The COVID-19 pandemic has created demand for super luxury homes in the price range of ₹7 crore to ₹40 crore away from prime cities in destinations such as Goa and Alibaug, according to developers specialising in building high-end villas for High Networth Individuals (HNIs).
The growth has been more in the post-pandemic period, they added.
Avas Living, a firm that is developing a gated community of 16 to 17 luxurious villas on an eight acres land parcel in Alibaug, has seen a top television actor and a top banker booking property in this picturesque location close to Mumbai via a boat ride.
"A shift is happening after the pandemic, in terms of people looking to have a better work-life balance, which they didn't have before. This has created more demand for Alibaug as a destination. We have pivoted towards a wellness and health focused community," said Aditya Kilachand, CEO & Founder, Avas Living.
TV actor Ram Kapoor is believed to have purchased a 4-bed room villa for over ₹20 crore in this location.
“With Mr. Kapoor, we had the highest realisation per square foot in Alibaug. He has gone on to buy two more villas in the community itself. We recently concluded a transaction with Amitabh Chaudhary, MD & CEO of Axis Bank, and we have to conclude a deal with a very prominent Bollywood personality. Almost close to 1/3 of the project is sold out," he added.
"There has been a paradigm shift in what people perceive as luxury. Now people are viewing luxury as health and being more connected towards themselves. Going forward we will see these second homes becoming primary homes for the people with high-income," Mr. Kilachand said.
Nibhrant Shah, Founder & CEO, of Isprava Group, which has been developing uber-luxury homes in Goa and Alibaug, said wellness and lifestyle have now become very important aspects post pandemic.
"Being locked up during the pandemic, people have realised that they needed bigger homes and they needed to be closer to nature. So, we have seen the demand picking up in the Q4 of last financial year and Q1 of this financial year, much more than during the pandemic," he said.
The driving force behind this demand growth has been the desire of people to have more space in a place away from the city and wanting to be close to nature. Therefore, they are buying a house on larger land.
"There are a variety of people buying such villas. While HNIs are the usual ones, a new cohort that has emerged now is the younger people who are not necessarily buying primarily homes in large cities, instead, their first purchase of home is in places like Goa, Alibaug while they continue to rent in the larger cities," Mr. Shah said.
