Looks like the builders are going to be creating even more havoc. One interesting statement herein: ""Over 40 per cent of our bookings until now have been made by Goans." I wonder how much truth there is in this or is it just a claim by the builders to blunt opposition?
----- Indian Express, Saturday, November 03, 2007 HOUSES BY THE SEA Kavitha Iyer Sun, sand and lassitude—that was what Goa used to be. But it has suddenly woken up... THEY serve up the same luxury of sea views and salt spray, but one year ago you could hardly speak of Juhu and Calangute in the same breath. One is home to the cream of Mumbai and Bollywood, with residential real estate rates here making it to global charts. The other is on every globetrekker's annual December agenda, a pristine Goa beach skipped by the winter and the moral police. Now, unbelievably, the two unlikely rivals are neck to neck in the realty market. Goa's big story is no longer the foreign tourist returning unerringly. It is the cold mathematics of real estate, more fashionable here than in any Tier Two town and pricier than ever before. In Panjim, where prices have doubled in a year and developers are fielding enquiries from Europe, New Delhi and Bangalore every day, apartments in well-planned townships are demanding—and fetching—Rs 10,000 a sq ft. "Goa's real estate is quickly moving away from its original tag as holiday home property," says Anuj Puri, managing director of property consultants Jones Lang la Salle Meghraj. Puri confirms there is keen interest among foreign buyers too, perhaps a lot of the tourists now want to just stay back. But Goans, earning the highest per capita incomes in the country, are for the first time beginning to live the big city life. "Over 40 per cent of our bookings until now have been made by Goans. We were surprised ourselves," says Poonam Bhandari, heading sales for Gera Developers, a Pune major just beginning the construction of Astoria, a premium apartment complex and Gera's first residential project outside Maharashtra. Ditto at Aldeia de Goa, a hugely controversial project of Mumbai-based Dynamix Group. "In Phase I, 42 per cent of our buyers were Goans seeking to shift residence into this gated community—for the lifestyle, the amenities and the security," says Brigadier SCK Puri, director at the lavish project of plots and readymade tiled-roof homes on "thoughtfully landscaped slopes" on a 140-acre estate adjoining the sea. The others were from Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore while another 30 per cent belonged to the UK and the Middle East. Depending on the view, plots in Aldeia de Goa could set you back by about Rs 40,000 to Rs 55,000 a sq m—up from Rs 15,000 a sq m two years ago. Little wonder then that with such huge returns expected, the big daddies from New Delhi and Mumbai are making their first forays into uncharted Goan realty. Parsvnath is undertaking a mega residential project, DLF is expected to soon announce plans for a mall, the Rahejas of suburban Mumbai are developing an IT Park. That the IT economy is dramatically changing the realty market in this once-tranquil region is obvious, everybody agrees. "IT firms readying to occupy properties like the Rahejas's IT Park in Goa are going to campuses for fresh recruits. Do they want to work in Hyderabad, Nagpur or Bangalore? More and more fresh recruits are opting for Goa," says Anuj Puri. "A stint of a few years in an exotic workplace like Goa appeals to all youngsters." The other reason is, of course, that the tourism economy continues to boom. "After the Bali bombings especially, Goa remains a favoured destination." The state Government may have backed off on the Regional Plan—it involved contentious development permissions—for now, but its IT policy remains focused, say officials. Foreign investments, more BPOs, IT parks, world class bandwidth and hundreds of kilometres of fibre optics top the agenda for RP Pal, secretary for Information Technology. "Technology infrastructure to match the first world," is what he is concentrating his energies on, so that Goa is able to slug it out with Mumbai and Pune not only in the real estate market, but also for a bigger chunk of the outsourcing pie. But whether as a young techie's dream job-with-dream-home attached or as an ideal location for second homes, the stress for builders is now on the luxe trappings of city living, coupled with lush views and sunsets. Sea views alone are passé. Professionally managed complexes of apartments or villas come complete with jacuzzis, piped music in the lobby, jogging tracks, tennis courts, swimming pools—one construction site is perched precariously along the Dona Paula cliffs, with swimming pools overlooking the azure sea—and gymnasiums. Just-launched, Astoria will be a "resort-style residence" with landscaped gardens, a swimming pool with a "swim-up bar", a landscaped walking track on the roof, a barbecue area, a "hotel style" lobby, rooms for a "concierge", service elevators and