HT series on affordable areas being developed outside Mumbai

Interesting series in the Hindustan Times on new areas of development outside Mumbai - see links below - for info, MHFC has approved projects in all the areas :

1. Boisar / Palghar

2. Ambarnath / Badlapur / Karjat

3. Ulwe / Panvel

4. Vasind / Asangaon

Poddar Housing - Bhivpuri project - 1 RK flats

The 1 RK flats in Poddar Housing's project at Badlapur has been sold out - pretty much on the 1st day and so we are not taking any applications for that. However, the same builder has another 128 flats (1 RK - 300 sq ft - Rs 4.8 lakhs excl stamp duty / regn etc) at its Bhivpuri project which will come on the market very soon - May 1.

Of this, once again, MHFC has been allocated 64 flats to its customers - which to emphasise are ONLY actual end users (those who need a primary residence) and who cannot get loans from other banks.

For those interested in 1 RK flats (300 sq ft) in Bhivpuri (1 stop before Karjat on the local train) as a home and who wish to be contacted by MHFC under this special quota, please email us on contact@mhfcindia.com OR call our Loan Officer for the project - Gulab Patil on 9167220732.

Samruddhi - Poddar Developers - update

There has been a good response for the project in that 600 bookings already made - within a month of launch. However, of this, most bookings are for the 1 BHK category (which was priced at Rs 4.5 lakhs) and less for the 1 RK (priced at Rs 3.5 lakhs). In fact, the surplus bookings for the 1 BHK category have meant that (a) it will be closed quite soon as it seems that only Phase IV flats left in this category and (b) the builder has raised prices to between Rs 4.65 and 4.95 lakhs, depending on the floor. For the moment though, the 1 RK prices have been retained at Rs 3.5 lakhs and the builder has also set up a sample flat at site for viewing in order to generate interest (until now only the 1 BHK sample flat was ready). We still do not have a clear idea on the proportion of investors to end users but MHFC is certainly trying to spread the word among the latter segment so that they come forward to book a flat in what is probably a reasonably affordable project, even for those earning between Rs 8-10,000 Rs per month (the EMI on a Rs 2.8 lakh loan - after the 20% client own contribution of Rs 70,000 - will be approx Rs 3,700 over 15 years).

3 New Approved Projects (Mumbai)

MHFC has just approved 3 new projects in and around Mumbai:

1. Samruddhi Complex - by Poddar Housing - this is opp Bhivpuri railway station (one stop before Karjat on the Central line) - will be a township of about 1300 flats - launch price for the 1st phase is 3.5 lakhs for 1 RK and 4.5 lakhs for 1 BHK. Bookings have not yet opened - will open on Gudi Padva (March 16) but given the price and the several features on offer, we expect this to be sold out quite fast.

2. Star City - by Rashmi Housing - at Naigaon - which is 1 stop after Bhayandar on the Western line (3 stops befor Virar). This is also a is a fairly large project - over 1000 flats - more expensive given the attraction of this side - about Rs 2000 per sq ft - which means flats are between 5.7 and 11 lakhs - booking is already open - about 200 flats left for sale - rest all sold.

3. Sathyanagar - by Shriram Housing - at Boisar - which is frankly not practical for those working in Mumbai as it is about 3 hours by train from VT - but just for information, this is a township of about 2800 flats - 1 BHK and 2 BHK flats being priced at between 5.1 and 5.9 lakhs.

For more information, please email on contact@mhfcindia.com and for builder brochures / websites, please see http://www.mhfcindia.com/approved-project.html

Karjat Visit

We visited Karjat last week - Karjat is about 2 hrs from CST on the central line, however, soon local trains would start running on the harbour line track which will reduce the commute to about an hour and fifteen minutes. As a result a lot of developers have started looking at Karjat to launch new affordable housing projects.

We visited three such projects - all at an early stage; two of them are yet to start construction. But we were quite happy with the price dynamics in the area. As of today, land is quite cheap, and thus a 3.5-4.5 lakh 1-BHK is still feasible. This is great news for a lot of people who earn between 8-15k per month and can afford an EMI of 3-4k per month. While we understand it is difficult to move to Karjat today as it is quite far from the heart of the city, it is a great opportunity to buy a home of your own for later, once good quality infrastructure develops in the area.

In our view, Karjat has the potential to be the Virar of the central line - roughly same commute from Churchgate/CST (once the new line is operational) and much cheaper properties.

All three projects are currently being reviewed by the project approval committee, more details will follow once they are approved. (Tentative launch date - Gudi Padwa - 16th March)