The lure of magnificent returns: One of the reasons even the most hardnosed investors find it hard to ignore real estate is that the asset class made a tremendous amount of money over 2003–13 as house prices in most locations went up by as much as five to ten times. For example, property prices in Gurugram’s Sector 49 rose 6.4 times from Rs 1360/square feet to Rs 8670/square feet during this golden decade. Elsewhere, in Lower Parel (Mumbai), a flat selling for Rs 4500/square feet in 2003 sold for Rs 35,000/square feet in 2013, going up 7.7 times.
