Market cycles have not affected the end user category of buyers and they are buying the luxury home they want if it ticks all their boxes
International designers and apartments serviced by five-star hotels are what consumers are looking for when it comes to buying a luxury property in the country, says Amit Goyal, CEO, India Sotheby’s International Realty. India Sotheby’s International Realty is part of the of US-based Sotheby’s International Realty, which operates a global network of over 22,000 affiliates with 960 offices across 72 countries, dealing in luxury real estate properties. In a chat with Moneycontrol, Goyal talks about the luxury segment in real estate and how it is still in demand.
Excerpts:
Q: Real estate as a sector is not looking up presently. What is the scene with the luxury segment? Are people shying away from buying luxury properties too?
A: There are two types of real estate buyers — one is the investor and the other is the end user. In luxury, while the demand from the investor has gone down by close to 80 percent in the last 2-3 years, the end users continue to buy houses in the segment. Market cycles have not affected the end user category of buyers and they are buying the luxury home they want if it ticks all their criteria. In fact, demand in the sector has gone up by 30 percent in the last few years.
Q: Please give us a city-wise analysis about pricings in luxury real estate.
A: The top market for luxury homebuying is Mumbai where project prices range between Rs 30 crore and Rs 100 crore, followed by Delhi where property prices are between Rs 20 crore and Rs 70 crore. Then comes Bengaluru with a ticket price that is upwards of Rs 10 crore. Finally, there is Pune where luxury properties start at Rs 15 crore.
Q: Hasn’t there been a drop in prices, given that there aren’t too many takers in real estate at the moment?
A: In Delhi, prices have dropped by 25-35 per cent because supply has exceeded demand but the Mumbai market has seen no such drop. Pune and Bengaluru too have seen price drops but those are negligible.
Q: What are the must-haves when it comes to buying a luxury property in any of these cities?
A: Luxury buyers now want international designers like Tony Gee and Partners and others to design their homes. There is also growing demand for serviced luxury apartments by five-star hotels like Grand Hyatt, ITC, Ritz Carlton and others. Apart from these, there are factors like location and neighbourhood, club facilities and a good view which count when a consumer zeroes in on buying a luxury property.
Q: Luxury is always associated with insane amounts of money — you have been operating in India for almost four years now. Tell us about the biggest deals.
A: We are not in a position to disclose details of our deals but the biggest deals have happened in the standalone luxury bungalow category in Delhi and Mumbai. The transaction range has been between Rs 300 crore and Rs 400 crore.