solar lighting wherever possible. Aldeia de Goa offers "international class" infrastructure, promises Brig Puri—concrete roads that could put Indian metros to shame, a centralised sewerage system with sewage treatment plants, an amphitheatre, sprawling gardens and open spaces, a banquet hall, convenience shopping and restaurants—all inside the gated community of villas. There are apartments designed by Hafeez Contractor too—a two-minute walk to the beach if you're downhill or commanding out of this world views for those buying homes higher up the hill. From Bollywood to cricket, the who's who of Indian high society have made enquiries, Puri admits. The villas and ancestral beach houses are no longer the most premium property. "Apartment sales, not so popular earlier are quickly rising in numbers," says Anuj Puri. He explains that there is greater security in gated communities, better amenities on offer in serviced apartments—supplies just a phone call away, broadband-ready homes in modern apartment complexes, retail giants next-door alongside cinemas and five-star hotels with casinos thrown in. "Why you connect with Goa is a subjective thing," says Rajeev N, a Delhi-based professional in his fifties who bought a plush 1,000-sq ft holiday home in Porvorim, just across the Mandovi River in Panjim. "For me, it was not a decision of the mind. Because while property prices here might make this a sound investment, maintaining a second home is really not an easy job. Investing that money in equity markets could fetch me better returns with none of the headache involved. His own "heart decision", he says, was fuelled by the chance to be close to nature—Villa Paradiso by Tata Housing Development Corporation is built along a hillside overlooking Mandovi River and just beyond, a breathtaking view of the heart of old Panjim. But, having been purchased entirely by families wanting a getaway home even at upwards of Rs 50 lakh a home, Villa Paradiso is a ghost town for most part of the year, and cause for much dismay among many Goans. Architect Dean D'Cruz, an active member of a group of planners and non-governmental organisations campaigning for a more people-centric planning for the state, says too many buyers in the hugely speculative realty market of Goa are not really interested in living here. "People are making money," he says, "and the next best thing to the stocks is to put money in real estate." D'Cruz, on the government-appointed taskforce to chart the road ahead for a planning vision for Goa, calls this an emerging market, but adds that a significant percentage of buyers are those investing in their "fourth or fifth" home. It's sad, he says, that the rapid construction is just depleting resources and adding pressure on infrastructure. "The impact is tremendous, the new townships and the way they are going about acquiring land…" While many developers blame the scrapping of the Regional Plan for the high prices on account of a the promised supply suddenly drying up, that's only part of the story, says Lalit Saraswat of goaproperty.co.in, a real estate venture between two old-timers among Goa's business houses. Saraswat admits that supply of certain types of property has seen a crunch due to the clampdown on zoning conversions, but says many true-blue Goans like him have mixed feelings about the rate at which development is proceeding. For Saraswat, born and brought up in Goa and sharing many of the environmentalists' fears—despite his profession—on excessive greed, what the state really needs is planned development. "Mangroves and green zones should certainly not be destroyed," he says, "but at the same time the environmentalists' concerns don't mean that planned development is not possible. After all, it's only logical that the city expands and what we need is to get all the stakeholders together and arrive at a mix that is sustainable." Still, later this year, many more big builders will be doing a Goa recce, for there's a large number of proposed SEZs that formed the chief election issue even for last week's by-poll. The buzz is that many will get the nod despite popular anger against them. Also, the Russians are buying land in North Goa, gossiped one taxi-driver, knowledgeably pointing out that Russian airlines are increasing flights into Vasco. And, not unlike Mumbai's cabbies, he's worried he will never be able to buy his dream home. "Just not affordable for people like us." So, is middle class housing in Goa going the Mumbai way? Saraswat has a marketing man's fable for a response: "Two representatives of two big shoe manufacturers arrived at an island," he says. "One went back disappointed—the remote island's people wore no shoes. The other stayed back to set up shop after sending his boss a message: No competition here, there can't be a better market." The market for affordable middle class housing in Goa is wide open. "Anybody who enters this market will do exceedingly well," he predicts. -- Question everything -- Karl Marx