is Indian real estate a bubble?

[Harsh_77 718]

ELW - not just Delhi, all the metro cities like Mumbai, Hyd, Bang all are facing water problems and electricity problems.

This is going to happen has the population in these cities have skyrocketed and the local govt is not and was never ready to cope with such a growth.

Water, Electricity, Sanitation, traffic, slums are few problems thru out India, the only solution is you order the water tankers and run a backup generator.

Since this is happening in all the cities the prices are not going to drop as does not matter wherever you go, you will face this issue.

Lot of my co-workers in Mumbai have installed array of batteries and inverter at their house, so whenever there is power failure they can switch to batteries.

[ELW 5]

Good point, about the problem being so universal. In fact, I was staying at a small town in India (population just a few thousand) and even there, half the buildings had become vacant because there was no water supply, as the ground water ran out and the residents could not afford tanking in the water. There were too many bore wells dug for too many buildings in a very small area. The town is becoming a ghost town - how many places have similar things happening? What is the solution? I am sure we can all add names of places where our family, relatives or friends live that have similar water and electricity problems. India is rushing into a modern age without modern infrastructure.

[^_^ 5,021]

India is rushing into a modern age without modern infrastructure.

Indeed.

I was at the north american bengali conference in atlantic city a few weekends ago, a bunch of real estate developers had stalls set up for properties under development in the kolkata area. Real nice properties, all the amenities you'd expect with prices that rival prices in many parts of the United States. The problem? Most of the building is in a part of Kolkata where there is a huge problem with water, electricity and even transportation. An outskirt where the government is letting builders build but hasn't bothered putting in much infrastructure yet. I know quite a few NRIs who purchased in the area a few years ago and are now looking to sell. They've waited and waited and waited and the promised laying of water lines and promised paving of streets, etc... simply has not come. And meanwhile, builders keep on building. It's insane.

And yet, trinket's point about new household creation is a valid one and a powerful driver of demand. So is there a bubble? My opinion is yes, to an extent.

[Harsh_77 718]

I am not very sure of Kolkatta - mainly coz Kolkatta has always been driven by communist party and they have never let city do very well and for some reason ppl from Kolkatta supports those communist parties all the time.

Same time cities like Mumbai, Delhi, Pune, Hyd, Bang I dont think they would ever go down on price, price might get static for time being but will never go down unless something major goes wrong.

[^_^ 5,021]

never?

I don't buy it. too categorical for my taste.

that said, I wish you good fortune in your investments.

[kapad 2]

Guys I also hear that price in Mumbai are steadily going up. Do u think it is true? I mean if american economy is stale then do u think Indian-Mumbai economy will keep booming?

[diphen 0]

IMO, its not bubble.....Planning to invest in India real estate