High rises still not a good bargain
Two years after the quake, people are still trying to overcome the fear of high-rises and builders are facing difficulties in selling apartments in high-rise buildings. Though there has been a marginal rise in demand for apartments in high-rises, row houses, tenements and bungalows still remain the favourite.

People, who cannot afford to buy a bungalow or tenement prefer to go for first or second floor, even in low rises, Narendra Patel of N.R. Corporation said.

Interestingly, post-quake, price has not remained the most important criteria, for buyers also check legalities like building use permission. "Customers still do not demand material test reports or structural reports from qualified third party agencies. The city does not even have many builders having ISO 9001 certificate," Manish Dave, senior manager, quality control department of JMC Corporation, pointed out.

Economic reality has set in and people find apartments more cost-friendly than bungalows, Saurabh Shah, owner of Saumya builders, said. Low-rise buildings are more in demand and after amendment in by-laws in 2002, builders find it more profitable to build low-rises, he added. "There is a perceptible upward swing in property prices in the last six months and quality builders now demand about 40 per cent higher price," Nagin Patel of N.G. Group of Companies said.

On an average, in the past six months, prices of constructed property have gone up. A property that was sold for Rs 3,000 to Rs 3,500 per square yard six months ago is now sold at about Rs 4,000 to Rs 4,500 per square yard. However, if one compares the price of the same property before the earthquake, it was sold at about Rs 7,000.
     

Republished from The Asian Age