Just last November, the MMRDA had struck the biggest ever land deal in the country after the Wadhwa group quoted a staggering Rs 5.04 lakh per sq m or 46,000 per sq ft for a 16,500 sq m commercial plot. Riding high on this unprecedented deal, the MMRDA had in its 2008-09 budget declared that it expects to raise Rs 3,910 crore from sale of land alone.

However, on Tuesday all that came its way was Rs 1,322 crore. Two plots, both with a reserve price of Rs 3 lakh per sq m — a 7,131 sq m commercial plot and a 6,402 sq m plot meant for a club house and gymnasia — had absolutely no bidders.

The third, a 5,951 sq m commercial plot, went to its sole bidder Jet Airways at Rs 826 crore. As against last year’s phenomenal bids, this year’s winning bid of Rs 3.44 lakh per sq m was about 10% more than MMRDA’s asking price for the plot. A senior executive of Jet Airways said the company plans to set up its global headquarters at the site, which allows for a permissible built-up area four times the plot area.

Most real estate consultants admitted that Tuesday’s land sales were reflective of the global slowdown and the sluggish financial market. “The main reason is the current sentiments associated with the share market crash. There is also a severe glut on finances as the rest of the world is not doing well economically,’’ said Gulam Zia, national director for research and advisory services at Knight Frank.

He added that price correction is inevitable as the current lease rents are not sustainable. “At present the prices are excessively jacked up,” he said.

Even the last of those builders who are still holding on to their sky-high prices will be forced to come down by 20 per cent over the next couple of months in case the stock market fails to bounce back, said a real estate consultant.

“Nobody will stick their neck out at a time like this, but the fact is that there is already an excess supply of commercial space in the market and this is expected to go up one year down the line. Neither corporate India nor multinational companies are willing to pay the lease rent demanded,’’ said a real estate agent.

“Developers are just exercising caution, anticipating low to moderate demand for office space over the next one or two years. Other than corporate headquarters and financial companies no one can afford the lease rents today,’’ said Amol Shimpi, national director for land sales at Colliers International. He, however, added: “Two plots do not reflect the way the wind is flowing.”

The MMRDA slightly offset its loss in the commercial plots through its two residential plots as Starlight Systems —a collaboration of Piramal group and Suntech realty—quoted three times MMRDA’s asking price.

The firm beat eight other bidders by quoting a record price of Rs 3.52 lakh per sq m making it the biggest residential deal for the MMRDA till date. The prices quoted were even higher than those quoted for the commercial plot.

“There may be less demand for commercial space but the same is not true for residential space. The only residential project in BKC is our project Signature Island. The two plots are adjacent to our project and we didn’t mind paying any price for it. With the total 4 acres of residential plot that we now have, we hope to create a kind of BKC’s equivalent of NCPA at Nariman Point,’’ said Kamal Khetan, managing director of Suntech realty.

Additional metropolitan commissioner Milind Mhaiskar denied that the poor response for the commercial plots would affect MMRDA’s revenue. “This is just due to the fluctuating markets. We will soon re-tender the two plots without reducing our reserve price,’’ he said.