Why Mumbai Real Estate is Expensive?

source: https://dwello.in

Mumbai has been rightly called the commercial capital of the country, owing to the presence of several MNC offices, office headquarters, start-up businesses, shopping malls, BPOs, LPOs etc. Every day, the city sees an increased influx of migrants- rich and poor- in search of jobs and better life opportunities. Naturally, with more people depending on this city for their livelihood, the demand for housing is also on a steep rise. However, while the demand for housing is volatile and constantly increasing, the land area of this island city is fixed, with a limited potential. This seems to be the crux of the problem and the reason behind expensive housing in the city.

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You’ve heard of houses in “SoBo” (South Bombay) being very expensive. This is primarily because most government offices (like Mantralaya) are located there. Government officials benefit from staying close to their workplace, especially because travelling can be quite a hassle during the monsoon. Moreover, more and more businesses prefer SoBo as their office location because of proximity to government offices and because of the relatively low water-logging in the area. The presence of eminent offices in the area has led to an increase in the demand for housing. But, by virtue of being a coastal zone, it is difficult to increase the number of houses. As is the rule of the economy, prices increase in times of low supply and high demand.

Mumbaikars take pride in the fact that their city has an Airport and a National Park in (almost) the centre of the city. While this is a thing to take pride in, it is also something that contributes to the high property prices in the city. The airport and the national park take up a lot of space which could have otherwise used for building more houses. Moreover, buildings near the airport have to follow a particular restriction- they cannot be very tall even though vertical buildings can house more people. Areas surrounding the airport, like Andheri East, Juhu, Vile Parle, Santacruz, BKC and Kurla face this particular disadvantage.

As is common knowledge, there are some prime localities in Mumbai where everyone wants to stay. The thought of staying far from the workplace is daunting to most people because of the less-then satisfactory modes of transport in the city. The fastest mode of travelling in the city is the local train. Since peoples’ demands are concentrated in a selected few areas, the prices of properties in these areas are on a constant rise.