In seven months, Navi Mumbai flat registrations up 10% from same period in 2017

There has been a steady rise of 10% in the number of house registrations in Navi Mumbai in the past seven months, compared to the same period last year. Builders have attributed this to infrastructural developments in the city—the new airport project and the Nerul-Belapur-Kharkopar railway line—have been major draws for prospective home buyers. “From April to the first week of November, there have been 9,893 new house registrations in Navi Mumbai (see box). The figures has been acquired from various government registration offices in Vashi, Nerul, Belapur, Koparkhairane and Panvel. This is around 10% higher than the number of house registrations last year for the same period, which is good news for the real estate sector,’’ said former secretary of Maharashtra Chamber for Housing Industry (Navi Mumbai) Manohar Shroff. There is bound to be a further growth in the realty market in the next few years due to various infra developments, Shroff added. “However, it has been noticed that people are more likely to go for ready-possession flats, instead of ones under construction. There is some pressure on the builders’ lobby as well to expedite the projects so that they fall in the ready-possession bracket,’’ said Shroff. President of CREDAI-Builders Association of Navi Mumbai (BANM), Haresh Chheda, said, “The opening of the first phase of the railway line towards Uran has proved to be an icing on the city realty’s cake. More people now are looking towards MMR’s new regions like Ulwe, Khalapur-Khopoli, Neral and Karjat because there will be better road and rail connectivity in the coming years.’’ The market rates of flats in developed nodes like Vashi and Nerul at present are Rs 20,000 per sq foot (psf) and Rs 15,000 psf respectively, which are on par with Mumbai’s western suburbs like Kandivli and Borivli, Chheda said. However, in developing areas like Panvel and Ulwe, the carpet area rates are between Rs 5,000-7,000 psf. The working class prefers these areas as they are affordable and since it is less congested here with ample parking space, he added. Meanwhile, realty analysers like ANAROCK Property Consultants pointed out at the unsold inventory of flats (nearly 0.2 million units) in the MMR due to aggressive project launches between 2013 and 2015. However, post-2015, with restricted launches and stable absorption rates, the market has reversed its trend and the unsold stock has started to decline.