Top builders in Mumbai- Challenges and opportunities they face

Mumbai is the financial hub of India. This is a city which never sleeps. People from all across the country migrate to this western city in a hope of a better life and standard of living. However, the population influx has created a major burden on the city infrastructure which has resulted in growth in the number of slums and unorganised living. Seeing this, many real estate developers have started building residential properties and townships with all modern day amenities. However, one major problem that plagues the city today is of affordable housing. Though there are plenty of newly constructed homes in the city, majority of people cannot afford to buy them due to astronomical property rates. Top builders in Mumbai command steep per square foot prices as they have to recover the costs incurred on acquiring the necessary government permissions apart from the sky rocketing production costs. This has caused a major increase in property prices. Areas like Mira Road and Bhayander which one once considered to be affordable are also commanding high rates. The city had experienced a minor crash in the real estate market couple of years ago which had resulted in the slashing down of property prices. However, this did not last long and the prices soared once again. Today, the real estate scenario is not very good if you see it from the buyer’s point of view. There has been an 87% increase in the property rates in the past 3-4 years. Government policies have failed to curb the rising property costs. This has caused the developers to start exploring newer avenues and look for property spaces in distant suburban areas of the city like Palghar, Ghansoli and similar places. Builders in Thane are also commanding higher rates as this is another city that is to witness development. Real estate in Mumbai continues to be in a grim position as most home experts don’t predict any major fall in the property prices in the near future. Today, two and three BHK flat prices are on the rise and it is speculated that the prices will double in the future. This has motivated some affluent buyers to purchase the flats even if they have to pay an astronomical amount in investing in the property. The Government also builds low cost houses for the economically weaker sections of the society. MHADA houses are built by the government in a bid to provide affordable housing with all basic amenities. However the ratio of the total number of houses built in comparison to the number of people viable for these schemes is steep and this has caused a major increase in demand for affordable housing from the average buyers. Construction has virtually come to a standstill in the island city. Top builders in Mumbai needs to explore opportunities in the southern part of the city and start building affordable homes to promote sustainable living for the city’s population. The soaring prices of real estate needs to be brought under control to make living in a city possible.