Burj Khalifa-Dubai is cheaper than Delhi .!!!

Article Taken from Times of India - by Anshul Dhamija,

TNN 6 January 2010, 12:17am IST

An apartment on the 100th floor of 'Burj Khalifa', the world's tallest building and one of the most sought after addresses in the world today, comes at a price of Rs 38,000 per sq ft.

But if you think that's a soaring price, consider this: desi realty rates beat that by a mile. The rates of apartments on Prithviraj Road and Aurangzeb Road in central Delhi are much higher. The per sq ft rate of apartments in Marble Arch and Tata Apartments on Prithviraj Road is around Rs 65,000 per sq ft. Similarly, Ansal apartments on Aurangzeb Road have a price of Rs 55,000 per sq ft, said senior broker Hemendra Sharma.

In Vasant Vihar and Chanakya Puri in South Delhi, apartments built on smaller plots of 400-800 sq metres are commanding prices of around Rs 45,000 per sq ft.

In fact, there are not many luxury condominiums available in central and south Delhi. However, there are several bungalows on independent plots of around three acres with a permitted area of construction of 3500 sq ft to 10,000 sq ft. These plots are commanding a price of Rs 200 crore to Rs 500 crore. So the per sq ft cost of these bunglow comes to a whopping Rs 5 lakh per sq ft.

Condominiums in Mumbai are even costlier. The per sq ft rate in Mumbai's NCPA Apartments at Nariman Point is between Rs 90,000 and Rs 1 lakh! Till date, the highest per sq ft rate paid in Mumbai stands at Rs 97,842 for a four-bedroom apartment at NCPA Apartments in 2007. This is the highest rate paid for a residential unit in the history of Indian real estate. In July-August last year, an apartment in Maker Tower B, in Cuffe Parade, sold for around Rs 93,000 per sqft.

According to Gulam Zia, national director, research and advisory services of global property consultants Knight Frank, "In the posh upmarket localities of Delhi and Mumbai, where there is a scarcity of land, property prices have shot through the roof." Adds Zia, "Property prices in Mumbai's western and central suburbs of Worli, Lower Parel and Prabhadevi are upwards of Rs 40,000 per sq ft."

Real estate prices in India are inverse to the country's image of a developing nation. "Mumbai and Delhi command one of the highest per sq ft rates in the world," says Anshuman Magazine, CMD, CB Richard Ellis, South Asia, a leading global property consultancy firm.

In India while the land cost itself is high, the cost of quality is even higher. If one is paying Rs 38,000 per sq ft for an apartment in the Burj Khalifa in Dubai, which has amenities such as the Armani Hotel, discotheques, designer retail shops, for the same price or more in Mumbai or Delhi one will only be paying for the location and not for the construction or amenities. In terms of amenities and quality there is just no comparison, says Magazine. He adds, in the US when a buyer looks to buy a home, he or she first looks for the amenities on offer that would suit his or her lifestyle, whereas in India it's all about land and location for the buyer.

While Mumbai and New Delhi are in a zone by themselves as far as realty pricing is considered, other big cities like Chennai and Bangalore are yet to see such pricing, though the rates have dramatically shot up in the recent past.

The posh areas of Chennai -- Boat Club and Poes Gardens -- and Lavelle Road, Vittal Mallya Road and the by-lanes off MG Road in Bangalore, command per sq ft rates of around Rs 21,000.