Riding the resurging Indian real estate market, Omkar Realtors & Developers saw a positive response to their Indian housing projects during an event hosted at the Goodwood Park Hotel in Singapore.
Rahul Maroo, senior vice president, Omkar Realtors, said, “From our NRI inventory allocation of 250+ units, we have already crossed 200 bookings. GCC, Hong Kong and Singapore NRI investors have shown a renewed bullish sentiment in our Mumbai developments, including our highly successful Signet residential project launched in May 2017.”
The firm said it got over 200 bookings from NRIs for its latest residential project, Lawns & Beyond, located on the Andheri East highway in Mumbai. It claimed the 1,200-apartment inventory on display was the biggest launch across India post-RERA by a branded realty outfit.
Maroo stated that NRI investors and customers today are primarily looking at four factors to invest in the Mumbai realty market; namely minimum initial investment, RERA compliance, high rental yield potential and a brand, which has a proven delivery track record.
The Indian real estate sector has witnessed continued upheavals after the introduction of the Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act, 2016 and the Goods and Services Tax (GST). In addition, the demonetisation process also hit the grey market dealers.
Lawns & Beyond, billed as a RERA compliant project, consists of units with the ticket size ranging from SGD174,300 (INR83 lakh) to SGD329,800 (INR1.57 crore), with a 355 sq ft-710 sq ft carpet area range. The project located on the Western Express Highway (WEH) of Andheri-Jogeshwari east corridor.
“Proximity to the highway has become the pièce de résistance for housing in a city where distance is measured not in kilometres, but in time. As a result, the Andheri East-Jogeshwari East corridor, adjoining the highway has become one of the most popular house-hunting destinations,” said Ashutosh Limaye, Head of Research, JLL India, analysing housing on Mumbai’s Western Express Highway.
Describing the facilities on offer, he added, “The developer has included a host of luxury amenities like culinary services by culinary expert Ranveer Brar, separate recreational areas for senior citizens, yoga zones, urban farming, indoor and outdoor sports, spa, salons and a leisure space which is fast disappearing – terraces.”
Maroo said that NRIs, particularly from the Singapore market, are keenly eyeing properties in areas with upcoming infrastructure developments such as Metro, Monorail and new link roads connecting the East-West Corridors of Mumbai city. Lawns & Beyond, strategically located on the Western Express Highway, is a seven-minute drive to the domestic and international airports and is located across the road from the upcoming Metro rail, he added.
Omkar claimed it shifted its focus to the overseas Indian market, particularly from the business and corporate communities. NRI customers were responsible for an overall product portfolio volume of over SGD210 million (INR1,000 crore) over the last five years.
“Since many NRIs are not too familiar with RERA, we organised workshops to brief them about the laws,” added Maroo. “Also, keeping in mind the NRIs preference of healthy lifestyle, many developers in India are coming up with projects which are at par with international standards.”