the newest destination for property investors in the mumbai metropolitan region is the navi mumbaipanvelraigad zone experts have concluded this based on census 2011 findings according to which 23 of houses here are lying vacant they say that while investors are buying most vacant homes expecting rate appreciations genuine buyers are deferring purchase in the hope of a correction in prices but some experts feel that low occupancy of houses does not necessarily imply a flourishing investor presence navi mumbai hot spot for realty investors navi mumbai seems to have become the favourite property destination for investors to park their money as per census 2011 a sizeable proportion of houses are lying vacant in peripheral towns but no cluster beats the navi mumbaip anvelr aigad census town nmprct zone in this respect it is in this zone of the state which includes kharghar kamothe and kalamboli that the maximum number of apartments is lying unoccupied see graphic in the census two to three houses in 10 were found vacant in these towns prompting realty experts to assume that they were flourishing investment markets in surveying the occupancy pattern the census department took the help of civic bodies of 75094 structures census houses surveyed in the nmprct zone 20495 about 27 were found unoccupied followed by panvel about 23 badlapur about 21 and vasaivirar about 23 the reasons for the vacancy are not mentioned property experts say most of the vacant homes are owned by investors who anticipate rate appreciations also genuine buyers defer purchase hoping for realistic realty rates pankaj kapoor the managing director of the realty rating and research firm liases foras said a genuine buyer can never afford to leave a house locked over the last decade a sizeable number of flats was bought by those who did not intend to stay in them while the actual end user was left out take a trip in areas like kharghar and kamothe after evening hours and you will get the correct picture a noted developer from navi mumbai confirmed the presence of investors in the market going by a conservative estimate 2025 of the realty market is ruled by investors most developers earmark a specific number of units for regular investors who get properties at discounted rates the developer in turn is assured of adequate finances during crucial phases genuine buyers are not always affected by investor presence also curbs cannot make investors vanish from the realty scene pranay vakil chairman knight frank india said investors mostly seek bulk properties that can be sourced within rs 50 lakh property costs in navi mumbai are less than mumbai thus making buying there a lucrative bet investors enter deals during the preconstruction period