Buying a home in Mumbai is a dream for many. The present housing boom in Mumbai, with almost 10,000 property registrations every month for the past few months, is a reflection of this desire being fulfilled. But, the home buying process in Mumbai is witnessing a sea change with multiple factors at play. The home buyer no longer believes that location is the most important criteria when it comes to buying a home. Today, the ‘convenience’ factor is what a home buyer looks at when making the important decision of buying a home. The ‘convenience’ basically is all about accessibility to services. With both spouses working in most households, a prospective customer will look for large retail outlets or Malls that are located nearby the housing complex along with other social infrastructure. This makes it easy for residents to make purchases of regular household goods, indulge in shopping, enjoy leisure and entertainment activities as well as save time in commuting to office. They look at having all conveniences close at hand that saves on travel time and provides for a more pleasant living experience. Mr. Prashant Khandelwal, CEO of Agami said that home buyers of today are more knowledgeable and do extensive research before buying a home. For instance, Kalanagar in Bandra looks most promising as it is home to luxury residential properties and also in close proximity to commercial districts of BKC and Santacruz. According to Track2Realty’s Consumer Confidence Survey, Indians are increasingly looking for convenience and lifestyle choices with a compact house. This is contrary to the industry narrative of bigger houses and preferences shifting to periphery locations. A major reason behind this changing perception of home buyers is the improved connectivity within Mumbai and adjoining areas in the MMR region. With a large number of infrastructure projects including new bridges, roads and metro lines that have been completed and some major projects ongoing, the connectivity is set to improve even further and help reduce commute time. With major infra projects like the Coastal Road Project, Goregaon-Mulund Link Road, etc being undertaken that will connect South Mumbai to the western suburbs, the western suburbs of Mumbai like Goregaon, Kandivali, Borivali and even Mira Road are seeing huge demand for housing. Suburban Mumbai also offers residents with all the conveniences like close proximity to Metro stations, malls, schools and hospitals, etc required for a comfortable living in close vicinity to their residence. Apart from that, these areas also have a potential for capital appreciation, making it a win-win situation for buyers and investors. Mr. Himanshu Jain, VP - Sales, Marketing and CRM, Satellite Developers Private Limited (SDPL) summarized these aspects saying that home buyers are especially looking at the western suburbs to buy a home as this region offers a mix of affordable and luxurious properties. It is also close to a number of offices and commercial spaces in addition to being in the heart of large malls, retail outlets and Entertainment zones. Given the enhanced connectivity, home buyers do not mind buying a more luxurious property, considering they get all these conveniences that come along with the home. As per a recent Knight Frank India analysis, of the total properties registered, Mumbai’s central and western suburbs together constituted over 75% as these locations are a hotbed for new launches offering a wide range of modern amenities and good connectivity. 86% of western suburb buyers and 85% of central suburb purchasers opted to buy within the micro market they were already residing in. This attests to the increasing value of convenience in considerations for buying a home. In conclusion, rapid urbanization along with world class infrastructure has propelled the growth of the housing sector. The concept of selling a project solely based on its location can no longer be capitalized on. Home buyers have moved ahead and are now looking at buying into a project that sells convenience to its prospective customers. Apart from convenience, the project should be close to infrastructure projects to make it an attractive proposition to home buyers.