News: 1976 Borivali Flat Ad at Rs 25,000 Goes Viral-23-09-2026

A 1976 property advertisement offering a home in Mumbai’s Borivali for Rs 25,000 has drawn attention on X, showing how far prices in the suburb have moved in nearly five decades.

The advertisement, shared recently by a user, described a unit with two rooms, a kitchen, a bathroom and a WC, with a built-up area of around 453 sq ft. Such a layout would usually be called a 1 BHK today, though terminology in 1970s newspaper advertisements was not standardised. Payment was to be accepted by cheque, possession was promised within 10 months, and buyers were invited to visit the site on January 4, 1976, between 10 am and 2 pm.

Today, Borivali apartments average around Rs 32,000-Rs 35,000 per sq ft, according to real estate experts, with premium projects recording deals at Rs 40,000-Rs 54,000 per sq ft. An apartment in the suburb now commands nearly Rs 56,000 per sq ft. Across Mumbai, luxury apartment prices have climbed to nearly Rs 3 lakh per sq ft.

The post prompted users to recall purchases by parents and grandparents in the 1970s and 1980s. Others pointed out that Rs 25,000 had far greater purchasing power in 1976, and the discussion turned to salaries, inflation and how the suburbs have changed.

Manik Shah (name changed) said his father bought a 1 BHK with a carpet area of 480 sq ft on SV Road in Dahisar, near Borivali, in 1973 for around Rs 28,000, roughly Rs 60 per sq ft. The building was under construction and possession came in 1976. It has since been redeveloped and the family is to get a 600 sq ft 2 BHK. Shah told Hindustan Times Real Estate that a sale once it is ready would fetch Rs 28,000 per sq ft, around Rs 1.60 crore.

Borivali’s history goes back centuries. The names Boriva?? and Boriyli-gram appear in the 15th-17th-century Marathi text Mahikavatichi Bakhar, and according to Wikipedia the name comes from bor, the Marathi word for the Indian jujube tree. The modern suburb grew out of villages and farming settlements including Eksar, Poisar, Vazira, Shimpoli, Mandpeshwar, Dattapada, Kanheri, Tulsi, Magathane and Gorai, around Mount Poinsur between the Dahisar and Poisar rivers. The area was once largely rural, with rice cultivation central to local life, and its closeness to the Sanjay Gandhi National Park and the Kanheri Caves shaped its identity.

Its change into a residential suburb gathered pace in the 20th century as the suburban railway expanded and roads improved. Mumbai’s northward growth and civic infrastructure have since turned it into a dense suburb of housing societies, redevelopment projects and premium high-rises.

This report is based on user-generated social media content; HT.com has not independently verified the claims and does not endorse them.