Welcome to real estate world of Garden City. The garden city Bangalore is the capital of the Karnataka state in India. This mega city is regarded as one of the country's most progressive city. In the year 1960, Bangalores economic vivacity picked up when its local government targeted telecommunication and also defense sector as key area for its activities. Later on when IT boom came to India, Bangalore took the leaders role for the entire country. As a result, it became the science and technology centre of India, and home to many multinational companies.

Known as Indias Silicon Valley, Bangalore has been a software centre for decades. The enormous job opportunity with lucrative salary attracts the creamy layer from other places around the country and even from abroad. The cosmopolitan culture of Bangalore makes it a favorite destination. It is a city of peace loving people and has never suffered the wrath of nature. It is a good city to live and work in. There is no doubt that it will be even better in the coming years. No wonder, there are more people coming to live in Bangalore and thus making it crowded day by day.

Today, this fastest growing city is facing housing as a problem among a few others. Among many other areas of concern, the one that needs to be tackled immediately is housing. With the demand for housing being at its peak and financial institutions making it easy with their attractive loan structures and pay back schemes, the real state business is blooming in the city. The real estate business in Bangalore has been projected as a most up-coming business and why not, people are making money out of it. On the other hand, people across the country who came to Bangalore for a job could easily manage roof above their head because of the flourishing real estate business.

Before peeping into details on Bangalore real estate business, it would be worthwhile to look at the meaning of real estate. Real Estate is the buzz word for everyone even in small towns in India. Actually, what it means The term real estate consists of two Words. The word real, as it relates to property, means land and estate is defined as the interest one has on a property. Thus, the word Real Estate denotes land and everything built on it, and also includes surrounding nature and extent of ones interest therein.

Real estate may be acquired, owned, and conveyed (or transferred) by single individual, a group of individuals or by a business corporation. Moreover, other persons like a charitable trust, a religious sect or group, an educational institution, and various other non-profit corporations; fiduciaries, such as trustees and executors; partnerships; and generally by any legal entity as determined and defined by the law of the land can own or acquire the real estate.

The unprecedented bang of the early 1980s saw the real estate market a bit confused. It was a new concept coming in front of the people. Fixing of prices was not uniform in every place. All of a sudden, projects started mushrooming all over the place. But what happened in a permanent way is the skyline of Bangalore, which changed permanently with huge concrete structures. For many people, fortunes were made overnight and for many of them it was just the reverse. Suddenly, property development and real estate became a major area of business among people. Slowly, it took its pace and today, it is a glamour profession in Bangalore like many other mega cities and almost all urban centers spread across the country.

But at the initial stage, all of a sudden, as the growth was vertical in the market cycle and therefore, it could not sustain for a longer period. In between, the growth came down and after some years, slowly it took again its pace. After the smart start, within a short period of time, the prices came down. This turmoil proved to have a silver lining among the builders and promoters. Therefore, only committed, truly professional organizations could survive at the helm of affairs of Real Estate business. Ultimately, it brought a positive impact on the world of real estate business both for residential and commercial sectors.

As already discussed, till early nineties, there were multiple areas of concern in front of the real estate business because of many valid reasons. Among such reasons, the vitals are: failure on the part of Government & State administration to maintain and provide the bare minimum infrastructure like Power, Roads, Sewerage, Water, and Transport.

But, in early nineties and gradually after mid nineties, the real estate business in Mumbai, the commercial capital of India started flourishing. In fact, Mumbai real estate business became the source of inspiration for the real estate business in Bangalore and other big cities. Inspired by Mumbai, Bangalore witnessed lot of activities in real estate Market. During 90s different property dealers from outside the state particularly from Mumbai entered Bangalore city. That was the beginning of ushering to a new era. Later on, the various infrastructure development program undertaken by the Government has also resulted in a change in the real estate Market of the Bangalore.

Today, there are concrete buildings and giant structures all across the Bangalore. But, there is enough space to improve in the real estate market. The real estate actions in Bangalore totally depend on the implementation of the projects and carrying on the works with a faster pace. The government has to act smartly in support of builders and promoters with flexible provisions and laws.

Shelter for all by the year 2010 is the challenge lying ahead of India. It seems that, still it is a distant dream in India. Come on Bangalore! Cheer up; you have the potential to contribute a major role in to it and thus helping India to achieve her goal. The need of the hour is to go for small and medium sized satellite towns in and around Bangalore. The apartments and facilities in these satellite towns should be affordable. There is an allegation that, only highly

paid IT people can afford to rent an apartment. The local people of Bangalore can not. Therefore, in the suburbs of Bangalore, the low cost real estate should mean for the middle class or upper middle class people. As because, Bangalore is the undeclared IT capital of the Country and there are many MNCs in and around the city, therefore, the fund crunch is a distant reality. There is no dearth of fund. Both in public as well as in private sector, economy is bouncing back in Bangalore. The real estate business will flourish literary.

Looking at the Bangalore Map, the real estate activities are centered from the Airport towards Whitefield area. In fact, this area became the focal point for real estate business. Other important areas are, Sarjapur-Marathahalli Ring Road, Old Madras road, M.G. Road, Cunnigham road, Bannerghatta road, etc. Now, the market seems to be stable and therefore, there is an upward movement seen in the real estate market. The prices are still affordable in comparison to many mega cities and metros of the country. The underground water systems, flyovers connecting major parts of the city, self assessment of property tax scheme, are also welcome notes for this business. Other factors like cleanliness drive taken by the Government, improved power supply, pleasant climate, availability of skilled labour, accessibility by rail, road and air, etc. are also contributing towards development of real estate business in Bangalore. Another important point is, Bangalore is not an earthquake prone area.

Formation of organizations like Karnataka Industrial Areas development Board (KIADB), and other real estate organizations of Bangalore like Builders Association of India (BAI), Karnataka Ownership Apartment Promoters Association (KOAPA) and Karnataka State Land Developers Association (KSLDA) are also contributing to its growth. The real estate industry really thanks the Home loans being offered by several Banks and other financial institutions. Soft home loans, land purchase loans, Home improvement loans, short term bridging loans, Home equity loans, Home extension loans and various other types of loans are attracting people towards real estate. The advertisements in print and electronic media, Helpline numbers of the builders and developers, yellow pages of Bangalore are also contributing in this regard. Other related businesses like Vaastu consultancy, etc. are also flourishing along with real estate business.

Recently, the head line news of a local daily reads as follows-Bangalore ahead of others in office space demand. Yes, it is true, many MNCs and other offices across Bangalore wants space. Therefore, along with residential plots, commercial plots are also in higher demand. The IT/ ITES companies are the major space occupiers. Bangalore continues to have the edge over other cities in terms of office space and thus, this sector is also growing day by day. The up going trend of rentals is still an area to think upon. Because, of Corporate sector, it registered an upward graph. During last twelve months, i.e., in the year 2005, the rentals in both CBD and off-CBD areas have witnessed rising trends of rentals. The hike is 10-20 % in CBD areas whereas it is around 5-15% in non-CBD locations. This is really a major area to look upon. But, demands are at its peak.

Bangalore is a Tier I city along with Mumbai and Delhi. Therefore, Bangalore will remain the most preferred option for many new entrants from India and abroad. The economic policies of India Government are also attracting companies from abroad. The upward trend displayed in Bangalore will remain unchanged in the days to come. In fact, it is the fast growing city in the entire sub-continent. Bangalore is a city of peace thus in the coming years, Bangalore will be even better to live-in.