In terms of expectations, despite certain challenges, Bangalore is maintaining an extremely healthy and sustainable growth rate and is only expected to get better in the coming years. Apart from the stable prices that the Garden City has on offer, it also has a variety of quality products that makes it a preferred destination. The positive momentum therefore is expected to be sustained if not accelerated," says industry expert Preenand Premachandran in his year-end assessment on real estate especially regarding the city.

In this background of the buoyant realty market, Preenand feels Bangalore is being viewed as one of fastest developing markets in the country. The launch of some beautiful projects is testimony to the 'real' optimism. This perception of Bangalore being a safe haven for investment is reinforced by the strong bracket of HNI from North India. The pricing trend in Bangalore has been more or less stable.

According to online advisor Arthayanthra's 'Buy Vs Rent Report - 2014' Bangalore remains a charmer for investors compared to any other city in India. "It is now becoming increasingly expensive for an average middle class person to buy a property in the city."

The report says, "It seems renting a property in Bangalore makes more sense than buying it outright. While the city fares better than Mumbai and Delhi in terms of pricing, what is noticed is that property rents are also increasing steeply than expected," says Nitin Vyakaranam, Founder and CEO of ArthaYantra. "A person earning 8 to 12 lakh rupees per annum would find it difficult buying a house, so he is better-off opting for a rented property. "The average price of a 1,000 sq.ft. property in Bangalore has touched Rs. 62.55 lakh from Rs. 54.37 lakh last year, registering an increase of approximately 12 per cent," he said.

According to Farook Mahmood, CMD, Silverline Group and Chairman, International Consortium of Real Estate Association (ICREA-USA), "Residential outlook for mid-2014 seems positive. Prices will spiral northwards as 60 to 70 per cent of the pre-launched inventory of reputed developers has been sold-out. Residential property will continue to be in demand from NRI's because of the rupee devaluation. The overview on India from an international perspective is very bullish and is seen as one of the best markets to be invested in." Mr. Farook says with stability in the job market and home loan rates, the areas of growth will be Bangalore North, South and Whitefield belt.

International Consultants Cushman & Wakefield's Residential Outlook says, "The city continued to remain an end-user driven market with close to 85 per cent of the launches in the mid-end and affordable category. Bangalore recorded the highest number of residential launches in 2013 accounting for 15 per cent of the total launches. Buoyant absorption levels in the office space and ongoing and proposed infrastructure like metro railway, Hebbal-Airport expressway and Peripheral Ring Road continue to provide the impetus. This was followed by Mumbai at 6 per cent and Kolkata at 3 per cent. Chennai, on the other hand, saw the sharpest decline in launches of new residential units which represented a drop of 39 per cent over last year followed by NCR (-33%), Pune (-20%) and Ahmedabad (5%). Considering the ongoing infrastructure initiatives, locations around Kanakpura Road, Tumkur Road, Mysore Road (Metro Railway) Thanisandara Road and Hennur Road (Hebbal-BIAL expressway and Peripheral Ring Road) are expected to witness increasing traction of residential activities.

Says Brotin Banerjee, CEO,Tata Housing, "The market turned from sellers to buyers in 2013 with attractive offers. The Indian economy is recovering and real estate sector is expected to stabilize in the next two to three quarters. We believe that affordable housing segment is likely to see the highest growth, although the demand for luxury housing will continue to grow due to influx of global lifestyle trends, what with FDI in multi brand retailing providing the additional push.

Anand Sundaram, CEO, Pioneer Property Zone says "2014 promises to be an eventful year as the uncertainty in the political scenario would be sorted out, while there would be various reforms and steps taken by the government with Bills and Amendments. One cannot ignore the rapid growth of the urban middle class, and the impact it would bring about on retail and real estate markets."

P.S. Jayakumar - MD & Co Founder, VBHC says, 2013 was another year of missed opportunity to see affordable housing grow in the country. "The Government has not been able to implement its own recommended reforms that would address both supply and demand issues. Delays in approvals added 20-30 per cent to the costs. We hope we will have a more transparent approval regime with the much-needed reforms in the New Year.

Sanjay Raj, CEO, Golden Gate Properties, says Bangalore market has seen a major difference with more number of players focusing on the hospitality segment. Factors such affordability and demand from the migrant work force has kept the residential market upbeat as compared to last year. "We will continue to focus on the residential segment in 2014, even as we would expect the lending practices to improve with RBI norms," he says.

According to Bijay Agarwal, MD, Salarpuria Sattva, "India's real estate market saw a slug only post July 2013 due to the economic situation, but Bangalore has been consistently stable till a month ago, as it is a consumer-driven market unlike Mumbai and Delhi which are investment-driven." Sunder. P, HomeShikari.com adds, "Builders sitting on stockpiles of unsold inventory could be forced to lower prices to sell. Pricing being the key issue, buyers have been showing a preference for newly released stock which come with attractive pre-launch offers. This inordinately prolongs the sales cycle for the 'tail' end of unsold stock and will have significant effect on builder liquidity in the coming year."