Apartment spread cross 6,500 sq ft with private parking bays on each floor, exclusive elevator for each apartment, ultra-luxurious amenities and a manicured garden thrown in. The building is Ellora Castle, the price of each apartment is Rs 6 crore and the location is Palm Beach Road of Navi Mumbai.

Ellora Castle is just one among the 119 stalls at the ongoing Haute Property exhibition in Vashi (November 16 to 19 at the exhibition grounds outside Vashi station), which is mainly targeted towards homebuyers from the Mumbai metropolis.

“From being a low-cost housing destination, Navi Mumbai is now the preferred option for many high net worth individuals because of the quality of life it has to offer,” says Bhupendra Shah of Bahamian Group, part of the exhibition’s organising committee.

Till a few years ago, Navi Mumbai promised affordable housing and a lot of people shifted from Mumbai to bigger flats in the satellite city. Today, the real estate prices in areas of Navi Mumbai like Vashi and Palm Beach are on par with or even higher than the suburbs of Mumbai. For those with large families, Navi Mumbai is the one of the few places where one can afford a palatial penthouse or a four-bedroom flat with a view.

For the others, most nodes of Navi Mumbai offer row houses, independent houses and flats at affordable rates. Shopping malls, wide roads, good schools, sprawling markets and good connectivity are the key factors that make Navi Mumbai an attractive housing option.

“The infrastructure of Navi Mumbai is improving with each passing month,” says Nerul-resident Nar HERE IS UR TOOesh Sawant. In the last two months, three major malls have been inaugurated in the city, giving the local residents lot to choose from for the weekend outing. Educational facilities are also a major reason for people preferring Navi Mumbai. There are about 10 engineering colleges in Navi Mumbai, apart from medical, degree and catering colleges and institutes.

Prakash D’Mello, who moved to Koparkhairne from Chembur, reminisces, “We bought this house about 11 years ago and have seen the place develop. What I like about Navi Mumbai are the educational facilities. They are far better from most schools of Mumbai and affordable too.” His wife Sujata adds, “The bus depot is just a couple of minutes away that connects us to the rest of the city and Mumbai.

Navi Mumbai is also quite spacious with with a lot of greenery around. This is what we call luxury” While educational facilities are the preference of some people, others prefer the peace that Navi Mumbai offers. Rakesh Sharma, resident of Belapur is very happy with his house in the Artists Colony “With the extra FSI, our house is much bigger now. For me the serene surroundings itself are inspiring and I sometimes wonder how people live surrounded by busy roads and continuous traffic in Mumbai.”

Source: Hindustan Time