International auction houses are making their way into the Indian luxury property segment
Late last year,Sotheby International Realty organised a preview of Indian art alongside an auction of Bangalores Four Seasons Residences in Delhi,sponsored by London-based developer Westcourt.Half of these 30 luxury residences featured there were sold to international buyers as well as those from Delhi.Now,Sotheby International Realty plans to organise a similar auction in Bangalore for the rest of the apartments.We are selling lifestyle,not just condominiums.We host art exhibitions of notable Indian artist and are able to connect with art patrons who also have interest in luxury homes, says Philip Grant,project director,real estate sales & marketing at Sothebys International Realty.Many international and domestic auction houses like Saffronart,Christies and Bid & Hammer,which are normally associated with high stake art auctions,are entering the Indian property market,selling ultra premium and luxury projects.Selling through these auction houses,developers get to access an exclusive clientele that is associated with art and luxury.Local property broking is usually not very effective for selling luxury homes An exclusive platform like ours attracts both overseas and domestic buyers looking for primary and secondary properties in their home country, says Nish Bhutani,chief operating office of Saffronart,which is marketing properties in the range of Rs 3-8 crore for holiday and luxury homes.The auction house has tied up with international property consultants Cushman & Wakefield to sell exclusive beachside bungalows and holiday homes in Goa and around Mumbai and even some contemporary city homes.For instance,a 3-bedroom apartment measuring 3,100 sq ft overlooking the Race Course in Bangalore has an asking price of Rs 6 crore.Another major auction house Christies,headquartered in London,is also exploring options to tap the luxury real estate market in India.Internationally we tie up with establish agents to market luxury properties and we want to do same in India.Buyers here are discerning and the luxury real estate market throws enough opportunities for us, says Menaka Kumari Shah,director and country head (India) for Christies.Bid & Hammer,a Bangalore-based auction house widely known for its fine art auctions,says that though an art auction house is a distinctly different entity from its real estate division,the crossover point is of practical interest for developers and individuals eyeing a targeted client base.Entering the luxury home market is a natural transition as this is only segment showing signs of no impact.We plan to enter this segment in next one or two years, says Maher Dadha,chairman and managing director of Bid & Hammer.A consortium of developers in Kolkata,who are developing the high end Urbana project too are using art to sell homes.They recently organised a Vietnamese art-cheese-wine evening for 60-70 of the citys creme-de-la-crme.It triggers a huge word-of-mouth publicity.We had art lovers booking flats and even some flat owners buying art.Overall,flat sales since then have been very encouraging, says Rahul Todi,director at Bengal NRI Complex,which is developing the project.
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