Where Mumbai's Rich And Famous Do Their Property Shopping

The apartment block, built by the K Raheja Group, saw among the highest number of luxury property deals registered this year, according to data shared by property portal Zapkey.com. The luxury tower, accompanied by a imposing lobby, houses four-bedroom apartments and is spread over 5 acres in Worli, the centre of India’s financial capital.

Buyers include former founders of Patni Computers; Smita Parekh, wife of veteran banker Deepak Parekh; members of the Dalmia family that operates educational institutes; and the wife of a tyre tycoon. They've each spent between Rs 30 crore and Rs 50 crore on apartment purchases here this year.

Sale of high-end homes in the nation’s costliest market spiked during the pandemic. While last-year’s stamp duty offered impetus initially, the momentum continues for a segment that was plagued by a prolonged slowdown prior to the pandemic. Discounts helped. And some people are using gains from a record-setting stock rally to invest in real estate.

“The luxury segment saw discounts in the range of 15-20% across all the major markets,” Pankaj Kapoor, managing director and founder at Liases Foras, said. “This was the segment which was suffering prior to the pandemic.”

Santosh Shinde, a South Mumbai realty broker, said prices of such premium properties are 5% below the pre-Covid level in the city.

“Builders have a lot of inventory and that is why they brought down the prices. This has also impacted the secondary sales,” Shinde said. He expects the demand to continue for at least another year but does not expect prices falling further.

Entrepreneurs, industrialists, senior corporate executives and celebrities used the opportunity to buy, according to property registration data collated by Zapkey.

Morena House at South Mumbai’s Carmichael Road, Supreme ArtVeda in uber expensive suburb of Bandra, and Rustomjee Paramount in neighbouring Khar are the other top luxury properties in demand in Mumbai.

Once owned by leading industrialist Sajjan Jindal, chairman of JSW Group—and developed by JSW Realty—Morena House is situated in one of the toniest neighbourhoods of Mumbai. Like other luxury properties, it offers an apartment a floor with sea view.

Members of the Mody and Ashar families, controlling shareholders of JB Chemicals and Pharmaceuticals Ltd., acquired homes at Morena for Rs 60-70 crore each.

Bandra's Supreme ArtVeda saw big-ticket purchases by members of Mumbai's wealthiest families including the Dubashs, founders of Blue Dart Ltd.; and the Vakils, founders of Asian Paints Ltd.

Rustomjee Paramount, close to Bandra, lists a mini theatre, business centre, spa and salon, and stargazing deck as some of its selling points.

Bollywood actors Disha Patani and Rani Mukherjee bought apartments at Rustomjee Paramount for Rs 5.95 crore and Rs 7.12 crore, respectively.

• Siddharth Shah, co-founder of PharmEasy that recently acquired Thyrocare Technologies Ltd., bought an apartment at Wadhwa Samparpan project at Khar West for Rs 40 crore.

• The Bachchans, the Bollywood superstar family, were buyers and sellers of apartments. Amitabh Bachchan bought an apartment at Atlantis project in Andheri West for Rs 31 crore while his son Abhishek sold an apartment for Rs 45.7 crore at Oberoi 360 West project in Worli.

BloombergQuint’s emailed queries either directly or through publicists or managers to Shah, Amitabh Bachchan, the K Raheja family, Disha Patani, Rajesh Agarwal and Ritu Wadhwa Makhija remained unanswered. Other buyers couldn't be reached.

Many of the buyers had paid stamp duty at the reduced rate ahead of the March 2021 deadline in Mumbai. The government allowed registration within four months of paying the levy, giving homebuyers time till July end to register.

While Mumbai’s luxury home market got a boost from the stamp duty cut, the momentum continues not only in India’s financial capital but also Bengaluru, Hyderabad Delhi, said Sandeep Reddy, co-founder of Zapkey.

Luxury homes deals have jumped over the pre-Covid period, he said. “The wealth of the buyers in this segment, predominantly CXOs and CEOs of big corporations, has continued to grow due to the boom in stock markets. That has resulted in buying these luxurious homes, either as status symbol or for diversification (of investment).”

Kapoor of Liases Foras said buyers also took benefit of discounts after riding the stock-market rally.