Core areas of city see modest rise in RR rates

* The cost of commercial utility space in Variety Square to Lokhandi Pul area pegged at Rs 1,15,000 per square metre!
* Land under ‘No Development Zone’ or agricultural use cost the highest Rs 2.60 crore in Mouza Babulkheda while it costs the lowest Rs 1.02 crore in Mouza Bharatwada

By Kartik Lokhande
The new rates of Ready Reckoner (RR) reflect that the areas on the periphery continue to register better rise compared to those in the core of the city. However, with rise in economic activity, commercial space in heart-of-the-city areas like Panchsheel Square, Variety Square to Lokhandi Pul, West High Court Road has become costlier.
The newly announced RR rates reveal a rise of an average 9-30 per cent in the city areas and increase of an average 25-40 per cent in peripheral areas. A comparison with previous two years shows that Central Avenue, Variety Square to Lokhandi Pul, West High Court Road, Mangalwari, Onkar Nagar, etc have been attracting more attention of property buyers. At the same time, with rise in rates in these areas, potential buyers are shifting towards peripheral areas in search of affordable properties. This has led to increase in number of transactions in peripheral areas.
The open plots in Wardha Road-Panchsheel Square, West High Court Road, Wardha Road (South), Ajni, Central Avenue, Variety Square to Maharajbagh Road, Residency Road, Mount Road to Patni Automobile Road, Kingsway, Laxmi Bhavan to Shankar Nagar Square, Chhatrapati Square to Khamla Square, North Dhantoli, Mehadia Square are fetching the highest rates. Most of these areas are fetching over Rs 50,000 per square metre. These areas and localities in their vicinity are also attracting higher rates for residential as well as commercial properties.
If one takes a look at the cost of office/commercial space, Variety Square to Lokhandi Pul area (Sitabuldi Main Road) tops the chart with one square metre of such space costing Rs 1,15,000! It is closely followed by Wardha Road-Panchsheel Square area in which commercial space costs Rs 1,14,000 per square metre. The cost of commercial property in areas to the south of Wardha Road is Rs 1,10,000 per square metre, followed by Rs 1,04,000 in areas along West High Court Road. Shankar Nagar, Ravi Nagar-Futala, Central Avenue closely follow these chart-toppers.
For sellers, though this is an attractive situation, the buyers are not happy with that. In fact, many in the realty sector feel that RR rates should not have been hiked as it would discourage potential buyers of property. The ever-increasing prices have started one more trend in the city -- office space available on rent. The custom-sized offices are available on rent, and such enterprises are attracting various commercial establishments as they can save on capital investment. Similar is the case with buyers of residential properties. As the areas on the outskirts of the city also continue to fetch better rates, those with modest monthly income are trying to find residential properties on rent in the vicinity of work-places or schools.
As far as cost of open plots is concerned, it is the highest in above-mentioned areas. The lowest price of Rs 6,000 per square metre is in Punapur, followed by Gorewada etc. The land under agricultural or No Development Zone (NDZ) use is fetching minimum of Rs 1.02 crore per hectare (or, Rs 40.80 lakh per acre) in areas like Bharatwada and Punapur while it is drawing as high a price as Rs 2.60 crore (or, Rs 1.04 crore per acre) in areas like Babulkheda and Manewada.

Hudkeshwar, Narsala
figure in RR for city
Following the recent annexation of Hudkeshwar and Narsala areas to the city, these two villages also have figures in RR rates for the year 2014. In Hudkeshwar, agricultural land costs Rs 1.50 crore per hectare whereas the plot in gaothan costs Rs 4,500 per square metre. The plots under unauthorised non-agricultural use cost Rs 5,600 per square metre while those with non-agricultural (NA) permission cost Rs 7,500 per square metre. The average cost of commercial space in Hudkeshwar is pegged at Rs 29,000 per sq mtr. Similarly, in Narsala, agricultural land costs Rs 1.20 crore per hectare, followed by NA plots costing Rs 6,000 per sq mtr and land under unauthorised NA use costing Rs 4,500 per sq mtr. Hudkeshwar and Narsala both have ‘potential NA lands’, the cost of which has been estimated to be Rs 4,500 and Rs 3,000 per sq mtr respectively. 

Published in The Hitavada CityLine on January 3, 2014