An investment hotbed due to relatively affordable prices

Titwala is an emerging residential destination of Thane district in Maharashtra. This area has enjoyed traditional prominence as a major pilgrimage destination, as it houses the famous Siddhivinayak Mahaganapathi Temple. Thanks to the improving infrastructure and rising demand for affordable housing, Titwala is rapidly emerging a new location for budget housing in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR).

Titwala is a small town located 23 km from Kalyan and Dombivli on the banks of river Kalu. It benefits from excellent connectivity thanks to the Kalyan-Ahmednagar Highway and NH-3. The area has good, wide roads. Titwala-Ambivali Road is a busy arterial one within this locality. Titwala railway station is the third one from Kalyan on the Mumbai-Kasara route along the central line.

Titwala also offers a relatively peaceful and serene environment, with vast open spaces. The nearest commercial centres are Bhiwandi and Ambarnath (20-23 km).

Titwala also has a number of quality schools such as King George High School and KMT Public School, and a few hospitals. It has recreation facilities closeby, such as water parks and resorts like Ammu Water Park & Resort, and Shree Ganesh Park.

The relatively affordable property prices in Titwala have led to a significant rise in demand for residential apartments. Many reputed and local developers have marked the potential of this region and are busy building mid-segment residential offerings. The most common configurations available are one and two-bedroom hall kitchen (BHK) apartments with a typical size of 500-650 sq ft for a one BHK apartment, and two BHK apartments measuring between 750-915 sq ft.

Property prices in Titwala have seen decent appreciation over the past two years. Annualised appreciation has been 10-15 per cent. Property prices stood at Rs 2,000-2,500 a sq ft during the second half of 2012, and have now escalated into the region of Rs 3,000-3,700 a sq ft. Titwala is experiencing a decent evolution in its real estate profile. The ongoing residential activity will spur the potential of the area as one of the next investment hotbeds of MMR.

The author is head - strategic consulting (West) JLL India