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Delhi out of pocket, Noida & Gurgaon property prices going through the roof, the industrial backwater town is coming into its own

Marketing executive Kamal Krishna is set to move into his new Faridabad flat in Green field Valley. “It’s green, it’s open, and it’s cheaper,” says the 27-year-old who started house-hunting two years back with his wife, a fashion designer.

After looking through the saturated real estate markets in Delhi and Gurgaon, they zeroed in on Faridabad. Why? “It’s just 30 minutes from my office at Nehru Place,” Krishna says. “I was looking for a house in Gurgaon, and the closest I could come to finding an affordable house was on Sohna Road which was nowhere near civilisation.

“Faridabad, closer to Delhi, offered the same in about half the price.”

Like Krishna, many are now heading towards Faridabad, which is now shedding its tag as a smoky industrial town that hosts the annual Surajkund crafts fair. It’s slowly graduating into a suburb offering a greener and economical housing option for those looking to stay around Delhi.

As property prices go through the roof at Noida and Gurgaon, Faridabad is on its way to make it big. And with builders eyeing the trans-canal land acquired from villages along the Yamuna and the proposed Taj Expressway corridor, Faridabad is expected to have 20,000 houses up for sale in the next two years.

Real estate dealer Harish Arora, who has seen a huge increase in number of property sales in the past two years, says: “People can buy a flat and a 1,000-square-foot bungalow plot for Rs 3,000-Rs 4,000 per square foot. In Noida and Gurgaon, the prices are at least double, if not more.”

Another factor that goes for Faridabad, he says, is its proximity to Delhi: Contrary to common perception barring traffic jams at Badarpur, it is closer to Delhi and Gurgaon compared to Greater Noida.”

Next change: chic
Two multiplexes and half-a-dozen multi-cuisine restaurants later, Faridabad is transforming. And with groups like Triveni, Omaxe, Achiever, SRS, Eldeco, Eros and Zion jumping into the real estate bandwagon, builder Sunit Sachar says the party has just begun. “We will have a dozen malls along NH-2 in the next couple of years, and Taj Expressway connecting Noida and Faridabad is on track,” he says.

“The suburb is gradually growing to be the next Gurgaon.”

But real estate agents warn that the bubble might just burst if developers and the government fail to build on infrastructure to support the growing population, 26 lakh at present.

“The expressway to Gurgaon is a mess and flats in Greater Noida are lying vacant due to lack of connectivity,” Arora says. “If the Badarpur flyover project takes off, people who are merely investing here and are slightly hesitant to move in will do so immediately.

“Otherwise, the 20,000 homes that may come up will have no takers.”

He admits that 70 per cent of the present market comprises investors, not people who want to live in these flats under construction.

Needed: infrastructure
Shubo Sengupta, an advertising executive, is wary of shifting into his Faridabad flat for these very reasons. “Faridabad is too downmarket, lacks infrastructure and has no value in Delhi’s snob market,” says the Greater Kailash resident.

But the reason why he wants to move base from GK — “too crowded and expensive” — is precisely what real estate developers say are Faridabad’s USP.

Krishna, who lives in a rented accommodation at Faridabad’s Ashoka Enclave in Sector-37, says, “Infrastructure is important but it will come up only if people start living here. It is a consumer-driven market. And Faridabad has the potential of being an alternative to Delhi.”

Source: Expressindia

funtoosh

There are many new and upcoming housing societies in faridabad..
BPTP has just setup here and the costs of land have skyrocketed

rchopra

100% agreed. Sector 49 is also a very posh sector in the city, with well known developers like Achievers Builders etc.