Sample this: Omaxe will be investing Rs 5,000 crore to develop low cost or affordable houses in tier II and III cities. "The price of these houses will be around Rs 20 lakh. The time has come for developers to foray into affordable housing segment where the demand is significant," said Omaxe CMD Rohtas Goel. The company is yet to acquire land for these projects.

BPTP that recently bagged the largest land deal in Noida, will also be introducing residential projects in Faridabad which will have an `affordable' price tag of Rs 40-50 lakh. BPTP has a 1,400 acre land bank in Faridabad and says volumes can be created according to the price.

"Once connectivity improves, Faridabad will be a preferred and an affordable destination for home buyers," said BPTP MD Kabul Chawla. India's largest real estate developer, DLF has also launched a number of affordable housing projects in different cities that will cater to lower and medium income groups.
 Chennai, Bangalore, Indore, Manesar and Cochin are some of the markets where the realtor will come up with residential projects. While a 3 BHK in Chennai will be in the price range of Rs 35-50 lakh, projects in New Gurgaon and Manesar will cost Rs 45 lakh and upwards.

As per global real estate consultancy Cushman & Wakefield, in the next five years, demand for residential real estate across the seven major cities will be about 1,400 million sq ft. Last year witnessed a lot of residential and premium segment projects being announced by developers, but a gradual shift towards the low-cost housing is only now being witnessed.

Agreeing with the trend, of developers foraying in the affordable segment, Ansal API's VP-marketing Kunal Banerjee says, "Market for luxury homes is limited while there is a big market for low cost and mid-segment housing. However, developers will have to compete with unorganised players present in this segment."

Adds COO of Parsvnath Dr BP Dhaka, "Only 5% of the home buyers can actually afford a luxury or a top-end house." For Parsvnath while 10-15% of it's sales account for luxury projects, around 70% cater to middle class and balance for `low cost' housing.

But is it the low margins which have kept developers away from low cost projects till now? Says DLF group executive director Rajeev Talwar, "Even if the margins are less, the volume will more than make up especially as the bulk of demand comes from this segment. It's a huge market and will prove to be profitable if one has bought land at affordable price."

Though the buzz is about affordable, the debate regarding how affordable is affordable continues. Points out Dhaka, "Affordable is a function of location and income. In a tier II city a three bedroom apartment between Rs 10-25 lakh can be termed as affordable whereas in metros (excluding the prime locations of course) and suburbs anything up to Rs 50 lakh could fall in the category."