Kashmir also called the paradise on earth is a beautiful and breathtaking intermountain valley between lying between the main Himalayan ranges in the northeast and the Pir Panjal range in the southwest, almost lying absolutely in the northwestern belt of northern India. Its hill stations and famous lakes like the dal and wullar attract a number of tourist from other parts of the country as well as from the rest of the world. Historically a lake basin, the valley ranged in size of 140 km in length, 32 km in width, and a height of 1,620 m which makes it one of the coldest and snow drainaged in India. The state is also one and the only state in India having two capitals – summer capital called Srinagar and winter capital called Jammu. These capitals are also the most populous as compared to other areas of the state. The fertile alluvial soil is capable of yielding paddy, maize, a variety of fruits like the famous apple, and a number of vegetables. The rivers and other water bodies also make it a potential fish market the most famous variety being trout which is bred and raised locally in many govt fish sanctuaries. Kashmir is also a famous forest production centre yielding wood and other forest produce. The valley also attracted foreign rulers called Mughals who eventually were mesmerized by the beauty of this place and settled down permanently in this part of the country, the most notable being Jahangir, an early seventeenth-century Mughal emperor of India who constructed a number of gardens that were later named as Mughal gardens, the most famous among these being Nishat and Shalimar. Mughals also constructed a number of building and mosques in Kashmir like the famous Jama Masjid. Pari mahal constructed by Dara Shikon on the zabarwan hills surrounding the famous Dal lake is among the most famous tourist attraction in the valley.
The beauty and isolation of the valley still attract a number of present day investors to this part of the country. However, the property market in Kashmir is one of the most unpredictable in whole of India. Land rates have almost sky rocketed in the past 5 to 10 years. If you have been lucky enough to buy a piece of land in some civil lines 10 years ago for 5 lakh Indian rupees you can easily resale it today for an enormous profit of ten times the buying cost. And if you have been the one to buy a piece of land in some hill station like Pahalgam or Gulmarg for a huge price you could be the repenting one on whose land J&K Govt. might impose a ban for any construction notifying it as a piece of land belonging to the green forest belt.
A lot of research needs to be done if you are really planning to raise property in kashmir. The best way can be talking to the locals and avoiding all the forest and land officers who would rather mislead and confuse you. One person specialized for the task is called ‘dral’ or the broker. He charges his percentage and gives you all information related to property for sale in your areas of interest. This dral is not a Govt. servant; he is just a local who might even be working for some other Govt deptt. There is also a limitation to people who are not the permanent residents of Kashmir for acquiring land in this part of the country. However, if you are not a resident and still want to invest in some property in Kashmir the rules necessiate you to partner with a local or in the other case buy the land in the name of some local whatever suits you best.
The most weird thing about buying or selling property in Kashmir is that the prices almost all the times surprise you and till the moment you are done with the effect of the surprise the property is either sold or the price has doubled so what message it sends to the serious buyer or seller is to make the deal there and then. The best areas to buy property in Kashmir are areas lying close to civil lines that appear like fruitless and stupid investments. To support this statement I can put forth many examples like rawalpora, sanat nagar etc. Land was even sold for less than 5 lakh a kanal in these areas some 10 years ago, now you cannot even imagine half of this much area for less than 20lakhs. Investing in these areas is safe and at the same time sensible. Safe in the sense that these areas are residential as well as commercial, as the blur between the two seems to be vapourising in todays’ political and local hooliganism, and there is almost zero percent possibility that govt might impose a ban on constructions in these areas and sensible in the sense that if you intend to resale it there is sure and solid profit. If you are a buyer who can spend any sum of money and you are looking for a very good deal for commercial purpose then your best area of investment is karan nagar which is growing parallel to the much hyped lalchowk and in some years might even overtake it in the shopper segment. Food courts, beautiful malls, beauty parlours and hat tricks opening in this area attract a lot a youth who are the most potential shopaholics. If you are interested to invest for residential purposes then your areas should be areas adjacent to nishat like ishbar or sanat nagar. The unpredictability of the property market in this part of the country makes research almost useless. The best strategy is to make an investment and leave the rest on fate.
Kashmir Property
