Property registration in Delhi’s Vasant Kunj rises 63% amid COVID-19

Representative image of a client/customer signing on legal documents (Source: ShutterStock)

It’s not just the affluent in New Delhi and Mumbai who made a beeline to buy property during the pandemic. Delhi’s middle-class, too, shopped for houses in the Vasant Kunj area. So much so that property registrations in this southwest Delhi locality, just about a five-minute drive from the airport, went up by almost 63 percent last year.

The number of housing units registered in the Vasant Kunj area rose to 1,059 in 2020-21 from 650 in 2019-20, an increase of 63 percent, according to data accessed by Zapkey.com. Registrations stood at 806 in 2018-2019.

While the number of registrations hovered between 20 and 40 a month from May 2020 to August 2020, transactions climbed after the first wave of COVID-19 infections subsided, touching 126 in September, 169 in October and 147 in December. There were 137 registrations in March 2021, according to the data.

In Greater Kailash 1 and Greater Kailash 2, two affluent residential areas in south Delhi, property registrations declined to 295 in 2020-21 from 357 in 2019-20 and 357 in 2018-19, Zapkey.com data showed.

More than 1,000 new housing units were offered as part of the Delhi Development Authority’s housing schemes in 2019 and 2021 in the Vasant Kunj area.

Subhash Malik of Malik Associates, a property dealer in Vasant Kunj, pointed out that it’s no surprise that more people are buying homes during the pandemic this past one year. Two flyovers connecting the Mahipalpur area adjacent to Vasant Kunj with Aerocity across the Delhi-Jaipur expressway opened up to traffic in 2019, ensuring signal-free access to and from Delhi airport and cutting the travel time to five minutes.

There are other factors. Vasant Kunj has good schools, malls and hospitals. There is a biodiversity park that ensures pollution levels are not high. Property tax is reasonable because it comes under Category C.

Property prices in Vasant Kunj range from Rs 2 crore to Rs 4 crore for a three-bedroomed apartment and from Rs 1 crore to Rs 2 crore for a two-bedroomed unit. Lifts have been installed in new units and ample parking space has been provided.

Rents vary from Rs 30,000 to Rs 60,000 per month. The area is close to Gurgaon and many professionals who work there stay in Vasant Kunj, Malik said.

Farmhouses located along Green Avenue, Church Road and Ram Mandir Road have also witnessed traction over the Chhatarpur area during the pandemic because of their proximity to facilities like schools, hospitals and malls, said Rohit Chopra from Southdelhiprime.com.

Amit Goyal, chief executive officer of India Sotheby’s International Realty, said that during the pandemic, there was a surge in demand for farmhouses in Vasant Kunj.

“Demand is stronger than supply. A farmhouse in the area can set you back by almost Rs 40 crore and above,” said Goyal.

According to Chopra, in each of the six south Delhi colonies of Vasant Vihar, GK1, GK 2, Saket, Defence Colony and Safdarjung Enclave, there are more than 1,500 plots, which total up to 9,000 plots. Assuming that almost half of them have been redeveloped, there could be as many as 15,000 newly developed housing units in these localities.

Many buyers are upgrading to these redeveloped housing units and new plotted developments in these localities on account of larger floor area, modern amenities, additional space for a home office, stilt parking and basements. Homebuying decisions have been faster during COVID-19 because all members of a family have been working from home, Chopra said.

“For apartments in Greater Kailash 1 and 2, newly redeveloped units can cost anything between Rs 3.5 crore and go as high as Rs 20 crore, and a full bungalow can cost around Rs 50 crore,” said Goyal. “There has been an increase in the number of people wanting to upgrade their homes for larger spaces with additional rooms for home office and more ventilation. Several buyers have taken advantage of the low interest regime and booming equity markets despite the pandemic-related restrictions.”