Noida – Overview of the Real Estate Market for Second Home Buyers

Many people actually ask us from time to time on whether Noida is actually a good destination to buy one’s holiday home. During a recent property exhibition I had the opportunity to meet up with some of the leading developers in the area and also after visiting many sites, I’m preparing a comprehensive guide to help you get an insight into the real estate scenario of Noida combined with another three areas in its vicinity – Noida Expressway, Noida Extension and Yamuna Expressway.

But for those who are not familiar with the location, Noida is just a few kilometers from South Delhi and apart from the other roads leading to it, the Delhi-Noida-Delhi (DND) flyover is the easiest and fastest way to reach Noida, which also takes one to Noida Expressway and thereafter to Greater Noida and Yamuna Expressway. All three are the major areas that are witnessing a flurry of real estate activity. The nearest airport is the Delhi Airport which is about 45 kilometers away.

While projects launched in 2009-10 are nearing completion and are likely to be handed over by the end of this year. Meanwhile the projects launched thereafter are either at their early stages of construction or yet to start. Most of these projects are scheduled to be completed three to five years from now.

Having said that the projects at Noida Extension are shrouded in uncertainty. With legal battle between developers and locals on land acquisition issues, the matter is still pending in the court and buyers who had earlier invested in projects here are now trying to exit with construction in all developments at standstill since the beginning of 2012.

There is a huge demand for property both from the end user and investors in developments lining the Noida Expressway, Greater Noida and Yamuna Expressway (beyond Noida Extension). The Formula One Grand Prix and large-scale infrastructure development by Jaypee Group has made Yamuna Expressway a very lucrative location for buyers.

After work was stalled in Noida Extension for over a year, the earlier rush of buyers owing to affordable pricing here is missing. Most developers and other players in the real estate sector whom we have met in the last couple of weeks however, notwithstanding the fact that an amicable solution between builders and locals is yet to be reached, opined that Noida Extension will soon regain confidence once developers start their constructions.  

While our main objective of our exercise was to find out whether Noida was actually the best location for someone to buy a property to be used as a holiday home for business travelers, the developments being launched and offered by developers are actually for first home buyers and for those who want to buy a second home and put it on rent for long term.  

According to Yogesh Nagpal, Manager Sales, Sikka Group, the demand is largely for two bedroom apartments which give an indication that most buyers are either those who want to shift from their rented houses to their own apartment even if it means commuting a little more or else they are investors who are waiting for price escalation and will be targeting this segment of buyers eventually, say after a year or two.

While, a couple of developers are offering villa plots around areas near the Yamuna Expressway, by and large the latest offerings are mostly multi-storied buildings with 2, 3 and 4 bedroom apartment dwellings.

According to Himanshu Sankhla, Manager (Sales) with BOP, a real estate marketing company, “80 percent of the buyers in properties here in Noida are investors.” Meanwhile Nagpal notes that “the investor-end user ratio will not be more than 60:40.” Tarun Rangnani too echoes Nagpal’s figure, which means that there is a great speculation on the appreciation of property prices in the next couple of years.

Only a handful of developments which are being tagged as luxurious living, are offering amenities like a golf course, swimming pool, housekeeping, etc. Amongst them are a couple of projects by Jaypee, Supertech and Wave. More than 90 percent of the developments with the exception of a clubhouse, are actually marketing their projects on the basis of benefits of the location (vicinity to South Delhi) and the relatively lower pricing vis-à-vis Gurgaon where property prices are way above the reach of the same segment of buyers looking at Noida to buy their first home.

There is a great difference in prices even in the same areas. For instance, on the Noida Expressway, you might find a newly launched project priced at INR 4,000 per square feet, while its adjoining project which has completed some level of construction being sold at INR 5,200 to 6,000 per square feet. Meanwhile if it’s being developed by a reputed builder like Jaypee or Supertech, the pricing might go up to INR 9,000 per square feet. On an average property (apartments) on Noida Expressway comes with a price tag of INR 5,500.

With uncertainty looming large in Noida Extension, the price of property here is between INR 3,000 to 3,200 per square feet. Properties on the Yamuna Expressway too come with the same price bracket.

Greater Noida, which is relatively developed and with a huge population already residing here, only a few newly launched developments are available at a price tag of INR 3,500 onwards. Else, resale properties are priced anything above INR 4,800 per square feet.

In the next four to five years, Noida will see good appreciation in property prices. However for those looking to buy a second home to rent it out to business traveler for shorter periods, they will have to wait. All said and done, the new areas of Noida have not been able to gather any interest from the corporate as Gurgaon did which might be Noida’s undoing. Plus Gurgaon’s vicinity to the domestic and international airports is a plus which Noida will not be able to match unless the government takes some major decisions and serious infrastructure development other than just concentrating on the sector roads which interestingly seem to be better shape than those in Gurgaon.

For holiday home buyers Noida is a complete NO NO, but for those who were actually thinking on those lines here is a guide to some other locations in India to buy your holiday home instead.