Most expensive deal in India: South Mumbai penthouse sold for whopping Rs 202 cr

Even as Mumbai’s real estate market reels under a stressful period with slowing sales velocity and with buyers sitting on the fence, waiting for prices to drop, a one-off deal in the island city’s luxury market for Rs 202 crore is making headlines. According to a report in The Economic Times, a sea-facing triplex penthouse measuring 17,000 square feet in South Mumbai’s Napean Sea Road has been sold to a prominent industrialist for a whopping Rs 202 crore. This works out to be one of the most expensive transactions in the country as the buyers is paying Rs 1.20 lakh per square foot. The apartment is on the 20th, 21st and 22nd floors of the Residence, being built by the Runwal Group and offers views of the the Arabian Sea and the Queen’s Necklace and has 21 car-parking slots as part of the transaction. According to the company’s brochure, the Residence has been designed to ensure ‘your every need is taken care of, in exclusive style. What’s on offer? A private jet is just a call away A luxury yacht awaits you Two luxury chariots are stationed and ready, to chauffeur one’s family around the city High-speed elevators A Club lounge which includes recreation, a spa, a socialising room, a rooftop pool, modern gymnasium with special weight, cardio and aerobic zones. Bay view/sea view apartments massive walk-in wardrobes “It is about four times a recent big-ticket transaction for an apartment - banker Uday Kotak recently bought an 11,000-sq-ft house in the commercial business district of Bandra-Kurla Complex for close to Rs 55 crore,” the ET report added. Although this is a one-off deal, it is surprising given the current sluggish state of realty market. In fact in the first half of 2015, not a single luxury residential project was launched in Mumbai, according to data provided by Knight Frank. [caption id=“attachment_2384184” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Runwal’s Residence[/caption] Mumbai home prices slipped almost 2% in the June quarter from the record of Rs.13,120 per square foot set in the quarter ended 31 December, according to research and consulting firm Liases Foras Real Estate Rating and Research Pvt. Ltd. It will take at least 45 months to find buyers for unsold homes in Mumbai, the consultancy said, compared with 41 months on average across India’s top eight cities. The unsold inventory is between eight to 12 months in an efficient market. In fact,  in January-June, the Mumbai metropolitan region recorded its worst home sales and project launches since the global financial crisis of 2008. Home sales dipped 9% to 28,446 units and new launches dropped 47% to 18,887 units, Knight Frank said. Another report by Jones Lang Lasalle points out that only 2,600, or 3.35%, of the total 77,460 unsold residential units across Mumbai—a city where buyers prefer ready properties over those under construction—and its suburbs Thane and Navi Mumbai are ready for possession, and most  of these 2,600 units are priced above Rs 1  crore—a price that’s above the reach of most buyers.