Prashant Thakur, Head – Research, ANAROCK Property Consultants
By Prashant Thakur
Once a quaint settlement known for its scenic beauty with lush green trees and inhabited by Eurasians and Anglo-Indians during the late 1880s, Whitefield has witnessed a shift from being a settler’s haven to one of the sought-after real estate destination of Bengaluru. Whitefield is one of the key tech hubs in Asia and has evolved as a preferred residential real estate destination.
Falling in the eastern periphery of the Greater Bengaluru region, Whitefield is a burgeoning micro-market with a rich history of over 200 years. However, the spurt of real estate developments in Whitefield dates back to early 2000s when the IT-ITeS sector began to boom. The establishment of Export Promotion Industrial Park (EPIP) and International Technology Park of Bengaluru (ITPB) shaped Whitefield into a buzzing suburb. Today, more than four lakh ‘techies’ work in various multi-national companies located here.
Over the last few years, Whitefield’s skyline has metamorphosed into tall skyscrapers and big residential communities. The housing demand in this region is primarily driven by the IT professionals working in nearby office complexes. Whitefield’s residential real estate growth has also benefitted from the saturation of core areas of the city, significant rise in IT-ITeS and retail spaces in and around the locality, availability of land parcels for large-scale developments and the presence of excellent physical infrastructure. In addition, the micro-market is an apt representation of the ‘work, live, play’ concept and has emerged as a self-sustaining hub.
Being strategically located and close to the Old Madras Road (National Highway 4), Whitefield is well-connected by road, rail and air:
· Road: Whitefield has easy access to the rest of Bengaluru through the Whitefield main road, further linking to Old Airport Road and Varthur road. Unsurpassed connectivity to the Outer Ring Road at Marathahalli is an added advantage.
· Rail: The nearest railway station is Hoodi at a distance of 3.5 km and Whitefield at a distance of 5 km.
· Air: Excellent connectivity to Kempegowda International Airport (at a distance of 49 km) via SH 104.
Over the past 5 years, around 28,500 new residential units have been added to the Whitefield region. The maximum new launch activity was noted during 2013-15 and accounted for 83% of unit launches during the past 5 years. Since 2016, new launches have declined significantly due to the presence of existing unsold units and the large-scale impact of DeMo, GST and RERA. With around 8,500 unsold units as of Q3 2017, developers active in Whitefield are currently focussed on clearing existing stock rather than adding new supply in the micro-market.
Of all the units launched in Whitefield, more than 12,000 are ready-to-move-in. Due to continuous residential supply addition over the past few years, more than half of the inventory is expected to enter the market in the next 2 years. With stiff competition between ready-to-move-in and under-construction units to gain a share of sales, home buyers focused on Whitefield are benefitting from the freebies and discounts offered by various developers.
The average residential property prices in Whitefield witnessed an upward trend from INR 4,600/sf in Q1 2015 to INR 5,100/sf in Q4 2015. Despite the marginal drop in property prices post Q4 2015, Whitefield seemed to hold steady during the DeMo, RERA and GST period, and the average price stood at around INR 5,200/sf as of Q3 2017.
The demand for residential properties here remains very healthy, as Whitefield has developed into a self-sustaining location. The superlative connectivity to the central business district, the upcoming metro corridor from Byappanahalli to Kadugodi under the phase-II of Namma Metro, and the proposed eight-lane peripheral road that connects Whitefield to other arterial roads of the city enhances the real estate potential of this region. Overall, Whitefield has amply earned its label ‘the jewel of the eastern suburbs’.