Housing in Mumbai Becomes Too Expensive for Middle Class

August 1, 2007	(8 votes, average: 4.13 out of 5)  Loading ...
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With soaring residential property rates in Mumbai, the middle class man is priced out across the city’s housescape, where prices rival London, Tokyo and other expensive cities. Simply put, Mumbai has become one of the most prohibitive places for those looking to buy a house. The scenario has come with the decision of the state housing authority to increase rates of its housing stock by around 40 per cent in 2007.

The flats which were earlier supposed to come under the ambit of affordable housing are now no more in the picture. Now, the flats built by the Maharashtra Housing Area Development Authority are the only ‘economical’ housing option available in Mumbai.

Mumbai real estate has undergone a paradigm shift in the past two years. There has been a considerable increase of around 40 per cent in the property prices in many locations. Increasing property rates in Mumbai forced people to either wait for price corrections or break their bank.

Mumbai board has however revised the rates this year which would vary from area to area. The cost of a middle income group flat in Prateeksha Nagar was earlier Rs 1800 per square foot but it has now increased to Rs 2500 per square foot, says in Shrimali, chief executive officer of Maharashtra Housing & Area Development Authority, Mhada.

The authority determines rates according to its pricing policy. Property prices are generally evaluated by totaling the cost of construction and the cost of land. Since the government sold off the land at a token Re 1 per square foot, the higher construction cost led to revision of rates, says a senior Mhada official.

We were hoping that we would advertise in one go and was waiting for the stay on the project to go. We will now advertise around August 15.

Mhada had initially scheduled to advertise this year’s stock in July but the delay occurred as the Mhada’s costliest project in Versova stuck in litigation, says I.S. Chahal, Vice-president and CEO of Mhada. The authority will now take up the advertising around 15 August.

News Published Under:   Mumbai |