Indian Real Estate, Property Boom

Malwa, that part of Punjab, never a favourite with real estate
investor or developer, is now witness to a property boom, the
likes of which has sent property prices in the region boomeranging
skywards, as realtors and buyers alike, swarm into the region like
a cloud of greedy locusts with damage on their minds.

Property prices might have been climbing higher since a year or two,
yet the cost of agricultural land has experienced a sudden escalation
of 200 to 25%, all within the span of the last six months.

A year back, the average price of land in Bathinda, Faridkot,
 Ferozepur, Muktsar and Moga used to be between Rs. 2 to 3-lakhs,
 today it is hovering around the Rs. 8-lakh mark, and thereabouts.

According to property dealers, the state wide boom across Apna Punjab
is responsible for fuelling the price hike in the Malwa region, along
with other factors responsible for boosting the demand for land.

 Economist of note, Dr. Sucha Singh Gill believes the unprecedented
 hike is due to low interest rates on bank loans, the need to whitewash
 black money, and improving trade relations between Pakistan and India.

As bank interest rates on loans are lower than the national rate of
inflation, depositors are not interested in accruing bank savings,
preferring instead to invest in real estate. As well, property
investment seems to be an ideal way to get rid of all that hidden
black money. Then too, increasing trade with Pakistan has led a number
of big traders to purchase land along the GT Road, Gill informs us.

As farmers along the Grand Trunk road and the cities peripheral areas
sell their land for upwards of Rs. 2-crores an acre, the majority of them
prefer to re-purchase agricultural land, as they rush off to the Malwa
region with its still cheap land, much more so than in other parts of
Apna Punjab. This has led to land prices climbing steadily in the area,
 with many buyers mostly farmers from Amritsar, Jullunder, Ludhiana
and Chandigarh.

Also, the development of planned land colonies, a considerable rarity
in this area is another of the reasons, why land prices are beginning to
soar here. Not only sellers but banks are also benefiting from this new
phenomenon, as it has led to an excellent recovery of loans from farmers,
 since before selling land, they have to clear all encumbrances on it.

It does make one hope rising land prices will help put an end to the
number of farmers committing suicide in Punjab. A welcome solution, yet,
 it leaves another problem, that of diminishing agricultural land.

 If colonisers and developers continue to snap up land meant for growing
food crops and construct luxury homes, apartments, second homes, third homes,
investment homes, will there be any land left to grow
food for India's burgeoning masses?

A prospect that sends shivers down the spine bringing to mind the days when the
 British denuded India of its flora and fauna by shooting hundreds of tigers a
 day, amongst other big game hunting, and cutting down its rich forests of
 teak, mahogany, rosewood, sal, etc.

One cannot blame the debt ridden poor farmer whom the government or the
people are doing little to help, but one can put a stop to the avaricious
developers and colonisers as they rapaciously buy up agricultural land
for the rich, who have more homes to spare than needed. For of course,
the cost of a bungalow or flat in these planned new colonies is beyond
 the reach of the common man. Despite, the huge supply of houses, there
 is No House for Mr. Biswas!