How Infrastructure Influences House Buying?

How Infrastructure (Or Lack Of It) Influences Home Buying...!
by Mr. Arvind Jain, 
Managing Director – 
Pride Group

In India, it is a real estate maxim that most people on the lookout for homes will always seek out localities that are close, or as close as possible to their places of work. Consequently, residential projects with good connectivity – specifically road and rail infrastructure - experience the maximum sales traction.

Arvind Jain,
Pride Group.

Real estate investment has always been guided by the quality of infrastructure in and around a neighborhood. From good roads to proper drainage and water supply, infrastructure consists of all the man-made physical attributes that help develop a sustainable community. It is therefore no surprising that property prices close to infrastructure such as roads, railway stations and airports are significantly higher than in other areas. People are ready to pay for the privilege of living close to these conveniences, as it saves them both commuting time and expenses.

Infrastructure also includes availability of electricity, water supply and sanitation such as public and in-project waste disposal and sewerage. If a location does not have these very essential facilities, it will not work as a residential destination no matter what else it offers. These are services that nobody living in the modern world is ready to live without.

From a real estate market perspective, it should be noted that infrastructure means a lot more than just physical infrastructure such as road connectivity – all facilities that contribute to an eased lifestyle are also included under the infrastructure umbrella. As such, social infrastructure includes schools, hospitals, shopping malls, post offices and other essential government services, and facilities of leisure activity such as sports complexes, swimming pools, parks and gardens, etc.

Road Connectivity

Roads, including in-facility roads in residential townships and lines of connectivity to the city center and workplace hubs, define the quality of a residential neighbourhood. Effective roadways make transportation easier and faster. 

That said, there definitely needs to the right kind of balance when it comes to roads and their ability to drive residential sales - people do not want to live too close to hospitals, bus depots or industries, but neither will they want to be too far away from them.

Water & Electricity Supply...!

India is a developing nation, and ‘developing’ is both a positive qualifier and a watchword for caution for home buyers. There are several towns and suburbs that are not yet well integrated with proper water and electricity supply. With the average income of Indians increasing, potential homeowners are willing to spend more to get access to round-the-clock water and electricity support. These two services are central to the smooth running every modern household and commercial space. 

Needless to say, residential complexes that guarantee 24x7 electricity and water supply are much more preferred than projects – and indeed entire areas - that have erratic supplies. Homes in areas and projects that do not have steady water and electricity supplies sell only to extremely budget-strung buyers who are willing to wait for these services to arrive at some point. As many news stories and consumer forums tell us, they often have to wait for years together, and meanwhile their home investments erode steadily.

Sewerage & Sanitation..!

In India as in every other nation, everyone understands the minimum standards of sanitation. Even average residential facilities need to be equipped with proper measures of sanitation, including sewage and waste water disposal, garbage removal, municipal road cleaning, and other associated services. Without these services, life becomes intolerable and extremely unhealthy pretty fast. Naturally, every home buyer will take a very close look at this aspect before deciding on a project to purchase into.

Schools & Hospitals...!

More than 70% of Indian families have children going to schools. One of the biggest questions in the mind of every family scanning the local market for a suitable home is - how far are they willing to send their kid to in order to get to school and back each day? School-related commuting can take an incredible toll on the health and also academic success of children, so Indian parents are extremely focused on buying homes that are close to good schools. This does not just allow quicker access to education, but also ensures maximum safety for their kids.

Hospitals are another element in a location’s infrastructure that is a pivotal consideration for every home buyer. Medical emergencies of all kinds simply cannot be ruled out in today’s fast-paced urban life, and medical care is an inalienable factor for people of all ages. For this reason, home buyers want fast access to hospitals and related medical facilities. A hospital nearby is a great plus point when buying a home.

Parks & Gardens...!

Thanks to the reckless proliferation of the urban concrete jungle, there is now a huge ongoing crisis for open spaces and green zones in residential areas of almost every modern Indian city. Parks and other recreational locations are the only options for city dwellers that seek the occasional break from urban chaos and want to experience nature, at least to some extent. As a result, home buyers are ready to pay more if they can move to a locality that has offers close proximity to parks, lakes and related recreational facilities. For this reason, many modern apartment complexes are now also including artificial lakes and gardens inside their compounds for the benefit of their residents.

And all this can be effectively encapsulated in one word – infrastructure. Infrastructure guides the buying behaviour of every Indian home seeker, and is therefore central to every kind of residential development. Its availability or lack will unerringly decide the success rate of a residential destination and the projects in it.

It is for this reason that integrated townships have become the latest rage in the Indian real estate domain. Large townships provide all the above-mentioned infrastructure aspects as part of their integrated development plan. They do not depend on how fast the areas they are built in develop on the infrastructure front – they ensure that residents have it all available within easy reach, for immediate use. Naturally, homes in integrated townships also carry a consummate premium on their prices; the fact that they still sell extremely well is testimony to the fact that today’s home buyers are not willing to live without the benefits of complete infrastructure.

About The Author:

Arvind Jain is Managing Director of The Pride Group, a world-class property development conglomerate that is changing the cityscapes of Pune, Mumbai and Bangalore. Established in 1996, Pride Group has built and delivered over 10 million sq.ft. of constructed area. Pride Group has recently launched Pride World City, the 400-acre luxury mega-township at Charoli, Pune.

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