Justification of Property Prices

-Ar. Ajay S.Nahar

Nahar’s Architectural Management

In the city of Mumbai one observes a vast diversification of propery rates.

As one moves from the suburban limits to South Mumbai there is an ascending increase of rates and finally at the southern tip the rate is at its peak, to this one often exclaims, ‘That’s really exorbitant!’

Yet the demand of an apartment or property at South Mumbai always exists and one often hears vague news of properties bought or sold at ‘x’ crores of rupees.

When one thinks of it as ‘The Deal’, you hear of another the week after that tops its previous predecessor.

Staying on the southern most part of Mumbai is a status symbol. No doubt, one asked where you reside, if that’s the answer one’s head turns and you get a nod as though to say you are privileged. But how privileged are south Mumbaikars really?

Is it that we have a breadth of fresh air while viewing the clear blue seas or do we have beach-front where one can relax?

Is it that we have a fantastic line up of exclusive restaurants or it is that the roads are perfectly catered so that a Mercedes or a BMW zooms by?

Is it that we have beautiful spotless building premises with ample spaces for parking?

On the contrary it is just quite the reverse and when we compare South Mumbaikars to the Suburbans, they are almost at par if not less with the lifestyles offered to them.

During the past few years suburbs like Andheri Link Road, Malad & Goregaon have been developing with numerous mutiplexes, shopping malls and restaurants. They too have become a landmark location for posh people & celebrities due to its convenient location from their workplaces. Though the condition of roads, traffic and pollution is the same throughout the entire city the suburbs score points as they have larger land spaces for amenities and other attractions. The suburbs are clustered with shopping malls and multiplexes. Also we have builders in Powai, who provide acres of land for garden spaces for building residences, club houses and ample parking which do in general increase the standard of living and offer various types of recreation to its residences. On the other hand, builders in South Mumbai cannot provide too many amenities & facilities in building because of the space constraint & high value of land.
So are we saying that a person is ready to pay 10 times the cost just because of the location with indeed is just a location on the map with no added benefits & lifestyle privileges. This is a very different case from a comparison in property rates abroad in places such as Dubai, London & Newyork.

Being an architect and so clear about these facts I know that suburbs may have given me a better quality of life with open spaces, a club house in close vicinity or it would have given me the same standard and the same hassles at a lesser financial cost. Yet if anyone asks me after all this why do you stay in South Mumbai, I wonder what to answer? Maybe its just the spirit of living in South Mumbai.