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An almost ₹190 crore ultra-luxury apartment deal in Gurugram, a ₹130 crore bungalow transaction in New Delhi’s posh Kautilya Marg, and two flats sold in Mumbai for ₹198 crore only seem to suggest one thing—that the super luxury segment attracted the attention of high-net-worth Indians in 2024 and that the Delhi-NCR market may be fast catching up with Mumbai, where ₹100 crore deals are the norm.
The appetite for ultra-luxury real estate was so strong that the observations made in the recent report titled HSBC’s Global Entrepreneurial Wealth Report 2024 did not come as a surprise. The report that provides an insight into the attitudes of wealthy business owners around the world, including the investing habits of India’s High Net Worth and Ultra High Net Worth business owners, pointed out that almost six out of ten (61%) Indian wealthy business owners allocate personal wealth to real estate for their own use compared to one in two globally (51%).
Anurang Jain, managing director of Endurance Technologies, an auto components firm, was recently in the news for having bought a 1,350-square-foot corner bungalow in New Delhi’s Kautilya Marg for ₹130 crores. Jain paid a stamp duty of ₹8.32 crore for the transaction, according to property documents accessed by IndexTap.
Just before Diwali, a 900-square-foot bungalow was sold for almost ₹100 crore in Delhi’s tony Sunder Nagar area.
In the most expensive apartment deal in the country, an ultra-luxury penthouse with an area of 16,290 sq ft in DLF’s Camellias was sold for ₹190 crore in Gurugram a few weeks back. This bettered the October 2023 benchmark when, an 11,000-square-foot apartment at The Camellias by DLF on Gurgaon’s Golf Course Road was sold for ₹114 crore in resale. The transaction was then compared with deals in New Delhi’s posh localities, among the country’s most expensive.
Also Read: Mumbai real estate market: 5 luxury apartment deals that cost ₹100 crore and above
Top deals in Mumbai in 2024
In Mumbai, electrical accessories manufacturer GreatWhite Global Private Limited purchased two 8,041-square feet apartments in Mumbai’s luxury Oberoi Three Sixty West project this year for ₹225 crore, property registration documents accessed through IndexTap.com showed.
The promoter of wires and cables manufacturer RR Kabel Ltd, Shreegopal Kabra and his family members, purchased two apartments worth ₹198 crores in the Worli area of Mumbai, according to property registration documents accessed by IndexTap.com
The two apartments, which measure 13,809 sq ft, are located on the 62nd floor of Oberoi Three Sixty West, a luxury project by Mumbai-based real estate firm Oberoi Realty. Documents show that they have been sold for over ₹1.43 lakh per sq ft.
Also Read: Here’s why some wealthy homebuyers prefer limited edition luxury homes to high-rise condominiums
Why are the rich lapping up ₹100-crore apartments?
A recent report by CBRE said that the increase in demand for luxury housing has been due to a growing preference among affluent buyers for enhanced amenities and more spacious living areas that complement their multifaceted lifestyles. The rise in NRIs and astute domestic investors in the Indian real estate market has considerably fueled the heightened demand for luxury residences, the report said.
Another report by Anarock showed that of the 25 deals closed across cities this year, nine were of large ticket sizes worth over ₹100 crore each, and a collective sales value of ₹1,534 crore. Contrastingly, the whole of 2023 saw 10 such large deals for a collective sales value of ₹1,720 crore.
Also, it’s not only the amenities that draw the high-heeled to luxurious communities where apartments are worth ₹80-crore and more. It’s the gentry. Here, they get to live and interact with people who have made it big, the who’s who of high society. The clubhouse of these condominiums offers them a platform to transact business deals while playing poker or sanction investments in the salon while getting a pedicure.
“Strategic investments in luxury real estate are seen by India’s UHNIs as a tool for multi-generational wealth and legacy creation,” points out Amit Goyal, MD, India Sotheby’s Realty.
UHNIs are sharp and financially savvy. He said they understand the value of Luxury real estate as a hedge against inflation and an offer of stability.
Lifestyle upgrades remain a motivator, with high-end properties offering exclusivity and status. In fact, real estate projects with excellent amenities have the highest potential for appreciation, he adds.
Has the Delhi-NCR ultra-luxury market finally caught up with Mumbai?
Delhi and Mumbai epitomize luxury real estate in India. Businessmen, industrialists, CXOs, billionaires, and startup founders aspire to invest in their dream homes. NCR, especially Gurugram, has seen an increase in the number of super luxury project new launches in the last decade.
Mumbai has been at the helm in this segment all along. In terms of the quantum of luxury sales also, Mumbai continues to remain at the pole position. Having said that, NCR, too, is catching up, said Abhishek Gupta of IndexTap.
Samir Jasuja, founder of PropEquity, believes that price appreciation in the case of super luxury properties, especially single-ownership bungalows, located in posh Sunder Nagar, Jor Bagh, Golf Links, has peaked. “If one were to compare this with new super luxury launches in Gurugram that come laden with amenities, the price appreciation has been almost 5X. Also, between Delhi and Gurugram, it’s more to do with prices of independent houses versus a fully-loaded apartment in Gurugram rather than independent floors located in these tony localities,” he explains.
“Also, Gurugram’s super luxury property prices are now almost at par with new launches in Mumbai. If the weighted average price in Mumbai for such new launches is ₹35,000, Gurugram has touched that price benchmark,” he said.
However, a few property experts say that the difference between high-end transactions in Delhi’s posh localities and Gurugram is like chalk to cheese. An owner of a property in Delhi’s Malcha Marg or a Golf Links cherishes his trophy property. Privacy matters to these people more than anything else. The prices of these marquee properties are dictated by the fact that there are very few such properties in the market.
Most properties, especially independent bungalows, sold in Delhi are being done as part of succession planning. “Most of the original owners want to sell and monetise their assets during their lifetime. Being the original allottees, they don’t have any lien. Therefore, they are not in a hurry to sell. They may decide to sell only if the price is motivating enough,” added Chopra.
