What Buyers Want? - WEST
What Buyers Want? - WEST
Real Estate

What Buyers Want? - WEST

CW travelled cities across the country to focus on each region - East, West, North, South - gauging from the experience of various stakeholders, their understanding of buyer requirements. Conducted through four roundtable discussions - one in each region - CW looked into the trends, how design and planning are playing a crucial role to meet buyer requirements, the need to focus on strategic location and offer value-added amenities along with the need for innovative and smart building technologies. Across regions, CW brought together 23 industry bigwigs including builders, architects, consultants and interior designers. Excerpts from the discussions:

 Shrikant Paranjape, Chairman, Paranjape Schemes (Construction) and President, CREDAI Pune Metro
'The biggest spec about a project for a developer is timeline. Once that is met, all the luxury he promises will fall in place. And for this, technology will help. Mivan is the only one we have been using to reduce construction time. Over the years, we have been catering to need-based demand, which has now changed to being investment-based. So a house is a need, but probably our focus has changed as we have been catering to perhaps the top 15 per cent of the population who already have a house. They probably have a second home as well. Also, many developers have moved down to mass housing or affordable housing as that is going to be the near future. And when it comes to building green, the consumer is demanding it and hence we will do it. Traditionally, what a consumer looks for tends to be 25 per cent beyond what he can afford. So, the developer has to bridge this gap by reducing size, the extra elevation or the extra luxury, as this will take care of at least 10 per cent of the difference - that is what buyers look for.'

Shashi Prabhu, Founder & Senior Partner, Shashi Prabhu & Associates 'In today's scenario, owning a luxurious apartment in cities like Mumbai, Pune, etc, would be a dream. Another fact is that we have built much more than we can swallow. For instance, in a city like Mumbai, if 'A' was constructing something, 'B' also wanted to chip into the money, borrow and construct. Today, there is a need to work with affordability and sustainability, considering that it is when people are able to buy that you are able to sell. Also, the buyer trend is such that couples want to shift to individual apartments. They want to stay in the prime city, supported by good infrastructure. Overall, it is difficult to predict what buyers really want. But everybody wants a good house. Someone with a one-BHK apartment wants to shift to a two-BHK apartment. So, the market is there; we have to make it vibrant.'

Deben Moza, Executive Director-Head of Project Management Services, Knight Frank India
'Having worked with developers, I think project management was more or less looked at as a supervisory service. And, in recent years, especially in Western India, developers have started treating project managers as partners. So as project managers, we take the responsibility of timely delivery, which is the key in residential projects. Today, cities that are experiencing an increase in real-estate demand include Indore, Aurangabad and Nashik. In the 90s, Aurangabad was considered among the fastest growing cities. But this growth came to a sudden halt owing to poor infrastructure. Today, we have reached a situation where the only way to grow is vertically up. And an alternative is to create infrastructure in satellite cities. Coming to buyers, they are confident, much of which has come in through RERA.'

Mala Singh, Chairperson & Managing Director, PEC Greening India
'People are demanding green buildings; to fulfil this, projects are becoming sustainable in a way. In that direction, good products are also available in the market. Buyers are also conscious nowadays because of climate change and global warming issues and are becoming aware of environmental preservation and conservation. When we consider the five elements of nature in construction, it leads to an efficient structure. A small project should also have a waste composting system and rainwater harvesting system. These help cut costs. Also, the government has been propagating regulations and products are available in the market; all of this has made it easier for builders to build green.'

Anurag Shukla, Head Project Sales, FunderMax India
'What are the different factors a buyer looks for? First is aesthetics and availability; second is the maintenance of the product; and third is the kind of warranty the product brings along. As a company, as part of our fatade business, we offer both the product and the service. Speaking of products, FunderMax has been in the market for the past 10 years and has executed several projects. Particular to the western region, I would say cost-consciousness is very subjective. If we fit an expensive product to a not so premium project, there is a budget constraint. But if we compare the western region to pan-India, awareness about a product and the cost is high. The buyer knows exactly what the product is, what could be the price, and whether it fits his requirement.'

