Luxury homes in India: Growth and trends
Rapidly growing high net-worth individuals (HNIs), increased aspirations and changing lifestyle are the factors behind luxury living being redefined in India. Premium homes boast of increasing demand due to rising income level and affluent lifestyle desired by young professionals. As the buyers are increasingly demanding luxury living experiences imbued in the residential units, developers are coming up with more and more premium homes.
Affluent home buyers want their home to reflect the financial and social standing. Accordingly, premium and luxury segment in India has seen unprecedented rise and growth and developers are pouring into cater to the increasing demand. Premium homes today no longer means only expensive units which are centrally located, large and comfortable. Demand for luxury homes in India is growing and the premium segment has grown to a whole new dimension adorned with innovative modern technologies. They have become a lifestyle statement for the desiring affluent class.
Luxury segment offers a range of homes to the target buyer – apartments, penthouses, villas, row houses/bungalows, etc. They are usually laced with green spaces, parks or golf courses.
Branded luxury homes
Innovative techniques are being introduced in luxury segment by developers. Branded residences are an important emerging concept in luxury housing, which are developed by developers in collaboration with international luxury hospitality or lifestyle brands. In some cases, developers may even tie up with celebrities for branded residences.
For the World Towers residential project in Mumbai, Lodha Group has collaborated with Italian designer Giorgio Armani’s interior design studio, Armani Casa. The project is the tallest residential tower in the world and apartments and mansions are priced around Rs 12 crore and Rs 75 crore respectively.
Branded house falls under super luxury segment and although the segment has only about 5% share in real estate sector in India, there is a huge potential of growth for the segment in the near future.
Golf/ Polo courses
High rises with well maintained golf courses in the posh localities of a city has been regarded as symbols of high living. Golf courses stand for affluent lifestyle and social status. Now developers have moved from the stereotyped golf grounds to polo grounds to give the luxury homes a posh status.
M3M India paves the path for other developers to follow as they have come up with the first polo themed project in India. M3M Polo suites offer exclusive concierge services to residents which include hiring/leasing of horses to the interested polo players. M3M India signed an agreement with Equisport, a pioneer polo sport agency, to give a unique polo living experience to the residents. It is also an example of branded residences as the developers have made major Adhiraj Singh, head of the sport agency, the brand ambassador of its upcoming residential project.
Themed villas
Theme based housing is new trend in Indian realty market. Theme based villas are the latest fads to impress potential luxury home buyers. Luxury villas are attached with a distinct snob value in congested big cities. Developers like Emaar MGF, DLF have come up with projects based on various architectural themes. Different architectural and cultural elements from different societies like Mexican, Spanish, Arabic, etc are imbued in these residential villas. Marbella, developed by Emaar MGF, is one such project which houses 4/5 BHK villas build in Spanish style. Theme based residential luxury villas in Bangalore, Delhi, Mumbai, Gurgaon, Pune and Chennai have attracted NRI buyers from West Asia, Singapore, etc.
Smart homes
Developers are keen to incorporate technological advancement into the realty scenario. Latest technology and gadgets have been used to create intelligent living spaces inside the apartments/villas. Prominent features of luxury housing includes digital locks, electronic surveillance systems, temperature control, wireless communication for Internet, in-house entertainment, etc.
The emphasis is to create intelligent and smart home in a techno savvy era. Systems with sensors are being used for controlling light, ambiance and temperature inside the house. Technology is used to provide a galore of specialized services – from concierge services to medical consultation.
Vertical growth of luxury homes
As land is scarce in central areas of most of the big cities in India, luxury homes are being developed vertically – sometimes an apartment built over an entire floor. The luxury homes come with terraced gardens, indoor swimming pool, private lounges, etc. Bathroom fittings and kitchen interiors are of excellent quality and some of the developers have come up with ultra luxury services like exclusive lift and automatic teller machine.
Developers are even coming up with customized homes like boutique luxury homes which are set to redefine living experiences for residents. Orbit Corporation’s project Orbit Arya is one such exclusively customized projects built in prime locations in Mumbai.
Luxury housing to grow in India
Keeping a track of rising number of affluent individuals, it is assumed by analysts that luxury housing segment in India is on its way to grow faster and further. Apart from residential purposes, they are highly valuable assets to invest in. Luxury homes are regarded to have immense investment value not only by the domestic investors but also NRIs as well as foreign investors.
According to Cushman & Wakefield (C & W), luxury segment is set to grow constantly in India despite the slowing down of Indian economy. 2012 has been a mixed year for luxury segment in India. In Bangalore, Mumbai and Hyderabad, the luxury segment contributed 7%, 5% and 5% respectively of the total housing supply in 2012.
As more and more number of HNIs are looking forward to invest their money on luxury homes, number of luxury and super luxury projects worth between Rs 1 crore to 15 crore are being launched across the metros. As per estimates, annual sales of semi luxury and luxury houses are expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of over 30 percent in the next few years in India.
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