Pune Builders Want Land Norms On Par With Mumbai
The Confederation of Real Estate Developers’ Associations of India (Credai), Pune has made a representation to the Urban Development Department secretary, TC Benjamin, to make more land available by applying the same parameters of redevelopment for wadas and old city areas as the department has done in Mumbai.
Credai Pune launched a property exhibition at the Le Meridien hotel in he city on Friday. The exhibition will be on till Sunday. The projects offer one BHK to 5 BHK, penthouses, row houses, bunglow plots and offices in PMC, PCMC and surrounding areas.
Shantilal Kataria, vice president Credai, hopes the organisation’s proposal will be approved before Diwali as promised by the Mayor.
“Land prices currently are out of control, and are more than the prices at the peak in 2008. Short supply of land will lead to an upward pressure on prices, and therefore the builders are keen that land is made available soon so that affordability is not affected.” he says.
After having to tackle the lull in the market, it is the shortage of supply in land that developers have to address, highlighting the return of normalcy in the sector . Anuj Bhandari, exhibition committee chairman, Credai, declared that the Pune realty industry has returned to normalcy. “People are now keen on buying homes as the IT and manufacturing industries have started hiring and the economy is looking up with the GDP at a robust eight per cent. But stock of good quality homes is fast depleting,” he said.
The members however do not want to raise prices even as there is shortage.
Satish Magar, president, Credai, Pune, feels that past experience shows sales happening within a certain price band. While demand for ultra luxury homes remains, notwithstanding the general outlook, has people willing to buy in the 2,500/sq.ft- to 4,000/sq.ft price band. “If prices jump too high, demand shrinks significantly. The challenge for us is to maintain quality even as input costs keep rising,” says Magar.
Explaining the issue further, Rohit Gera, vice president, Credai added, “homes are built by established or serious players and also by the fly-by-night operators. A well established builder will ensure that the flats he builds meet all norms, legal, environmental and financial. But on account of very poor land availability, new projects are slow to launch even though demand has returned. So we have projects that are good and safe to buy and also those that are built by those who are in it to make a quick buck. As a result good quality homes are not as easy to find.” The Credai Mega Property exhibition has also banks ICICI and HDFC participating.
