The most premium of these luxury condos is the Camellias, which looks nothing short of a five-star resort, and rentals range between Rs 8-9 lakh for a 7,400 square feet apartment. The demand again is from corporate honchos, wealthy businessmen and NRIs looking to return and settle in India.
The same growth has translated into capital appreciation too.
Data shared by industry insiders shows that Aralias, which was priced at Rs 10 crore in 2020, is now selling for Rs 22.5 crore. Similarly, Magnolias was priced at Rs 13 crore in March 2020 and is now sealing deals at Rs 28-30 crore. The Crest, a luxurious residential three and four BHK apartment complex at Park Drive, Gurugram, also saw prices rise from Rs 6 crore in March 2022 to Rs 13.5 crore in May 2023, more than a 100 per cent hike!
“Last week, I sealed a deal at the Magnolias for Rs 32 crore. The buyer was an HR executive at an MNC. The same house was valued at Rs 16 crore two years ago. While DLF properties on Golf Links have seen a 100 percent appreciation in two years, other builders too on Golf Course Road are riding the wave. While properties like Bel Monte and Exotica have not seen a similar hike, they have also gone up in value. From Rs 2.8-3 crore in 2020, they are now not less than Rs 4.8-5 crore,” said Rishu Chopra, Director, Illuminate Estates.
Given these high appreciation rates, it is not surprising that in the first quarter of 2023, Golf Course Road in Delhi NCR emerged as the region’s most expensive housing market, surpassing housing prices even in the Delhi micro-market.
“This can be attributed to its strong connectivity and close proximity to commercial office hubs in Gurugram, which have sparked a surge in demand for residential properties, particularly in the luxurious segment. Also, the demand for large-sized apartments especially from C-suite & top brass of large corporates has seen higher growth in recent times,” said Vimal Nadar, head of research at Colliers India.
So what is fuelling this buyer interest at such jaw-dropping prices?There is no new supply but demand is at a 10-year high
“The capital appreciation in Delhi NCR was observed at 40% on Y-o-Y basis at the end of 2022 when compared to 2021. The rentals are following the same trend and increasing in the same proportion owing to limited move in inventory but a decade high demand,” said Samir Jasuja, Founder & CEO, PropEquity.
In case of Gurugram the ready to move in inventory was only 1,433 units with a value of Rs 2,885 crore, while the under construction inventory is around 9,912 units which are valued at Rs 23,104 Cr, shows data from PropEquity.
This shows a significant crunch in ready to move in properties which are high in demand especially in the luxury segment. In case of Golf Course Road, since 2018 only DLF Crest and DLF Camellias have been completed while the inventory in these projects is limited.
Since 2021, the demand has been growing at a rapid pace, especially in the luxury and ultra-luxury segment, whereas the supply hasn’t been able to cope-up. Also the ready to move in inventory is limited, and the new supply that was launched post 2020 will only get completed by 2024 or 2025, considering a standard time of 5 years for construction completion.
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Golf course road commands a premium because of the brand value
Majority of Golf Course Road is dominated by DLF, which has focussed on building luxury and ultra luxury condos. DLF is a brand in itself, which is why he commands a premium. ” In such micro-markets, it is always the developer’s reputation and the final product delivered, and returns assured that lure investors and buyers. Arbour was completely sold purely on brand play,” said Chopra.
The Golf Course view in Gurgaon is equivalent to the Marine Drive of Mumbai
In every city, the location, view and quality of life drive up a property’s price. ” In Mumbai, properties that face Marine Drive command the highest premium, in Delhi properties in and around South Delhi that are surrounded by lush, green spaces and are gated colonies command a premium. Similarly, in Gurgaon, you have the Golf Course in front and the Arravalis at the back, and people are willing to a premium for both, ” said Kapoor.
The condo life is so much in demand that people are selling their family homes in Delhi and moving to these luxury complexes. ” We sold our house in Saket, and decided to live on rent in DLF’S Belair because of the amenities it has to offer. We saw other properties too like Nirvana, Park Place, Sahara but none seemed to offer the well-maintained clubhouse life that DLF does. Sure you pay a premium here, but you are not worried about security, hygeine or shoddy quality,” said Delhi-based lawyer Jyotsna Sharma.
For Sharma, the move to Gurgaon is also an upgrade in lifyestyle. Everything she needs – grocercies, gym, tennis, movie nights, birthday hosting halls, swimming lessons for the child- are within an arm’s reach, without her having to leave the premises of her apartment complex. And this is the game DLF has capitalised on as more millenials leave the city life for the condo way of life.
Return on investment
For those looking for a bang for their buck, Golf Course Road has more than delivered. NRI investments in DLF currently stand at 12-14 per cent and majority of that is from the UAE, Singapore, US and UK.
For example, a 4,000 square feet builder floor in Delhi’s posh Panchsheel Park or Hauz Khas Enclave, which costs anywhere between Rs 18 crore-22 crore has hardly appreciated in the last three years. In fact prices have more or less remained stagnant. But a similar sized apartment has seen anywhere between 25-60% escalation in price on Golf Course Road.
Even in terms of rental yield, Golf Course Road is leading the market. A 4,200 square feet newly constructured 4BHK in Panchsheel Park North fetches a rent of Rs 3.5-4 lakh while in some gated colonies like Magnolias and Aralias it is upwards of Rs 4 lakh.
Wellness, safety in gated communites is the theme post Pandemic
“Today, DLF Golf Links residences on Golf Course Road command some of the highest rental yields in the luxury and super-luxury segment in the country, and a record capital appreciation also. There is a steep rise in demand for rentals from regional expatriate residents, businessmen and CXOs based in Delhi NCR, and even owners of these properties looking at moving and upgrading from private bungalows to high-rise condominiums. While there has been a rise in overall demand for rental, for properties on the Golf Course Road, for super-luxury residences – The Aralias and The Magnolias, at DLF5 Golf Links, there has been an upsurge in both rentals and re-trade prices,” said Ohri.
Meanwhile, increasing land prices in NCR is expected to further shoot the capital values for plotted developments and luxury apartments. However, any such price hike is not expected to cast a negative impact on demand as the target segment’s buying capacity has improved considerably, shows research by Shashwat Srivastava, Assistant Manager Research & Consulting and Sevills India.
“Delhi-NCR had been witnessing an increase in demand for premium homes even before COVID struck. The pandemic has made ‘Wellness and safety’, a key purchase consideration. This has further increased the traction in premium housing which is likely to continue in 2023, ” noted Srivastava.
Data shared by Liasas Foras on primarly markets ( where direct projects by builders are taken into consideration, and not secondary sales) shows that on average, the maximum price appreciation has been witnessed in Dwarka Expressway.
Developers are betting that the opening of the Dwarka Expressway in Gurgaon will increases real estate prices by 30 per cent in the region, which is why many developers have mostly launched projects there, pushing up prices in the region.
This 27-kilometre-long, eight-lane expressway connects Dwarka in Delhi to NH-8 near Manesar in Haryana. Its proximity to Gurugram and the international airport are factors that have contributed to the rise. The road will also bring Gurugram and parts of Delhi such as Janakapuri, Pashchim Vihar, and Dwarka, closer.
The region has seen property rates jump 80% in the last three years. “The availability of gated luxury condominiums, surrounded by a range of social amenities and vibrant retail developments, make it an ideal luxury destination for millennial homebuyers,” according to Vineet Dawar, Senior VP – Sales & Strategy, Elan Group.