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Business News/ Companies / People/  Abhisheck Lodha | Luxury real estate should be bought discerningly
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Abhisheck Lodha | Luxury real estate should be bought discerningly

Lodha Group managing director speaks about expanding beyond Mumbai and the demand for luxury properties in India

Abhisheck Lodha, managing director of the Mumbai-based real estate developer Lodha Group. Photo: Pradeep Gaur/Mint (Pradeep Gaur/Mint)Premium
Abhisheck Lodha, managing director of the Mumbai-based real estate developer Lodha Group. Photo: Pradeep Gaur/Mint (Pradeep Gaur/Mint)

New Delhi: The Lodha Group is currently developing the World Towers project,a high-end residential complex touted to be the tallest residential building in the world. The group has in the past developed multiple luxury real estate projects and continues to associate with designer labels such as Armani Casa for interiors.

Abhisheck Lodha< >, managing director of the Mumbai-based real estate developer. at the Mint Luxury Conference 2013, spoke about selling to the discerning luxury consumer, expanding beyond Mumbai, and the demand for luxury residential properties in India. Edited excerpts:

We heard in the session today that there are 13,000 more luxury residencies coming up across India? Is there sufficient demand in the market to absorb this supply?

I won’t categorize it as being strong. I think there is good demand at this point in time. Luxury real estate, or any real estate for that matter, should be bought discerningly and from people who have the capabilities to deliver it, and this is where I think the market is today. It’s more mature; there isn’t a mad rush to buy something just because somebody puts a luxury tag on something. People think about that and they can make a discerning decision.

At what price points are these coming at?

Price points vary significantly across cities. In Mumbai you have units that are costing 3 crore upwards to 75 crore. The price points differ in different cities.

You have a strong presence in markets such as Mumbai, Pune and Hyderabad. Are you evaluating more markets for luxury real estate projects?

Delhi-NCR (National Capital Region) is a very large market, especially from a luxury real estate point of view. We at this time continue to focus on three markets we operate in right now, but NCR is definitely on the radar. But we are not quite sure of a time frame right now.

We heard in the session today that demand for luxury real estate will continue to come from the top seven cities. Do you agree?

Yes, I do agree that doing luxury doing real estate in multiple cities is difficult, and if you are going to do it in multiple cities, one needs to focus on the key markets of Mumbai, Chennai, Hyderabad, NCR, Kolkata, Bangalore and Pune—these are the top markets.

How discerning is the end-consumer when it comes to make purchase decision about buying very-high-end properties?

Consumers have two aspects to their desires: one is to state an obvious aspect that they have seen something or at someone’s house, whichever the case maybe. But Indian consumers also are very open to new ideas; when you put something in front of them in terms of innovation, they want to come see it and understand a bit more in terms of the background and literature. But once they’ve done it, if they see value in it, they get interested very quickly and they are open to innovation.

How do you evaluate the market in terms of understanding the latest trends and initiating tie-ups? Is it based on feedback or market studies?

Well, it’s a combination of all of those. We currently have 20,000 active customers who have bought units with us over the last three years, so there is continuous feedback coming from them. We also get research done in a more formal fashion, both internally as well as with the help of external agencies. We constantly have teams that are visiting cities across the globe, to catch the latest trends and to meet the people who are on the forefront of things and design and technology, and try to make sure that we try to incorporate those in our products.

How does the “luxury" real estate market react to blips or slowdowns in the larger real estate market?

Luxury is an abused word. But when it comes to developers who have a track record of delivering what they promise of really going to the last mile to ensure the customer is getting the true luxury experience, the demand for products from those developers continues to remain strong.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Suneera Tandon
Suneera Tandon is a New Delhi based reporter covering consumer goods for Mint. Suneera reports on fast moving consumer goods makers, retailers as well as other consumer-facing businesses such as restaurants and malls. She is deeply interested in what consumers across urban and rural India buy, wear and eat. Suneera holds a masters degree in English Literature from the University of Delhi.
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Published: 23 Mar 2013, 04:07 PM IST
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