Union Budget to take into consideration the requirements of individual cities. Nevertheless, the broader policy changes (or lack of changes) do have a bearing on the economic situation within each city.

As such, Pune certainly does have expectations from the Union Budget 2013-’14. As an industrial powerhouse that generated enormous revenue for the Government and countless jobs for its citizens, Pune will be directly affected by the financial policy decisions that the Budget brings forth.

And one of Pune’s most dynamic industries, which provides livelihoods and also caters to the housing requirements of lakhs of people across all income segments, is real estate. Therefore, the city’s real estate market looks forward to positive policy announcements that will benefit it as an industry and also its many stakeholders.

On a macro level, it is expedient that the Union Budget rationalizes the existing home loan interest rates so that more Indians can begin to realize their deferred plans of home ownership.

Real estate and budget

Interest rates play a crucial role for many segments of this country’s society and are a key consideration for the LIG segment. The Budget should also reduce the income tax burden on the common man so that there is greater ability in and incentive for investing in self-owned homes.

The Budget should also introduce measures to increase FDI inflows into the country, and broaden the scope of external commercial borrowings so that more low-income housing can be created.

Pune is eminently placed for budget housing, thanks to its lower land prices, the availability of sufficient land parcels for low-cost housing and also developers who are still willing and able to cater to the affordable housing segment.

More foreign investment into the city’s real estate sector, both in terms of commercial spaces to generate more jobs and more housing, is a very real need.

Similarly, a more significant allocation for infrastructure development coupled with stricter guidelines on implementation of infrastructure projects would make a huge difference for Pune’s real estate market.

The increasing deficit of cohesive and comprehensive infrastructure is becoming a bigger problem for Pune with every passing year.

For that reason, we also expect that the Union Budget takes decisive steps to remove the bureaucratic hurdles to implementation of pending or deferred infrastructure undertakings.

The city needs to grow outward, and this is only possible if the emerging areas receive road connectivity as well as basic facilities such as electricity and water supply.

Finally, Pune’s developers look forward to an easing of funding for new projects. More project completions mean more competitiveness on the market, and competitiveness is what keeps prices in check. It is axiomatic that when supply becomes scarce, real estate prices rise.

Will Union Budget 2013-’14 deliver on some – if not all of these points? Will it give Pune’s real estate market reason to cheer? As always, the city waits with bated breath for some positive signals this year.

Image courtesy of FreeDigitalPhotos.net