CW travelled cities across the country to focus on each region - East, West, North, South - gauging from the experience of various stakeholders, their understanding of buyer requirements. Conducted through four roundtable discussions - one in each region - CW looked into the trends, how design and planning are playing a crucial role to meet buyer requirements, the need to focus on strategic location and offer value-added amenities along with the need for innovative and smart building technologies. Across regions, CW brought together 23 industry bigwigs including builders, architects, consultants and interior designers. Excerpts from the discussions:  Shrikant Paranjape, Chairman, Paranjape Schemes (Construction) and President, CREDAI Pune Metro 'The biggest spec about a project for a developer is timeline. Once that is met, all the luxury he promises will fall in place. And for this, technology will help. Mivan is the only one we have been using to reduce construction time. Over the years, we have been catering to need-based demand, which has now changed to being investment-based. So a house is a need, but probably our focus has changed as we have been catering to perhaps the top 15 per cent of the population who already have a house. They probably have a second home as well. Also, many developers have moved down to mass housing or affordable housing as that is going to be the near future. And when it comes to building green, the consumer is demanding it and hence we will do it. Traditionally, what a consumer looks for tends to be 25 per cent beyond what he can afford. So, the developer has to bridge this gap by reducing size, the extra elevation or the extra luxury, as this will take care of at least 10 per cent of the difference - that is what buyers look for.' Shashi Prabhu, Founder & Senior Partner, Shashi Prabhu & Associates 'In today's scenario, owning a luxurious apartment in cities like Mumbai, Pune, etc, would be a dream. Another fact is that we have built much more than we can swallow. For instance, in a city like Mumbai, if 'A' was constructing something, 'B' also wanted to chip into the money, borrow and construct. Today, there is a need to work with affordability and sustainability, considering that it is when people are able to buy that you are able to sell. Also, the buyer trend is such that couples want to shift to individual apartments. They want to stay in the prime city, supported by good infrastructure. Overall, it is difficult to predict what buyers really want. But everybody wants a good house. Someone with a one-BHK apartment wants to shift to a two-BHK apartment. So, the market is there; we have to make it vibrant.' Deben Moza, Executive Director-Head of Project Management Services, Knight Frank India 'Having worked with developers, I think project management was more or less looked at as a supervisory service. And, in recent years, especially in Western India, developers have started treating project managers as partners. So as project managers, we take the responsibility of timely delivery, which is the key in residential projects. Today, cities that are experiencing an increase in real-estate demand include Indore, Aurangabad and Nashik. In the 90s, Aurangabad was considered among the fastest growing cities. But this growth came to a sudden halt owing to poor infrastructure. Today, we have reached a situation where the only way to grow is vertically up. And an alternative is to create infrastructure in satellite cities. Coming to buyers, they are confident, much of which has come in through RERA.' Mala Singh, Chairperson & Managing Director, PEC Greening India 'People are demanding green buildings; to fulfil this, projects are becoming sustainable in a way. In that direction, good products are also available in the market. Buyers are also conscious nowadays because of climate change and global warming issues and are becoming aware of environmental preservation and conservation. When we consider the five elements of nature in construction, it leads to an efficient structure. A small project should also have a waste composting system and rainwater harvesting system. These help cut costs. Also, the government has been propagating regulations and products are available in the market; all of this has made it easier for builders to build green.' Anurag Shukla, Head Project Sales, FunderMax India 'What are the different factors a buyer looks for? First is aesthetics and availability; second is the maintenance of the product; and third is the kind of warranty the product brings along. As a company, as part of our fatade business, we offer both the product and the service. Speaking of products, FunderMax has been in the market for the past 10 years and has executed several projects. Particular to the western region, I would say cost-consciousness is very subjective. If we fit an expensive product to a not so premium project, there is a budget constraint. But if we compare the western region to pan-India, awareness about a product and the cost is high. The buyer knows exactly what the product is, what could be the price, and whether it fits his requirement.'

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