Last week's Delhi Development Authority's (DDA) auction clocked the highest one-day bids ever received for real estate in the country. Major estate developers and corporates bought six different sections of the Vasant Kunj Mall (47 acres) for a mind-boggling Rs 1,103 crore. DDA was expecting just Rs 600 crore. The highest bid that DDA has so far received for any plot was Rs 192 crore for the Saket Commercial Complex. The buyers included Maruti Udyog and ONGC Videsh. Will this increase the commercial property prices in Delhi and neigbouring Gurgaon?

Realty experts see the auction as an isolated case and capital values are unlikely to move north. Says Anshuman Magazine, managing director (South Asia), CB Richard Ellis: "The DDA auction attracted money because of supply constraints in Delhi. Overall prices will come down or stabilise.'' Adds Sanjay Verma, executive director, Cushman & Wakefield: "Delhi has not been offered this quantum of land in a long time. Hence buyers keen to be in Delhi shelled out money. '' Over 70% of the demand for commercial real estate has been driven by the IT and IT-enabled service (call centers/BPO) companies. They will continue to drive demand in 2004.