How far is your ((HOME)) from the CITY: “0 Kms”

I am not travelling 20-30-40—–km away from the city to live – given a choice: I am sure none of us wants a HOME away from the city centre even if there is a paradise in making ….

The city centre with all the hustle-bustle of life with malls and restaurants and recreation zones and hotels and much-needed hospitals and schools and takeaways and finally OUR WORK ZONES OUR OFFICES all are stationed in the city centre or CBD: Central Business District as it is globally labelled.

We all want to live at a stone’s throw away distance from the city centre provided we can afford it. However, the cost constraints us to move away from the city centre and we start searching our roof at an affordable zone even if we have to travel distance.

Cost of Livings a deciding factor which is not limited to the price of the apartment-house we want to buy but also to the cost of our daily consumable needs and social structure is the deciding factor in search of our abode.

Real Estate predominantly follows “The Law of Expanding Boundaries “

Let me explain this with a simple example– Consider central Delhi perhaps the greenest area in the city with super well-planned infrastructure and with a proper balance of commercial and retail and housing nearby but limited for a small population. With the country following a high growth trajectory path in the ’80s and 90’s the commercial – retail and housing requirement shot up tremendously which resulted in property prices jumping over the roof.

People started searching for affordable sites. Consequently, SOUTH DELHI was born with designated commercial and residential zones. Further when South Delhi became expensive – Gurgaon was born – Manesar – Bhiwadi – Neemrana….So On…..

Delhi—>Gurgaon- Manesar-Bhiwadi-Neemrana—-And So On

Likewise, you can extrapolate within YOUR city too

(Illustration showing how boundaries expanded with the price rise)

Economic Centres create a human and physical ecosystem around them – housing -commercial – retail and other needed social infrastructure, With Inflation in the cost of living the boundaries created in the city centre tend to expand and there are new economic centres born which again create affordable sustainable socio-economic zones.

Theoretically, most of our lives we keep seeing boundaries expand radially in all directions and hence “LAW OF EXPANDING BOUNDARIES “is good to understand both for investors and end-users

Today we are in “ONCE IN A LIFETIME “kind of situation when we will perhaps see

BOUNDARIES CONTRACT – YES, it’s TRUE

With the current situation, gripping the world and we in India are no exception we are staring into a huge Economic Downturn or so to say a financial crisis.

Real Estate Industry which was struggling from Q4 2016 through Q1 2020 is seeing a wall in the form of financial stress, liquidity problem lack of demand and now also the labour resource problem.

The Govt is doing all it can to revive all industries to boost the economy and real estate is finding a special space because we are the second-largest employment generator, we give business to about 250 + MSMEs and also, we are the second largest contributor to county’s GDP. Various real estate bodies are giving practical representations to Govt, Ministry of Housing and Urban Development, RERA, NCLT and also RBI to look at the industry with compassion and to create a policy framework to support the industry in this crisis.

I am sure the Govt, Bureaucrats, and other stakeholders will handhold the industry and support its well being

While all the above is true there is another fact that cannot be ignored. Our homebuyer today is scared – scared of losing a job, seeing a salary cut forget increment and also the default and non-deliveries. The developers are coming forward and even taking losses in their balance sheets under giving discounts and flexible payment plans to create liquidity and complete the ongoing projects.

As a result, the housing zones near the city centres will become more affordable than they were before this crisis.

Meaning if you can buy an apartment in Manesar at the price in which you were buying at Bhiwadi you surely will not want to travel to Bhiwadi further if you can buy an apartment in Gurgaon at a price that you can afford then you will not look at Manesar for sure.

Likewise, in Noida: Central Noida (Sector 75, 76, 78), Noida Extension, On Expressway (Sector 137, 143, 144, 167, 168) will find more enquiries compared to Greater Noida, Yamuna Expressway or far-fetched sectors on expressway like Sector 150 in Noida.

The home buyer will find this opportunity to buy an apartment closer to the city centre where there is well establishes social infrastructure and which is closer to his workplace too.

TRUST ME THIS WILL HAPPEN

It is pertinent for the developers working closer to the city centre or commercial centres to evaluate this opportunity and to work out the pricing and payment plans and push the inventory to create a positive cash flow enabling the completion of projects and deliveries. This is not the time to be greedy and rigid it is the time to be realistic and practical.

BOUNDARIES will CONTRACT and there are no two ways about it.

To conclude – There may be a PARADISE in making at a farfetched distance but in real life, you don’t want to be a fool to LIVE IN FOOLS PARADISE rather you would live as near to the city as is possible.