new delhi owning a private bungalow in delhis lutyens bungalow zone has been a status symbol for decades and has attracted the rich and the famous from across the country this extremely niche area has remained immune to the vagaries of the real estate sector and yet covid19 has not left this leafy neighbourhood untouched eitherin an unprecedented development more than 20 bungalows in lbz are up for sale their prices ranging from rs 75 crore to rs 170 crore depending on the plot size and location portals that only deal in highend luxury properties have listed several from this area in the last couple of months rather than a couple they used to earlierfrom a 7500sq ft bungalow near khan market rs 150 crore and an equally spacious bungalow on hailey road rs 170 crore to 800010000sq ft residences in sunder nagar costing rs 7590 crore the houses distance from rajpath determines the price comparatively threebedroom apartments in chanakyapuris diplomatic zone are available for rs 2040 crorei have been in real estate since 1997 and have sold many properties but never in my experience have i got a stock of 12 properties in lbz usually the number in the inventory is one or two at most three said rohit chopra founder of real estate consultancy firm southdelhiprimecomdeveloped by edwin landseer lutyens the british architect of new delhi this exclusive zone was originally spread across 191 sq km there are strict height floorarearatio and reconstruction norms for this heritage zone to protect its low skyline there are around 3000 bungalows in the area which mostly house top ministers judges and government officials the number of privately held bungalows and homes in lbz is around 600 apart from lbz spacious properties in areas adjacent to the zone also command high pricesbeing the heart of delhi lbz commands the highest real estate pricing not only in india but globally said shalin raina managing director residential services cushman and wakefield a global real estate firm sprawling residences manicured gardens close proximity to key destinations in the city and the snob value make lbz one of the most coveted residential areas of indiaraina said that despite some flexibility in price negotiations we do not see a much downward trend in the pricing since these are boutique and soughtafter properties in the country he added the velocity of sales may remain a bit slow for a couple of months but highend boutique properties will remain in demand owing to the large number of high net worth individuals in indiachopra said that most of the sellers are in the 6580 age bracket and have realised the importance of succession planning perhaps triggered by the pandemic he revealed that only those with a certain level of wealth opt for an lbz property and its for the status of the address rather than the space only when you are very rich do you buy a twoseater ferrari he explained for the sellers who have listed it was perhaps