It is believed that way back in the year 1926, it was first proposed that "Location, Location and Location" is the most important attribute to a property. It still holds true in many ways. Who can deny the tony neighbourhoods with tree lined boulevards or the charm of older parts of the city and its proximity to entertainment zones like clubs and popular food joints.

But today, it has lost a lot of relevance owing to factors like technology, population density and changing priorities.

Let us take an example of an office space in the CBD. If you reach to these places after 9am, you will not get a parking space, unless you are willing to pay a ransom. If your customers need to visit you, they might shy away from a CBD address simply because of the chaos it offers. Imagine a customer reluctant to come to your office. It’s not a very good thing for business right?. Multiply this effect on several thousand small office owners, and it can be empirically proved that it results in much business loss. Who is gaining from this? The guy who has an office in the newly developed zones, and welcomes visitors to its expansive layout as compared to the space crunched CBD areas, wins. Mumbai's Nariman point or Kolkata’s Dalhousie or Delhi’s Connaught Place have lost their halos. BKC, Gurgaon, Noida, Salt Lake Sector V, New Town, Whitefield are the preferred destinations for MNCs setting up shops in India. The ‘Location’ has changed.

Often the older residential spaces are very congested and polluted areas to live in. You have filth and squalor in the backyard. The air has the maximum amount of suspended air particles, doing irreversible damage to your health. The children do not have the freedom to enjoy the greens…perhaps that’s why vacations are much coveted.

The development of newer residential zones have been nothing short of a miracle. Wide and sprawling roads, hundreds of acres of green zones, public wifi, entertainment hotspots, all add to making it the place of choice to stay as a family in neighbourhoods that embrace you. You will find an eclectic mix of high ranking retired officers and young dynamic corporate honchos in residential complexes and look forward to meaningful and enjoyable interactions with them. Senior citizens find a renewed interest in life with the plethora of engagements they immerse themselves in. Children skate and cycle around fearlessly within the confines of a gated community.

The development of organized residential complexes has changed and redefined the value a location holds. If you have convenient access to the property, don't think twice. Get a much bigger apartment for the price, buy a big fat SUV, and even save money doing all this. We need to spread out and eject from this culture of location obsession.

Samir Prasad (The author is also the founder of real estate marketing and consulting firm Primo Estates. You can write to him at samir@primoestates.com )