Bangalore Property Scenario

With liberalization, Bangalore once a sleepy city is now seeing a vibrant industrial growth with it, the real estate prices and rents started booming driven by increased investments by the IT industry and high salaries drawn by its employees. Between 1991-94 Bangalore saw one of the major property price hikes even up to 200 per cent in some areas. Investments by NRIs also added to the boom. Between 1995 and 2000, the property bubble built on speculations burst and prices declined by almost 30–40 per cent all across India, including Bangalore. There was a slight recovery in 1999-2000 periods, riding on the dotcom boom. The year 2002 saw the first signs of recovery in real estate prices, both residential and commercial and there has been no looking back after that. IT sector started flourishing taking investing in huge office spaces. Also started the influx of people from all across India and even from outside to one IT destination – Bangalore. IT services sector grew leaps and bound and created many millionaires out of the burgeoning middleclass in the city. The IT sector with hundreds of thousands of companies acquired large chunks of the prime property within the city and moved on to the outskirts and beyond. Another real estate boom started.

property prices for both residential and commercial spaces saw an increase of over 100 per cent and the rise continues in a frenzied pace. It is estimated that between 2003 and 2006, IT companies acquired a total of 20-million sq. ft space. This also means large-scale recruitments taken up by IT firms. . Today, the much read and traveled techies are looking for luxury apartments and villas and are willing to pay a premium for their dream houses. An apartment or a villa worth Rs 1 crore and above is no more exclusive for business tycoons. It is an easy buy for a middle level manager in an MNC IT firm. Many of these professionals are on a property-buying spree not only for accommodation, but also as a future investment. Real estate has become part of investment portfolio for many. So despite the skyrocketing prices, the demand for property is increasing. Today, a two-bed room apartment in the outskirts of Bangalore will cost you nothing less than Rs 1500 per square feet. A 1200 square feet site will cost anywhere between Rs 650-Rs 1500 per square feet compared to Rs 150-350 in 2002. And the outskirts defined here are places beyond Devanahalli, Whitefield, Sarjapur, Electronic City, Hoskote, Kanakpura, Kengeri, Bannerghatta and even further, which are a good 25-50 kilometers away from the city. Appreciation in price has been almost 70 per cent in residential apartments, and land values have gone up by over 100 per cent in some cases