NATIONAL PROPERTY INDEX INCHES UP BY 3 %

Despite weak buyer sentiment, the National Property Index went up by over 3 per cent in the October-December quarter over the preceding three months last year, a survey has said. National Property Index (NPI) is a weighted average of supply and prices across 11 cities. Of the 11 cities in the apartment index, nine saw a marginal rise, while one recorded stable values and the other registered a small drop in the city index, leading property portal MagicBricks.com said in its report titled PropIndex. "Ghaziabad, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Pune, Delhi, Kolkata, Chennai, Gurgaon and Noida witnessed a rise in city index values. 
"On the other hand, Ahmedabad registered stable values and Bangalore remained largely stable with a small two per cent drop in the index value during the October-December 2012 quarter," the report said. The report observed that cities such as Ahmedabad, Hyderabad and Bangalore received greater demand for premium properties as compared to Delhi and Mumbai. "This was due to a significant difference in capital values," it said. According to the report, multi-storey apartments remained the most preferred property type across the country, where six out of 11 cities witnessed over 65 per cent demand for multi-storey apartments, it said. Further, residential property worth Rs 30-50 lakh registered maximum consumer demand of 24 per cent. Affordable properties, in the price bracket of up to Rs 20 lakh, witnessed second highest demand at 16 per cent, the report said.