pune announcements of five luxury residential projects in as many weeks with homes carrying price tags of rs 3 crore or more hardly corroborate concerns about the economic downturn and the attendant impact on business sentiment city developers are upbeat about the response highend housing can evoke even amid the gloom and doom as they think luxury knows no recession what sets the luxury housing apart is location space exclusivity in design and amenities and of course the company you keep when living in these residences says arun nanda chairman of the board of a diversified indian business house with interest in real estate development his company is developing a boutique 20unit luxury complex which offers well over 2500 sq ft space per house comprising two three and four bedrooms where the prices are upwards of rs 3 crore and one needs an invitation to buy in the complex pune was a conservative place for a long time and its people believed in the value for money approach for any financial decision they made things have changed drastically and there is a remarkable preference for luxury be it cars jewellery apparels or houses he says adding theres a buyer for these homes with money in his pocket waiting for the right product to come up luxury buyers are not bothered about emis they are more keen on the right company with whom they can bond well as neighbours nanda adds another aspect is the shrinking land availability which means there are no suitable bungalow plots anywhere in the city says n sadashiv a real estate advisor people who have a budget for a bungalow are looking at such options and realty developers are addressing the aspiration with imaginative design and top specifications he says sadashiv said there is a marked presence of multinational corporations in the city now and toplevel managers of these mncs show a strong preference for such options also important is the change in the very approach to luxury its no longer the price per square foot or the specifications that make the house a luxury home its the intangible feelings such as the freedom one enjoys from all worries the comfort of exclusivity of space and the feeling of being in control of things that defines luxury now says rohit gera managing director gera developments his company is developing isle royale a cluster of high end homes with villas and apartments as options gera added that emergence of highend projects will also help project pune as an investment destination gera says isle royale villas and the apartments will have state of the art home automation technology which include world class features like ipad controls accessible from any part of the world wifi connectivity guard monitoring systems intrusion sensors with hooters private elevators fully airconditioned residences inbuilt water tanks and two electricity backups to give owners an additional sense of control and security the project will offer its residents their own island of peace gera says