THIS SMALL IS BIG

PUNE: Flourishing micro markets catering to various socio-economic groups make Pune an attractive investment destination

If various pockets of af fluence are indicators of the success of a real estate market, Pune can well be defined as a city that has in its DNA all the attributes of a global city. The economy of the city in general and its real estate in particular stands uniquely positioned with many micro markets catering to various socio-eco nomic groups within the Pune market and collec tively this makes Pune an attractive investment des tination. In terms of investment and property landscape, Pune till very recently, was referred through its central business district (CBD) of MG Road, Koregaon Park, Bund Garden, Kalyani Nagar, Dhole Patil, Fergusson College Road and Jangli Majaraj Road. Today, there are many markets that can easily be touted as thriving economic destinations, if not CBD in the traditional sense of the term.

Consequently, the growth trajectory of Pune real estate market has been thoroughly even. Localities like Hinjewadi, Aundh, Wakad and Hadapar are well known for huge SEZs as well as IT and ITeS companies that have come up in the city and today there are multiple demand drivers of Pune prop erty market. This has been a catalyst to the growth of many micro markets with varying affordability index within the city. The encouraging aspect of this growth of the city is that amid this evolving pattern various budget segments have also surfaced within Pune real estate. And it is no more about just the developments in the commercial segment; rather the growth trajectory does have a co-relation with the residential projects, too, in the vicinity.

Kruti Jain, Director of Kumar Urban Developments, makes it a point when she says that unlike many other major cities Pune is circular and has beautiful growth spread out in each direction.

Due to this, a lot of township developers in Pune have been able to create a sustainable place. This is unlike other metros where land for such development is not available. Asserting that Pune is growing at a rapid pace she says that initially the development of the city was focused around its business districts, but due to rapid influx of people coming into the city there has been a huge residential and commercial development boom across the city.

“Pune is an economic powerhouse in its own right, being home to a wealth of multinational companies and industries. These organisations have ensured that Pune has emerged as one of the most important employment centres in the country. This influx has boosted infrastructure development including road connectivity, parking facilities, public transport and electricity and water supply.

Though the market was earlier dominated by commercial real estate; with increased affordability, growing income levels and the inflow of immigrants and the working population, residential housing projects have also increased tremendously now,“ says Kruti.

Abhay Kumar, CMD of Grih Pravesh Buildteck, however, does not find anything unusual in this many cities within Pune city syndrome. According to him, it is not only Pune but every city has many micro markets within its geographical boundary. In a highly diverse country like India, every city has various segments of population with different socioeconomic characteristics living in different parts of the same city. Naturally they form many micro markets within the same city. Apart from it, there are many triggers for the growth in real estate like schools, government offices and IT parks.

These institutions, when come up in a particular part of city, trigger economic activities of varying characteristics which add demand in realty sector.

“If I have to identify the locations for high-end, midsegment and affordable housing respectively, I would say Boat Club Road, Koregaon Park, and Kalyani Nagar are considered to be high-end localities from real estate point of view. Baner, Pashan, Aundh and other areas closer to the Mumbai-Pune Highway are mid-segment locations whereas Undri, NIBM Road and other locations

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UNLIKE MANY OTHER MAJOR CITIES, PUNE IS CIRCULAR AND HAS A BEAUTIFUL GROWTH SPREAD OUT IN EACH DIRECTION A VISIBLE PATTERN IS, PEOPLE RELATED TO IT COMPANIES, MANUFACTURING UNITS AND EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTES OCCUPY A MAJOR CHUNK OF HOUSES ACROSS THESE MARKETS VARIOUS SEGMENTS IN PUNE REAL ESTATE ARE BENEFICIAL NOT ONLY FOR THE OVERALL PROPERTY MARKET BUT ALSO FOR ACTUAL BUYERS AND END-USERS THERE STILL ARE LAND PARCELS AVAILABLE FOR FUTURE DEVELOPMENT adjoining to Pune-Satara Road are affordable housing areas.One visible pattern is that the people related to IT companies, manufacturing units, and educational institutes are occupying a major chunk of houses across these markets,“ says Abhay.

Analysts also point out that various segments in Pune real estate are beneficial not only for the overall property market but also for actual buyers and end-users. It provides the consumers a choice to look for a suitable option as per the budget and preferences. Pune has become one of the fastest developing cities in India and due to improved connectivity and infrastructure, it has become a sought-after destination for residential as well as commercial activity. It is today preferred as a balanced market with less chances of meltdown since it has come up pretty well as an emerging economic hub with huge appreciation potential for the real estate developments.

Despite of large-scale developments and the fact that Pune is the top choice for the ITITeS, manufacturing and education sector in the western part of the country, Pune is still quite attractive market as far as affordability is concerned. Pune market has a wide range of housing options available in the below Rs 5,000 per sq feet range. This is something pretty affordable, if compared with the neighbouring city like Mumbai.This has also been the main reason why the property market of Pune did not see the kind of slowdown that other markets like Mumbai or Delhi-NCR have been witness to in the last few years. No wonder, most of the businesses now wish to make Pune a home as it suits their cost of doing business as well as the affordability and liveability index of the large workforce.

Moreover, there are still land parcels available for future development and the demand is increasingly evolving for various budget as well as high-end projects within the city. There are a few cities that have the luxury of developing many micro-markets within the city's property market. In most of the urban centres across the country, it is the lopsided growth along the CBD and the peripheral areas are seen as compromise locations for those who cannot afford to buy in and around the CBD. This is not the case with Pune where the growth pattern has been quite even and that makes the city a case study in planned urban development.

Source: TImes of india, 6th september, 2014 

MY TAKE TO ABOVE ARTICLE: the above article makes it quite informative in terms of micro areas or growth areas of pune overall and wish to make it more precise by adding following location detail:

East Pune: consists kalyani nagar, viman nagar, kharadi, magarpatta &  wagholi: this belt of these areas are having names already existing like Hyatt hotels - 2 nos., four point shereton, novotel, redission, columbia asia hospital, pune's only airport, shopping malls like phonix & inorbit, Eon IT park (Infotech park) and coming up WTC (world trade centre) & Trump Tower (Donald trump US venture), these are few renowned names in the small strech of 5-6 km which makes these areas very very hot for investment. 

West Pune: consists most happening area of "Hinjewadi" which is surrounded by huge IT parks having worlds best renowned names already operational and till date, there were only commercial developments so there is huge potential for investing in residentials and great future ahead....Hinjewadi has tremendous potential to be a great investment destination and top of it, everything of best of best like shopping malls, schools, golf coarse, state of the art amenities, surrounded with top notch corporate world, just touching to mumbai - pune expressway makes this hot investment destination.