Bengaluru’s Kengeri-Whitefield Metro And Real Estate Along The Purple Line (Image: bmrc.co.in)
The metro corridor between Kengeri in West Bengaluru and Whitefield in the eastern IT corridor, which covers a distance of 40 kilometres, have been completed and is now fully operational from October 9, 2023. With the opening of the metro line, there would also be an opening for the real estate investment in the areas, bringing the rentals up but experts are of the view that in the coming years, the capital appreciation in prime areas will slow down.
The metro line would bring in connectivity from the western parts of Kengeri town and the eastern IT corridor to the central business district of MG Road. The missing Baiyappanahalli-KR Pura link has also been completed, with this, areas such as Kengeri in the western corridor and RR Nagar in the middle would also fall under the real estate investment eye, the moneycontrol reported.
Taking a look into what the Kengeri-Whitefield Metro linkage would bring in for real estate along the purple line metro, it can be seen that homebuyers have begun to make enquiries around the purple line, as the properties nearby it provides ease of conveyance especially considering the tight traffic of Bengaluru.
A techie, Ravi Gowda, who has been trying to find an apartment in the place close to Indiranagar metro station in Bengaluru says that, “the completed purple metro line would allow me to travel seamlessly to my office in Whitefield. However, my budget is Rs 4 crore, while none of the apartments are available under Rs 7 crore.” This being the case with real estate appreciation, local brokers are of the view that ‘unlike real estate appreciation’, the ‘capital appreciation will be slow in the coming years,’ reported the moneycontrol.
Kiran Kumar, Vice President of Hanu Reddy Realty said that in the past year, the prime areas such as Indiranagar, Koramangala, Whitefield, and MG Road along the purple metro line has witnessed a jump of 20 to 30 percent in capital prices. He said, “for example, the current apartment rate in Indiranagar is Rs 25,000 per sq ft and that jumped from Rs 18,000 per sq ft when the metro was announced,” adding that, such areas will only witness a five to ten percent capital appreciation in next three to five years. In his view, “such investments are good options for end-users as they will be able to avoid the major traffic snarls in the eastern corridor and central Bengaluru.”
The Director of Realty Corps, Sunil Singh said that the rentals go down by ten to twenty percent in areas beyond one to two kilometres from the stations. “After the completion of the metro line, the demand for rental properties close to the purple line has quadrupled, although no properties are available. It is a perfect window to invest in the metro corridor for good rental returns,” as an example, he said, “a 1 BHK property (with no car park) that was priced at Rs 10,000 per month is now being rented at Rs 22,000 per month—since it was in the vicinity of the Indiranagar metro station on the purple line.”
Kumar says that the metro connectivity will have its weight felt beyond the immediate areas. The outskirts will feel the effects with more demand and price rise in the coming quarters. Areas such as Hoskote, which is 10 km away from KR Pura and Budigere Cross at 8 km, are expected to witness a rise.
There are other areas also which could feel the rise, like Hoodi, Nallurahalli and Hope Farm, have now become rising real estate pockets. Experts says that these places away from the centre, has expansion opportunities with thirty percent lower rent than Bengaluru average.
The metro connects the western parts of the city and the central business district to the eastern IT corridor but has a huge downside as its last-minute connectivity in certain parts of Whitefield can be said to be poor. Experts say that, one way out is by running feeder busses by Bengaluru Metropolitan Transport Corporation to connect metro stations as a way out of congestion and number of private vehicles.
