The Lifestyle Quotient

January 20, 2007	(3 votes, average: 3.67 out of 5)  Loading ...
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The Indian middle class is aspiring to live like the maharajas once again! Only difference is, this lifestyle was the privilege of the handful of nobles then – but it’s a lifestyle well earned and deserved for the middle class now.

The concept of luxury living till the last decade was associated with celebrities– industrialists, ex-nobles, and the film stars. When real estate started picking up, builders constructed luxury projects for the elite and began to come up with high end projects like NRI cities and townships to satisfy all the cravings of a luxurious palate of high middle class.

With the purchasing power of the middle class now obviously stretched, builders are pulling no stops in creating boutique homes for them. Foreign trips by professionals and holiday makers are giving Indians a taste of lifestyles abroad, and a “why not me” stance is fuelling the real estate market.

Builders are only too happy to provide these premium homes to the rich and not so-famous, since their profit margins are much higher in such projects. Developers enjoy better equity when associated with luxury projects.

Luxury redefines itself every few years, and the stratosphere-touching prices try hard to match the amenities on the ground. In the race to provide the “most luxurious best”, developers are not limiting themselves to their own imagination, but are getting down to surveys and interviews with focus groups on dream homes. Gera Developers of the SkyVilla project in Pune did just that to design a villa-apartment for the well–heeled.

The Sahara Group’s Amby Valley Rs. 15, 000 crore project in Lonavala, found brand ambassadors in Indian cricket, Bollywood, and even Romania’s star gymnast Nadia Comaneci!. Manicured lawns, artificial lakes, domed structures, Spanish cottages and chalets are thrown in - you could be on Bollywood’s film sets!

If you’re looking for a personal lift, a mini-spa, and a private swimming pool, look up Ivy in Gurgaon, priced at Rs.8-10 crore. Or Paradise Heights from Ansal API, Grace from Sahara, and the Forest by Omaxe in Faridabad, or Golf Gardenia in Noida.

In Mumbai, Signature Island, Chattan, Evita and Raheja Anchorage are other exclusive projects coming up.

The second tier cities not to be left behind, Lucknow offers golf villas along the Golf Course, with Mahesh Bhupati’s tennis academy as a bonus! Villa Paradiso will recreate the charm of a Portuguese village in Goa, while Banagalore’s Royal Garden Villas and resort will house a Jack Nicklaus signature championship golf course.

The “live life king size” mantra is catching up fast– yes, if you have it, why not flaunt it? Currently sharing 10% of the realty market, this segment is set to grow with foreign investment playing a key role.

News Published Under:   Real Estate India, Members Contribution |

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