Kerala

Villas create benchmark in luxury living

Even today, to possess a dwelling all complete with a garden, spacious courtyard and bordered by a boundary wall remains a predominant infatuation for Malayalis. Kerala is a place where one can see trends changing at a fast pace and this interesting phenomenon is more evident in the case of building homes. And when it comes to villas, the state is moving in the lap of luxury. Most of the villas promoted by renowned builders and coming up at various locations in Kerala are all accompanied by world-class amenities and the conveniences that they offer are of unparalleled luxury.

There is no disputing the fact that when compared to apartment, the pricing is also very high for villas. But despite the prohibitive pricing, there are takers for villas. This proves the fact that these days more and more people are developing a penchant for villas rather than apartments. As of now, for those who can afford and do not want no remain content with an apartment, villas are always a welcome choice. Thus, most of the builders in Kerala are making a beeline for constructing villas and several of their projects are nearing completion.

Radhakrishnan of Santimadom Builders & Developers are of the opinion that people are increasingly moving towards the suburbs owing to heavy congestion in the city and also because the suburbs in Kerala offer all the conveniences of an urban living. Santimadom which already has an impressive stake in the domain of Ayurveda is all set introduce a number of innovative ideas in living. Their villa townships with hundreds of units are fast coming up in Palakkad and Guruvayur and are enthusiastically envisaging to hand over 1000 villas by the year 2010. They are also introducing for the first time the concept of service villas which will ensure an earning for its owners.

But with land prices shooting up and the availability becoming even scarcer, builders are finding it difficult to come up with more villa projects to meet the customer aspirations. In recent years, bored with the life in an apartment, more number of people have upgraded from their apartment to a villa. And it is generally observed that Malayalis are emotionally more attached to villas rather a life in high rise buildings. Resultantly, the traditional concept of independent villas is in vogue again.

"Inspired by the growing demand for villas from all class of customers, we are coming up with a number of villa projects in and around Kochi", says Abdul Azeez of Ceeyem Developers & Apartments. Ceeyem has two ongoing villa projects in Kochi, one at Kaloor offering 7 villas and the other one at Kakkanad with 16 villas. Apart from promoting branded homes, they are also coming up with a unique apartment project that has all the conveniences of a villa.

Villas on serene water front locations in the close vicinity of the city are in great demand throughout Kerala. And owning one in Kochi, the state’s commercial hub, has turned out to be the latest fad among the rich and famous in Kerala. Today the water front villas have become so very popular that the builders are increasingly coming up with more such projects. It’s not only in cities that people are looking for villas. "We have come up with a villa project in Thodupuzha comprising of 20 units and response to the same was overwhelming", remarks David Raj Thomas of Orange Properties. Orange Properties is all set to come up with more such satellite villa townships soon.

Most of the villas offer superior design, structure and elevation and are studded with a host of luxury amenities. Carefully chosen locations are undoubtedly one of the most common characteristic features of all the villas. Common club house, children’s play area, separate transformers, wide roads, exotically landscaped and well lit surroundings, jogging track, health club, badminton court, broadband connectivity, incinerators, garbage and sewage treatment plant, provision for rain water harvesting, centralized security etc are just some of the features that the builders offer in their villas, definitely all for a price.

T-Cube is yet another realtor who has been putting much focus into the villa segment in a big way. "Our key focus area is in the construction of villas and one of our latest projects is fast coming up near Thiruvamkulam comprising of 9 villas called TKV Enclave", adds Titty Zachariah of T-Cube Projects.

And many of the builders endorse the fact that, in the current scenario, numerous well-placed professionals, NRIs and other salaried class are opting to invest in villas rather than in an apartment, which is again quite unlike an earlier trend. The market is in such a good form that the villas are getting sold even without aggressive marketing strategies. Liberalized housing loans, a craving for traditional system of living, freedom from the hassles of building a home on their own etc are some of the features that are prompting many to opt for villas offered by the builders.

Sunil

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