In February this year, Indu Champati and her husband Sarath, sold their home in Suvidha Retirement Village, on the outskirts of Bengaluru, and moved into Stone Lodges, a cluster of luxury private residences spread on Wayanad’s forested hillside. “We purchased the home (designed by Earthitects, the in-house design studio of Evolve Back Resorts) back in 2017 as Sarath, a naturalist, and I were keen to move away from the city. Sarath had worked with the team for several years, but the trust factor aside, we were sold on the home’s location amidst a coffee estate, and the architectural belief,” says Champati, who runs The Bodhi Tree, a travel company that curated wildlife and nature tours across India. For the couple, who are now in their 60s, living close to nature was always a priority. “We had moved into Suvidha from our home in Whitefield, Bengaluru. Today, we shuttle between Whitefield and Kalpetta.”
The Champatis are among India’s growing tribe of luxury home owners who have been nudged further by the pandemic. Scenic locales, homes built using traditional materials and state-of-the-art technology are just a few of the features luring them and the tribe is only increasing.
Amit Goyal, CEO, India Sotheby’s International Realty, says that their recently conducted Sotheby’s International Realty Outlook 2022 highlighted that an overwhelming 67% per cent of respondents said they would look to buy luxury residential real estate this year. As many as 29% of high net-worth individuals (HNIs) and ultra HNIs (uHNIs) expressed their desire to acquire a holiday home. Which is a steep rise considering pre-lockdown numbers. “Prior to the pandemic, not more than 5-6% of our HNI clientele was searching actively for a holiday home,” he says. What he also highlights is that “reconnecting with nature” emerged as the top priority amongst luxury home buyers. Not surprising, given the pandemic having forced people back to their hometowns and resulted in a shift in mindset to embrace all things natural.
