Being a growing city, Bangalore has attracted a large number of people for jobs and work which has made many people bullish about the growth of the city. The city had always been on the radar of NRIs looking to invest in Indian residential properties. The large NRI interest in the city has led to the healthy and stable growth of premium and luxury housing properties in the Garden City.

As the Indian currency is getting depreciated vis-à-vis foreign currencies such as pounds and dollars, more numbers of NRIs are expressing interest in purchasing housing property in Bangalore. The pleasant climate, expanding opportunities of employment and stable increase of capital values have made the residential market in the luxury segment attractive. Combined with good lifestyle, the city has to offer a wide number of luxury residential options to pick from. Mostly NRIs target two kinds of properties for purchase- luxury locations which already exist within the city and luxury projects that are coming up in the peripheral areas.

Premium Locations that Exist Already

There are quite a few older classy neighbourhoods which continue to maintain their tag of being high end. They still have to offer luxury lifestyles to which NRIs are accustomed to along with social infrastructure that is established. The upscale neighbourhoods that currently exist in North Bangalore include Dollars Colony, Sadashivnagar, Jayamahal, HBR Layout and HRBR Layouts, RT Nagar, RMV IInd Stage, Bellary Road, Jakkur and Hennur Road. Most of the NRIs target these areas for purchasing properties.

The areas in South Bangalore that are targeted by NRIs include JP Nagar III Phase, Indiranagar in East, Koramangala, Dollar Colony located close to JP Nagar III Phase and Jayanagar. Other older areas which are considered to be ultra-luxurious include parts of UB City, Residency Road, VittalMallya Road and Lavelle. These locations still hold on to their position of being preferred luxury localities mainly because of the lifestyle offered along with the conveniences provided. All these areas are large and planned well. They have broad roads that have been laid out well and along these roads, trees have been planted. A good part of the older areas of Bangalore form its Central Business District. The other areas which are a part of the CBD are the Infantry Road, Dickenson Road, St Marks Road, MG Road, Richmond Road and Ulsoor Road. Not only is the NRI interest in the area is heightening, but also interest of companies looking to set up offices here.

The Central Business District is now being occupied by different kinds of clientele. Earlier, most of the space was taken up by IT companies for availability of limited space along the outskirts. However, as the peripherals started developing, more numbers of office space opened up. Rental rates of office spaces along the periphery are reasonable which is why more numbers of companies shifted to those areas. Improvement in connectivity is another reason why companies have moved out. Now the CBD is occupied by BFSI companies, law and retail companies.

A lot of real estate offices and share broking companies have decided to move to the Central Business District because they need to be accessible to people from every quarter of Bangalore. Most people move to the CBD for these kinds of services and when the metro railway works are completed, they would be covering the whole of the CBD area. The amenities available in the CBD along with road connectivity is being planned to be upgraded by the government.

Both supply and demand are balanced in the CBD and space shall continue to be in demand in the CBD. For many companies, it is prestigious to have an office in the CBD particularly if they deal with high profile clients. Good leasing has happened around the CBD as roughly 5 lakh sq. ft. space of Grade A has been leased out. The current supply of Grade B offices are more than 5 lakhs sq. ft. Almost 15 lakhs sq. ft. of commercial space shall be supplied here in the coming 4 to 5 years.

A lot of tech companies prefer to have their offices in the CBD particularly if they have clients visiting from different areas of the world. Currently there are talks of Indiranagar being included in the CBD which was earlier considered to be a highly residential area. The locality is considered to be an extension of CBD. It is close to areas where large offices operate or are coming up such as Dom Lur, Kasturinagar and CV Raman Nagar. Roughly 8 lakhs sq. ft. of office space is being prepared on 80 Feet Road. The increase in office space around CBD is turning out at 5 to 10 percent in the coming 2 years.

NRIs would also benefit greatly as capital and rental values around the CBD properties would be increasing as the offices come up. Therefore, for the purpose of investment, localities around the CBD are quite lucrative.

Premium locations that are coming up

Mostly in the suburbs of East, South and North Bangalore these locations are coming up. Some of the areas in which NRIs have expressed interest for investing include Thanisandra Road, Hennur Road and Whitefield. NRIs have also expressed interest in the luxury housing projects which are setting off around well-known tech parks. Most of these projects are gated communities which offer planned facilities such as terrace gardens, private swimming pools, club houses and cycle lanes. However, the main drawback of these areas is that they do not have access to regular water supply and rely on borewells for tapping into the shrinking level of Bangalore's ground water.

Potential for Appreciation

Given the limited supply of prime property in Bangalore in the coming future on prominent areas such as Sadashivnagar, Ulsoor Road, Cunningham Road, Koramangala, Indiranagar, VittalMallya Road, Jayanagar and Richmond Road shall continue to be premium areas in which NRIs would continue to invest. 

Areas which are upcoming in the suburbs shall be witnessing an increase in capital values with respect to the planned development of infrastructure around and in those areas.