As real estate prices ease, celebs go on a buying spree once again
The view from the top floor of director Karan Johar's sea-facing building should be lovely.
 Johar who, according to a broker, has bought a flat at Carter Road in Bandra, is among the many celebrities who are on a real estate buying spree.
He is said to have bought an apartment in The Residency building recently.
Though its exact price is still unknown, the 8,000-sq-ft duplex flat is estimated to have cost at least Rs 40,000 per sq ft. Johar's apartment, according to the broker, is located on the top two floors of the 12-storey building.
Attempts to confirm the news with Johar proved futile. Neither did he respond to phone calls nor text messages.
With the real estate market slowly looking up after a slack period, several celebrities are opening up their pursestrings to invest in property, say realty consultants. Another consultant from the western suburbs said Kiran Rao, wife of actor Aamir Khan, has been scouting for office space around Khar-Santacruz.
 | | HOT PROPERTY: Karan Johar's apartment, in The Residency, at Carter Road in Bandra, is located on the top two floors of the 12-storey building. The 8,000-sq-ft duplex is estimated to have cost him at least Rs 40,000 per sq ft. PIC/SAYED SAMEER ABEDI |
"She has found an office space admeasuring 5,000 sq ft on Santacruz Link Road," said the broker.
| | | Star homes | | >>About three months ago, actress Vidya Balan bought a 4-BHK property in Khar after moving out of her home in the central suburbs.
>>Last year, actor John Abraham paid nearly Rs 19 crore for property in Bandra.
>>Last year, when the realty market was down, Saif Ali Khan had purchased a 4-BHK flat admeasuring 3,200 sq ft in Fortune Heights, Bandra, for Rs 7.5 crore. | | A spokesperson for Aamir Khan said the couple was away on vacation and it would not be possible to get a response from them.
Consultants say the realty market is slowly witnessing a positive trend.
A real estate consultant from Bandra, Vibhoo Mehra, claimed he is compelled to spend hours at the sub-registrar's office to get sale documents of new flats registered.
"It's due to the recent surge in sale of flats," said Mehra.
He said that in recent months, several celebrities had been making a beeline for realty deals. "Many of them had, in the recent past, been shying away from investing in real estate due to the financial slowdown. Now that the market is moving north, many are hopping aboard the bandwagon. Rumours in the glam circuit have it that actress Katrina Kaif, who plans to move out of her house, is doing the rounds to get herself a new abode.
"Property is the safest investment; the returns are not less than 10-12 per cent per annum," said Prem Batra, a realty consultant from Bandra. "The new generation stars have seen that realty is a lucrative domain." |
