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There has been a sudden surge in demand for luxury homes in Mumbai as no under-construction luxury projects are expected to get OCs for at least another two years, say industry experts While

demonetization has added to the woes of the real estate sector which has been dealing with a slowdown in the housing market, there’s one segment that is bucking the trend. There has been a

sudden surge in demand for luxury homes in Mumbai as no under-construction luxury projects are expected to get occupation certificate (OC) for at least another two years, say industry

experts. Moreover, with the Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act set to come into force, projects will take even longer to be completed under the new, strict norms. Hence, the three

ready-to-move-in luxury home projects - Lodha’s Crest, One Avighna Park and Indiabulls Sky - all located at Lower Parel in central Mumbai, that have occupation certificates in place are

attracting high demand. Though more than 30 luxury home projects, priced upwards of Rs 5 crore and going up to Rs 50 crore, are in varying stages of construction, none of them is near the

completion stage. Also, it is not just luxury apartments that are in demand. Ready-for-possession homes in other segments are also bucking the trend of an overall slowdown in the city’s real

estate market as they rule out uncertainty and delay in possession, say industry experts. “Projects which are complete and have an OC definitely command a premium compared to other

projects, given that there are close to 80,000 units in under-construction buildings in Mumbai, while only 4,000 units are unsold in completed projects,” says Ramesh Nair, COO - business

& international director, JLL India, adding that the number of unsold luxury homes is a fraction of this inventory. The developer of One Avighna Park is busy handing over dozens of

apartments to the owners for fit-outs, while the sales team is working overtime with enquiries for the ready-to-move-in homes. Just last week, the first family moved in at the 61-storey One

Avighna Park. “Far from the talk of slump in demand after demonetization, we are continuing to get a steady stream of enquiries and are in fact facing a situation where we have to turn down

buyers for certain configurations which are fully sold out,” says Nishant Agarwal, managing director of Avighna Group. At Indiabulls, the demand for the ready-possession homes far outstrips

the demand for the group’s own other under-construction projects in the neighbourhood. “The ready-possession homes command a premium; we have no special offers for these homes,” said a sales

representative at Indiabulls, adding that the developer has very less inventory, which it has reserved for buyers who are willing to pay the right price for it.