Is Cuffe Parade in Mumbai Losing Its Sheen?
South Mumbai, also called South Bombay or SoBo, is considered to be one of the most posh areas in India. Popular among the high networth individuals (HNIs) and the ultra-rich, property values across different localities in South Bombay exceed even that of the western suburbs. One of the popular localities in this area is Cuffe Parade. However, off recent, the locality is falling off the list of the rich in this region.
Locality Losing Popularity
South Bombay essentially comprises of the island city of Mumbai. Before the emergence of the suburbs, this was also the financial hub of India. The Dalal Street, home of Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) and Nariman Point are two such business hubs in South Bombay. The region is also popular among some of the richest people in the country. Some of the residential localities in South Bombay include Colaba, Churchgate, Malabar Hills and Napean Sea Road. Cuffe Parade is one such locality in South Mumbai popular among the rich investors. However, the locality seems to have lost its popularity in recent times due to several factors. The locality’s property value fell by almost 8 per cent in the last 3 years.
Reasons for fall
There are few key reasons for the locality’s fall from the eyes of rich investors. One of the key reasons for this fall is the shifting of the business district from South Mumbai. Before the emergence of the suburbs, SoBo was the key financial hub. As such, people who wanted to stay near their work places chose to stay in nearby areas such as Colaba, Fort or Cuffe Parade. However, there are new business districts such as Bandra Kurla Complex (BKC), SEEPZ and Kensington SEZ that have recently emerged in the western and eastern suburbs.
As a result, people have now slowly started moving to nearby places such as Lower Parel, Mahalaxmi and Worli. In fact, the residential property values have gone up by almost 29 per cent from Rs 35,000 to Rs 45,000 per sq. ft. in the last three years in BKC alone due to the growth in demand. Several builders are also building ultra-luxury gated communities around areas of Mahalaxmi and Lower Parel. Hence, these localities are witnessing good demand from the rich class.
Due to these factors, the localities that were closer to the earlier business areas in South Mumbai have started seeing a fall in demand and hence, a fall in property values. Cuffe Parade witnessed a fall in property values from Rs 60,000 to Rs 55,000 per sq. ft. in the last three years.
