Dahisar is now a premium locality of Mumbai

08 Feb 2016

Mumbai as a city has grown primarily in a linear fashion. One axis of growth is in south to north direction along the western line of Mumbai Suburban Railway. Other growth vector has been towards south to north-east and includes localities on either side of the Thane Creek. In the south to north direction, Dahisar is the second last major locality before the Vasai Creek; it is also the last locality in the Mumbai Suburban District.

It is no longer a catchment for spill-over demand from more favourably situated localities in south. The profile of the locality has evolved from being an extended suburban area of Borivali to a premium locality in its own right. The development initially was centred in the eastern half of the locality which offered many residential options.

The presence of Sanjay Gandhi National Park in east restricts development in this direction. This has led to new development in Dahisar (West), which has now evolved into a premium destination and in terms of product offering and price level, it is very close to other localities towards south.

Dahisar has evolved because of presence of good social infrastructure and connectivity to other localities towards south. Not to mention that it still offers much more open and green spaces as compared to the other areas, which have relatively higher density and extent of development. The locality is also well-supplied in terms of schools with the presence of even international schools.

With Western Expressway passing through Dahisar (E), the connectivity is relatively easy and allows access to other localities towards north and south. Dahisar flyover eases access to Expressway from Dahisar (W). Apart from the Western Expressway, the New Link Road also gives direct connectivity to Dahisar (W) with key localities commercial centres towards south like Malad (W) and Andheri (W).

The price trend of Dahisar (E) and Dahisar (W) tells the story of their evolution as residential destinations. The graphs below gives the average capital value for Dahisar and other adjoining localities to north and south.

The graph clearly shows that Dahisar (W) is almost at the same level as Borivali (E) and 10 per cent cheaper than Borivali (W). Dahisar (W) is also almost 100 per cent more expensive than Mira Road further north. This puts Borivali (E), Borivali (W) and Dahisar (W) in common price bracket.

Dahisar (E) is relatively cheaper and can be regarded as an intermediate locality between Borivali (E) and Mira Road further north.

While the long term price trend in each locality over a 3 year period has seen considerable growth, the medium (2 year: Jan 14 to Dec 15) and short-term (1 quarter – Sep 15 to Dec 15) trends are more subdued and in line with general market conditions.

The graph below shows the price trend in these localities over a three-year period - 

The price change for the localities has been summarized in the table below:

Locality	1 Quarter	1 Year	2 Year	3 Years
Borivali East	-0.3%	2%	13%	40%
Borivali West	0.5%	5%	13%	39%
Dahisar East	-0.1%	-3%	2%	32%
Dahisar West	3.1%	6%	14%	39%
Mira road	1.7%	2%	5%	41%

Long term price growth for Dahisar has been in line with general market trend and there has been considerable growth in capital values. However, the entire growth has not been only because of demand factor; a supply side price increase has also contributed to this increment. It is also important to understand that there was an element of base effect where property prices had increased from a relatively lower level.

The price growth over last 2 years shows that increment in prices has slowed down. The prices on an average in Dahisar increased only by 8 per cent. This is barely enough to offset the inflation during the period. And it shows that properties today cost almost same as 2 years earlier. This trend is further reinforced by looking at the price growth over last one year – the average price increase is under 5 per cent for the period.

Looking at the price trend, it can be concluded that supply driven price increment has worn off and given the lack of transaction activity in the market, the prices have stagnated. And this is likely to remain this way in short to medium (1 year) term.