Luxury real estate is surging in demand and supply is trying to keep pace with the demand. Changing demographics and rising aspirations of buyers are cited as reasons for the soaring demand.

Mumbai tops the list with 30 percent jump in its luxury homes sales in 2016 with Mahalaxmi, Lower Patel, Worli, Juhu, Lokhandwala and Bandra based projects being the focal points.

Worli’s World One residential project is promoted jointly by the Lodha Group and Giorgio Armani.  Another collaboration of the Lodha group is in the project Lodha Fiorenza with Jade Jagger for Yoo.

The rising action in luxury segment of real estate has attracted the interest of Donald Trump to the Indian Market with his Trump Towers in Pune.

Bangalore saw the supply of luxury housing segment exceeding demand with a rise of 35 percent in inventory in the last three-quarters.

Banglore’s luxury apartments are concentrated in places like the Outer Ring Road, Doddaballapur, and Whitefield.

Purvankara Group is readying its luxury housing segment in Bangalore at prices of INR 2.5 crores and above. In other cities also, the demand for luxury housing is up.

Meanwhile, Bangalore based Kumari Amaranthine project is all set to get IGBC Platinum certification.

‘Kumari Builders and Developers’ is working towards obtaining ‘Platinum’ certification for its Kumari Amaranthine project in Bellandur area. The certification is in compliance with the Green Homes Rating System issued by the Indian Green Building Council. Kumari Amaranthine is ready to be occupied by August 2018. The ‘Platinum-rated project’ is one among the 17 Platinum-rated pre-certified projects in Karnataka.

The Green Homes Rating System rewards the following parameters: site selection, planning, water conservation, energy efficiency, materials, environmental quality, innovation, and design process. The green features of Kumari Amaranthine include roof gardens, solar panels, and gray water recycling systems plus waste management. Ashok Naidu, Director, Kumari Builders, and Developers said the real estate company has met all criteria under the IGBC categories and achieved 92 points in target out of 100.

“We will leave no stone unturned in reaching this goal towards conserving the environment while offering our customers a quality living space and ensuring that every family at Amaranthine does its bit for the environment,” added Naidu.

To every home owner, the Platinum certification would translate into direct savings on utility bills. At Kumari Amaranthine the monthly water savings through recycling alone amounts to a whopping 15,00,000 liters. Kumari Builders has eight projects to its credit in Bangalore. The ongoing projects add up to 2,54,610 square feet of built-up area and are aiming to address the housing needs of upwardly mobile, young working professionals.

The determinants of luxury include prime location, amenities, and design. The prices range from INR 5 crores to 30 Crores. But the prices do not reflect a Pan India picture as there is a huge disparity in prices between Bangalore and Mumbai. In Bangalore, a house costing more than INR 6000 per sq ft is a luxury while the benchmark in Mumbai is Rs. 15,000 per sq ft.

The traction in luxury real estate market is apparent with the influx of many global brands. Gian Giacomo Ferraris, chief executive of Italian fashion major Versace makes special mention of a new energy seen in the Indian businesses environment compared to two years ago when he visited India. Versace entered India's property market in alliance with the ABIL Group, for a South Mumbai project. Versace Home will be designing the interiors of the 32-storey skyscraper comprising 10 apartments.

The elite brand has been designing homes across the world and gets a certain part of the revenue from the project. “We receive certain revenue through royalties from real estate alliances, but it (real estate alliances) is important as it fits well with our strategy involving fashion, luxury, lifestyle, and designs in the broad aspect,” Ferraris said.

The first project of Versace Homes in India will be in 11,421sq ft of land on Hughes Road in South Mumbai. In the 10 ultra-luxury apartments, nine will be duplexes price tags will be ranging from Rs 50-70 crore. ABIL invests around Rs 300 crore in the project, according to Amit Bhosale, managing director of the ABIL Group. It will be completed by 2019.

Versace Home is credited with many prestigious projects including Milano Residences in Manila, Al Jawaharah Residences in Jeddah and the upcoming Damac Tower in Beirut and the Aykon Nine Elms in London.