Mumbai Realty - cooling down?

In what could be a sign of things to come in Mumbai's overheated real estate market, two of the five plots at the Bandra Kurla Complex (BKC) put on the blocks have found no takers. While the development may cheer those who wish to buy new homes in Mumbai, the lukewarm response to the auction spells bad news for the seller i.e. the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA). According to reports, MMRDA received Rs13.22bn from two residential and one commercial plot as against Rs27.9bn the authority earned just three months ago for similar deals. Two plots, both with a reserve price of Rs 3 lakh per sq. m. - a 7,131 sq. m. commercial plot and a 6,402 sq. m. plot meant for a club house - had absolutely no takers. The third, a 5,951 sq. m. commercial plot, went to sole bidder Jet Airways for Rs8.26bn. Jet's winning bid of Rs3.44 lakh per sq. m. was about 10% more than MMRDA's asking price. Meanwhile, Starlight System - a collaboration of Ajay Piramal group and Suntech Realty - quoted three times MMRDA's asking price for two residential plots measuring 7,050 sq. m. The company beat eight other bidders by quoting a record price of Rs 3.52 lakh per sq. m., making it the biggest residential deal for MMRDA till date.