The city's central suburbs and Navi Mumbai have become ideal places to live on rent.
A survey by a real estate portal has shown that Bhandup in Mumbai and Kharghar in Navi Mumbai have witnessed 29% and 42% rise in rental appreciation respectively in the last one year.
According to 99acres.com, a real estate portal survey, Nariman Point has steady rentals in the same period. But Bhandup (West), Chembur (East) and Mulund (West) saw 29%, 22% and 20% rise in rentals in 2011-12 when compared to the previous year.
In Navi Mumbai, Kharghar, Vashi, Mahape and Belapur are becoming favourite places to live on rent. "Affordability is the major issue. People can get 2BHK flat on rent by paying only Rs7,000 to Rs12,000 while 3BHK in Rs18,000 to Rs25,500 in Kharghar.
These locations are quite far from the city, but they are calm and an ideal place for family to stay. The road and rail connectivity is also good. Therefore, these locations are in demand for the last couple of years," said Ajit Sawant, owner of the local brokerage firm from Navi Mumbai.
While Thane (West) and Andheri (East) saw 21% and 15% increase in rent respectively. And, Kandivli (East) and Andheri (West) saw rentals go up by 8% in the same time period.
"Residential rentals value in Mumbai is likely to show a further upward trend in the medium term. This is largely due to Mumbai being a highly supply constrained market where the demand for dwelling unit outstrips the supply by a huge margin," said Vineet Singh, business head, 99acres.com.
Real estate experts attribute the high-rental appreciation to unaffordable property prices. Buying house is the out of reach for the common man.
"The rent is cheaper than monthly EMI. In Mumbai and in its extended suburban, a majority of investors has bought flats where the actual users are very less. So, the rent value has not shot up even if people prefer to live in rented houses," said Ahmad Sheikh, a real estate expert.
