Why Gurgaon Emerged As A Major Real Estate Destination

Real estate is expensive in Gurgaon. But, according to a study by PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PHDCCI), Gurgaon is the most attractive real estate destination in the National Capital Region (NCR). Gurgaon's transportation networks, social infrastructure, including schools and hospitals, growing employment opportunities and even the coming of metro lines, are some of the key reasons why real estate, both commercial and residential, here is in huge demand.

Commercial development leads to residential demand

In the recent past, Gurgaon emerged as the most sought-after office space destination in India. From 2001 to 2011, office space consumption in Gurgaon grew almost tenfold. In the same decade, population in Gurgaon grew by 70 per cent. The reason is that people moved to live in a city where employment opportunities and amenities were rising.

Next to price, construction quality, proximity to metro lines, reputation of the developer, locality and other factors were the most important to home buyers while choosing property in the NCR.

Neighbourhood & infrastructure matters

When people buy houses and other real estate assets, both private and public infrastructure in a neighbourhood matters. It is true that Gurgaon's public infrastructure is not impressive as it did not have an urban local authority till recently. The Haryana Urban Development Authority (HUDA) was responsible for building civic infrastructure, and even today, the Municipal Corporation of Gurgaon (MCG) does have not have clear authority over many aspects of city governance. But, this did not hinder Gurgaon's growth beyond a point because private development flourished since early 80s. The state government had veto power over land conversion, acquisition and many such decisions, and this led to much easier real estate development.

Developing privately

Now, it is true that civic amenities in Gurgaon are far below world standards. But, private industry has found ways to deal with many such problems by providing private electricity, water supply, sewage and other services.

This has led to many problems, including pollution, depletion of water, largely because private companies were not able or allowed to provide such services on a large scale. Still, in many aspects, Gurgaon's civic amenities are better than that of even neighbouring cities such as Faridabad. When private amenities outweighed the cost of poor civic infrastructure, real estate prices in the city rose, year after year.