Bangalore Real Estate Trends

Demand for villa projects has picked up if the response to some of the recent projects in the city is any indication

After a considerable lapse of time,demand for high-end homes like villas has given a virtual boost to developers in Bangalore.There are not many developers who have plunged into villa development and limited developers have ongoing projects in the city.Earlier the sluggish market scenario had necessitated them to go slow on villa development.With the demand level picking up,they are gearing themselves to meet the sudden surge in demand for highend homes.

The concept of staying in a villa, which is an independent house of your own with all the built-in amenities that an apartment complex would offer,has become a hit.Villa or town house complexes would offer the benefit of privacy of an independent house and yet offer benefits of apartment complex such as security,clubhouse,jogging track,super market,swimming pool etc.These benefits have suddenly increased the demand for the villa and town house projects in Bangalore.

According to Hemang Rawal,Managing Director,Samruddhi group,most of the buyers have confusion between a villa and a town house.Typically,a villa will have more land area and less of the built up area whereas a town house will have less land area and more built up area.For instance,a villa may be on 5000 sq.ft.land with 3000 sq.ft.built up space whereas,a town house may be 2400 sq.ft land with 2800 sq.ft.of built up space on it.

Generally,a town house is cost effective compared to a villa due to high land price.However,a town house will have less front and back garden space compared to a villa.Otherwise all other facilities and amenities in a town house project are same as a villa project.Villas and town houses are also better compared to an apartment project in terms of choice of design.Normally in all the villa projects there is a choice of design offered by a developer out of 4-5 typical ones.This will offer flexibility to the buyer to some extent in choosing the design and 'look' for his dream house.

Among villa development,there are projects where only exclusive villa development is undertaken by select developers. Whereas others go for mixed development with row-houses and apartments besides including commercial project in the overall development.According to market sources,there are clients who prefer exclusive villa development projects with particular reference to neighbourhood."In a city like Bangalore, HNIs prefer exclusive villa projects that do not form part of any mixed development,be it residential or commercial",feels V Sridhar,Manager,Sales & Marketing,Chaithanya Projects Pvt Ltd.

Unlike earlier,the market today is predominantly dominated by end users.And so the thrust on value for money in villa projects continues to grow stronger than ever before,say market sources.In fact the development of exclusive villa projects has become a challenging job for developers especially with soaring land values and limited availaiblity of land parcels even in suburbs.

The price for villas varies from Rs 2 crore to Rs 7 crore depending on the project size,developer,location,specification and amenities offered in the project.The rental yield is said to range from 5 to 10 per cent per annum depending on the location,size of the project and additional amenities offered in the project.However,the price appreciation on capital investment is considered substantial for investors over a period of years.

According to market sources,there are hardly villa developments in south and west of Bangalore whereas most of the developments are taking place in east and north of Bangalore."There will always be a demand for villa projects but the demand as of now is restricted to units in the price range of Rs 1 crore - Rs 2.5 crore only",feels Hemang Rawal.It is felt that the demand for units priced above Rs 3 crore is slow but it will take some more time to pick up,he adds.

_{Source: ET Realty, Bangalore Dt: 11-8-10}