North B’luru sees biggest increase in property sales

BENGALURU: North Bengaluru is seeing the biggest increase in launches and sales of new residential property.
In the first half of 2015, north Bengaluru’s share of total launches increased to 37%, from 20% in the corresponding period last year, while share of sales rose to 29% from 19%, as per estimates by global property consultancy firm Knight Frank India.
In launches, the north now has the highest share, going past the south, which dominated launches with a 45% share in the first half of last year.In sales, the south still dominates with a 40% share, but that is down from 48% in the corresponding period last year.
“Locations (in the north) such as Hebbal, which is fast gaining ground as an upper mid-end destination, as well as growth corridors such as Kogilu, Nagawara, Jakkur and Thanisandra, have benefitted largely owing to their improved connectivity and proximity to IT parks and the international airport,” London-based Knight Frank said.
Juggy Marwaha, MD for south India in real estate consultancy firm Jones Long LaSalle, said the north was the way to go forward. “Infrastructure is much more developed there than in the south,” he told TOI.
The massive Manyata Tech Park near Hebbal continues to attract many global corporates. Other emerging business destinations like the aerospace park, the hardware park and the proposed IT investment region are making the north look attractive. The region's big problem though is water shortage, and it remains to be seen how the government tackles that.
Knight Frank said most of the under-construction projects in south Bengaluru were yet to offload a significant portion of their inventory.
However, the real estate sector as a whole continues to be demand constrained. The number of new residential project launches in Bengaluru dropped 40% to 21,400 in the first half of 2015, compared to the corresponding period last year. But it still was the highest among the eight cities surveyed by Knight Frank. Mumbai came a distant second with 18,887.
In number of sales though, Mumbai topped with 28,446, compared to Bengaluru’s 22,234.
Satish B N, Knight Frank’s executive director, south India, said Bengaluru remains one of the best performing markets in India.
“We do expect buoyancy in the second half of the year as the office market has shown substantial quantum of absorption and this will have a positive impact on the residential market too,” he said. Knight Frank estimates the number of launches to go up to 29,700 with sales of 27,900 in Bengaluru in the second half of 2015.
The city has traditionally been the biggest absorber of office space among Indian cities, and it continued to maintain the leadership this year helped by strong demand from the IT/ITeS and e-commerce sectors. The city’s absorption is expected to touch 11.1 million sq ft by the end of the year, from 6.07 million sq ft in the first half, the report noted.