In Mumbai’s western suburbs, the Link Road and the Western Express Highway (WEH) were once considered to be far from the city’s commuting lifeline, its suburban railway network, and hence, often not the first choice of many homebuyers.
However, a 20-km metro railway connecting the Dahisar and Andheri micro-markets via these arterial roads has helped drive up housing demand in these areas, Mumbai real estate experts told Moneycontrol.
According to real estate brokers and consultants, rentals in the residential market between Dahisar and Andheri have increased between 10-20 percent. Besides the metro connectivity, this may be attributed to other factors like old buildings going for redevelopment, because of which such buildings’ occupants have to move into rented properties nearby, jacking up rates.
The metro’s areas of influence
The two metro corridors that began operations about a year back include the Dahisar-DN Nagar (Andheri) Metro-2A corridor (along the Link Road), and the Dahisar East-Andheri East Metro-7 corridor (along the WEH).
There are at least six micro-markets which come under these two corridors — Dahisar, Borivali, Kandivali, Malad, Goregaon, Jogeshwari, and Andheri. All these lie towards the north of the city.
In Mumbai, homebuyers and renters have typically had three options regarding the choice of a locality. These are: a flat close to a suburban railway station, or towards the west where the sea is, or near an arterial avenue like Link Road or WEH, for those who commute by road.
Also read: Why do some Bollywood stars prefer renting apartments in Mumbai rather than buying them?
"The metro has mitigated concerns about heavy traffic and commuting hassles that weigh heavily on the minds of potential residents. As a result, the rentals between Dahisar to Andheri have surged by 15 to 18 percent. The rentals for properties near metro stations have also gone up, indicating the premium placed on accessibility and convenience," said Ashish Narain Agarwal, Founder and CEO, PropertyPistol.
The rental scenario
"In Borivali, rentals have gone up by about 15 percent post the arrival of the metro. Earlier, the monthly rental for a 2 BHK apartment here was around Rs 35,000 to 38,000 for old buildings, and Rs 42,000 to 45,000 in new buildings. That has now gone up to Rs 40,000 to 45,000 for old buildings, and Rs 45,000 to Rs 60,000 in new buildings," said Dhiren Doshi, a real estate consultant from Borivali.
According to market insiders, the rent hike in areas along the metro corridor is more than the rest of Mumbai. "While rents rose about 9 percent year-on-year (YoY) in the overall Mumbai market between January-July 2023, rents in areas around the metro corridor in Malad, Kandivali, and Borivali have risen upwards of 15 percent, per our data," said Saurabh Garg, Chief Business Officer and co-founder of NoBroker.com.
Student rentals impacted
According to real estate brokers, students studying in educational institutions around Andheri and Vile Parle did not like to rent beyond Andheri. But thanks to the metro, they are willing to venture further.
"The commencement of the Dahisar to Andheri metro lines have had an impact on student housing. Earlier, students studying in colleges in Vile Parle were not ready to go beyond Andheri. But now they are ready to do so as connectivity has improved and they can save money on rentals. These students have an annual rental budget of Rs 3-10 lakh," said Vikram Mehta, a real estate consultant operating in the Vile Parle and Andheri micro-markets.
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