Super Luxury Residential Development in Mumbai – 2011 Update

Mumbai top interior designers in Palm Beach real estate is one of the costliest in the world also one of the fastest in terms of price growth. While luxury real estate prices remained stagnant in the most parts of the world, in Mumbai prices increased by over 20% in 2010.

According to Global Wealth Report by Knight Frank and Citi Bank, Asian cities such as Shanghai and Mumbai will start to close the gap in next 10 years with New York and London that are presently on top of the wealth report’s global cities index. Mumbai was also ranked the world’s 25th most expensive city in terms of property prices while Monaco remains the world’s costliest city followed by London.

And this trend is only bound to continue with aggressive real estate appetite demonstrated by Indian HNIs. According to the report Indian HNIs would like to invest at least 10% of their total portfolio in residential real estate. This was double than what financial advisers would have done. Real estate, as an asset class, however has rarely disappointed in a city like Mumbai where stories of five baggers in five years not very uncommon. The luxury apartment in a city like Mumbai may cost anywhere between USD 1 million to USD 12 million, and range from 5,000 square feet to 13,000 square feet in size. The luxury real estate euphoria is fuelled by bullishness in some real estate pockets in South Mumbai where luxury apartments in have become 25% to 30% costlier than they were a year ago.

However it has been a mixed bag in 2011, where the glut of apartments in Central Mumbai can play a spoil sport and one may see some correction in prices. According to broker estimates around 40% of luxury apartments coming up in Mumbai are unsold. Buyers in markets like Central Mumbai are not buying into high rates of INR 25,000 per square feet. And as a result, pre-sales (wherein residential apartments are typically sold before fully constructed) have come down. This has resulted in construction delays since Indian developers want to ensure that they don’t have a large number of unsold units in their ready buildings.

Mumbai’s Luxury Residential Micro Market- South Mumbai

Mumbai has basically two luxury micro markets- South Mumbai & Central Mumbai. The South Mumbai market consisting of areas like Malabar Hill, Cumbala Hill, Napean Sea Road etc. is an evergreen market with severe paucity of land and an insatiable appetite for luxury development. Price points of INR 50,000 per sqft are fairly common in this market.severe paucity of land and an insatiable appetite for luxury development. Buyers usually are Indian HNI businessmen (upgrading from old constructions to new fully loaded, feature rich towers), NRIs and well-heeled professionals. They usually take very small bank loans (often for tax efficiency) and are not affected by interest rates firming up etc.

Trump Tower, Hughes Road: Donald Trump plans to bring his signature of luxury homes to Mumbai on Hughes Road in south Mumbai. The Trump Towers are being developed along with Mumbai-based developer Rohan Lifescapes. The 60 storey Tower will have 5,000 square feet apartments overlooking the Arabian Sea. The tower will have around 45 apartments and the lifestyle amenities will include a luxury spa, gymnasium and a mini-theatre. It will be interesting to see whether the design or the development will have anything unique or whether it will be a just a case of Mr. Trump charging a hefty royalty fee for his brand. According to market sources given the small amount of flats and the novelty associated with the Trump brand name, the development may fetch a 20-25% premium vis-a-vis neighbourhood developments in South Mumbai.

Mukesh Ambani’s Billion Dollar Home: South Mumbai also has the privilege of housing India’s richest man, Mr. Mukesh Ambani, tipped to be the world’s richest man in a few years. Mr. Ambani has built the world’s most expensive house in Mumbai estimated to be above a billion dollars. The house named Antilia, after a mythical island, resembles a condo tower or a set of Lego building blocks from the outside. But from the inside it is grand consisting of around 37,000 sq metres of space, more than the Palace of Versailles. The billion dollar tower soaring over 550 feet has three helipads, a health club, dance studio, fifty seat movie theatre and underground parking for over hundred and fifty cars. The home is rumoured to have a wait staff of 600.