Goa... Going... Gone! Real estate booms

PANAJI: It could be an apartment on the beach or one with a river view, an Indo-Portuguese bungalow or a 300-year-old villa — there are takers for them all.

Mumbaikars discovered Goa in the nineties and bought rent back accommodation for between Rs 10-15 lakh. But now buyers are coming from further afield.

Roy Godinho from Ferns Real Estate confirms this: “There’s a rush from the north, mainly Delhi. They come here for a month or less but they want their own homes.” For the upwardly mobile to feel they have arrived, first it’s a house in Delhi, then a farmhouse on the outskirts to get away for the week-end, and finally a house in Goa, says a builder.

“They are looking for a trophy home,” says a top executive with a housing finance institution. And the prices range from Rs 25 lakh for a 100 sq metre apartment in Candolim to Rs 1.5 crore for a bungalow or a Portuguese villa.

Prices have been skyrocketing as a result, from Dona Paula, an upmarket suburb of Panaji, to the coast of Palolem in the south and Morjem in the north, which are all witnessing frentic construction.

Meera, a real estate broker in the US, moved to Dona Paula two years ago and bought a quadruplex with a spectacular view of the Arabian Sea. But her view is diminishing as buildings sprout all around.

Scanning the classifieds is very instructive. For example, in Calangute  a 650 sq metre plot plus a 300 square metre bungalow costs Rs 75 lakh while a bungalow with two cottages, a swimming pool and a garden in Anjuma costs Rs 3.25 crore.

Ribandar, Old Goa, Taleigao and Santa Cruz are also seeing a spurt in prices due to their proximity to the capital.

It’s not only buyers who are coming from Delhi but also builders. DLF is planning to build a mall in Panaji’s Patto area whereas Parsvnath Builders and a clutch of other builders want to turn Goa’s picturesque locales into vast housing colonies with health clubs, tennis courts, malls, hospitals, and schools - in short, complete townships.

“A Goan builder can build 30-40 apartments, not 400-1000 with so many facilities,” points out Mathias of Mathias Constructions.

Starry, starry beaches

The richie rich, Page 3 types and film stars have found Goa irresistible for a long time. For many Goa has spelt an alternative lifestyle — more relaxed, more space and yet, as one architect puts it, “close enough to get the Mumbai buzz.”

Many have traded their stressed out lives in Mumbai, New York, London for a house in Tivim/ Penha da Franca/ Chorao Island/ Nerul and love the freedom of wearing their Bermudas and working out of the house.

“My base is Goa,” says a Mumbaikar, who is with financial instiututions. His retinue of servants and dogs live in his heritage house while he jetsets on work but visits often to be seen on the social scene.

Then there is the doctor whose calling card says he is a visiting faculty at one of London’s prominent teaching institutions. He lives in Goa most of the time, his son goes to school here, but he travels to London every few months on work.

Not only does he love the lifestyle here, his extended family come here for holidays too. In fact, Anjuna has American, British, Italians, Israelis and people of other nationalities living on its beaches. Greg Acuna, who relocated from Los Angeles, and has since written a book and is exploring setting up an animation studio says: “Goa has an international vibe, I love living here.”

The Page 3 crowd is also buying property. Bina Ramani has developed and sold five plots in Nerul, and among her buyers are fashion designer Tarun Tahiliani. The other fashion designer with property in Goa is Ritu Kumar. Then there’s Good Earth (the alternative lifestyle store) owner who also calls Goa home and so does a top executive of Café Coffee Day.

Bollywood has long been seduced by Goa. Jackie Shroff discovered it many years ago and has turned developer for his celeb friends. Stars like Shahrukh Khan, Sushmita Sen and Pooja Bhat are the latest entrants.