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Area Watch: Ludhiana

End users hold fort

The close link between the realty fortunes of a place and the economic health of that area is a well-established fact.

End users hold fort

 



Geetu Vaid

The close link between the realty fortunes of a place and the economic health of that area is a well-established fact. Paying capacity of the buyers, presence of industries and ancillary units and business turnover are the factors that have a significant bearing on the property prices as well as demand.

But this is belied if one looks at the property market in Ludhiana — the commercial capital of Punjab — over the past couple of years. Though it has been a good year for the different industries in the city, especially the hosiery industry, investments in the real estate sector in the city have not shown a positive trend so far. According to experts the market in this city has been stagnating since beginning of 2013. While the number of sale purchase deals has been very less, the prices, too, have not appreciated.

Though the city has a number of malls and commercial complexes besides residential projects by local as well as national developers, investment in real estate has plunged to dismal levels here. “At present there are no investors in the market. Actually those who had invested here around three-four years back are stuck as they are finding it difficult to exit. At present it is only the end-users who are driving the market in Ludhiana”, says Ajay Dhand, of city-based consultancy and construction group Ajay Dhand and Company.

With prices stagnating and end-users being the major market drivers, it is the more affordable and periphery locations that hold some promise for the real estate growth in Ludhiana. As upscale localities like Sarabha Nagar, Civil Lines, Mall Road, College Road etc are virtually out of the reach of mid-segment buyers and high-end buyers are still reluctant to purchase here, the sale purchase is in limbo in these areas. But the scene is slightly different in the periphery areas along Ferozepore Road, Pakhowal Road, Canal Road and Jalandhar GT Road where a number of developers are coming up with integrated townships as well as group housing projects.

Options on the periphery

Ferozepore Road and Pakhowal Road have seen the maximum growth over the past few years basically because of the connectivity factor. A number of malls as well as residential projects have reflected the growth of real estate fortunes here. The residential project of Omaxe group on the Pakhowal Road has around 350 families already staying there and the resale price has also seen appreciation here. South City on Canal Road and IREO group’s IREO Waterfront project along Sidhwan Canal and Imperial group’s Imperial Golf Estate project are the other promising projects on the city periphery. On the Ferozepore Road in the commercial segment the price is around Rs1.5 to 2 lakh per sq yd. On Canal Road the price is in the range of Rs50,000- Rs55,000 per sq yd in projects like Sukhmani Enclave

In South City, Garden Enclave, Pakhowal Road the prices are between Rs30,000 and Rs35,000 per sq yd.

In contrast to these, the stretch along Jalandhar GT Road has not had a smooth run in spite of some big-ticket residential and commercial projects. While in the residential segment work in Eldeco group’s Mayfair Villas has been completed, AerenR group’s Fortune County is in limbo at the moment. Distance from the main city has been one of the main reasons for a tepid response from buyers from Ludhiana. “This area is especially favoured by people and buyers from Phagwara, Phillaur and other areas in the Doaba region or the NRI belt. As far as buyers from Ludhiana city are concerned there has been little response as this area is about 15 km away from the main city and is yet to see development”, says Dhand.

“This area is not likely to see growth in the next three to four years but as the average price here is very less as compared to that in the other localities in the vicinity of the city so it is a good investment for someone with deep pockets and the patience to wait for a longer period to get profit”, says Paramjeet Singh, a local property consultant. “With some major infrastructure projects lined up for this area, it is can be a good investment option over the next few years”, says Devesh Chaturvedi, Executive Director, Developer Group. The infra projects include the newly planned Ludhiana Ring Road that will pass through this belt giving a direct access to the City Centre. The state government is already in the process of constructing a four-lane Southern Bypass around Ludhiana starting from NH-1 near Doraha (Khanna-Ludhiana section) connecting NH-95 (Ludhiana-Moga section). Further, the state government plans to connect it with NH-1 near Ladowal village toward s Jalandhar. The state government has given sanction for constructing Ladowal bypass connecting NH-95 with NH-1. Connectivity to Ferozepur and central Ludhiana will increase manifold with coming up of this bypass. Clearance to Rs150-crore mega food park at Ladowal will further increase the potential of this belt.

Trends

Ludhiana — the traditional market for business families who are used to spacious homes — has witnessed a shift towards group housing as people want to move into planned group housing projects where the basic modern amenities are there and one is away from the congested city areas as well. As a resulot there has been a spurt in demand for apartments as well as independent floors in the city.

Outlook

“The real estate market in the city is likely to take at least two years to pick up as the investors who had purchased chunks of land during the boom period are unlikely to exit the market and suffer losses”, says Dhand. However, with the end-users driving the market, any decrease in the home loan interest rates will surely boost the sale volumes, opine experts.

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