REALTY RESURGENCE

AFTER LANGUISHING FOR YEARS, THE REAL ESTATE MARKET IN DELHI-NCR, ESPECIALLY THE NOIDA-GREATER NOIDA MICROMARKETS, HAS FINALLY FOUND ITS MOJO, THANKS TO INCREASED OPTIMISM AMONG HOMEBUYERS POST COVID-19

- ARNAB DUTTA

SINCE ASHISH KAPOOR booked an apartment in a Jaypee Infratech project in Noida more than a decade ago, he has moved from his rented place in South Delhi to a rented apartment in Gurugram, turned 60, and seen his son grow up from being a student to becoming a professional. Throughout this time, the only thing that has remained constant is his yearning for his own home. There are at least 20,000 others like Kapoor who face this predicament.

The genesis of their problem lies in the 32,700 residential units booked between 2007 and 2011 under various Jaypee Infratech Ltd (JIL) projects, of which over 20,000 remain undelivered even after a decade. A report filed by the interim resolution professional in the Supreme Court says the Jaypee Group had collected at least ₹13,364 crore from homebuyers in booking amounts and advance payments till it went into insolvency in September 2017. JIL is not the sole offender; there are others like it. Take the case of Amrapali Group, another Noida-based realty major, whose promoters are languishing in jail on charges of duping homebuyers.

A close look at the 2011-15 period throws up a stark picture of real estate firms duping homebuyers, which eroded trust in the once booming market, and by the mid-2010s, brought it to a grinding halt. After that, the Delhi-National Capital Region (Delhi-NCR) market suffered from subdued demand, few new launches, and a lack of price appreciation. But not anymore. The residential real estate market in the Delhi-NCR—particularly the micro-markets of Noida-Greater Noida—is finally looking up as customers make a beeline for homes.