As the year 2012 enters the final lap and heads to usher in the New Year in next few weeks, the real estate scene in the city appears stable with a promising outlook.
After a dismal track that stretched for quite some time, the construction activity has picked up in the last few months and a sharp rise in the sales has smiles replacing frowns on the faces of builders and developers in the city.
The first two quarters saw the sales starting to pick up and the developers speeding up their projects and preparing them for a handover. Lots of unsold stock that got accumulated after the real estate went in for a downward curve couple of years ago is also said to be generating interest among the prospective buyers.
Industry insiders describe the city real estate scene as being an improvised version of the pre-boom period. It’s neither as extremely euphoric as it was during the boom time nor as staid during the period that followed it. “The market is stable with an all around price appreciation in the city. Lucky are those who bought property in the first half of the year as the prices have started to climb in the second half,” says C. Sekhar Reddy, president, State Chapter of Confederation of Real Estate Developers’ Association of India (CREDAI).
The price appreciation is put to the tune of 30 per cent in the western and eastern parts of the city while the southern parts ranged from 20 per cent to 25 per cent. The northern sector of the city is described by the industry experts as logging in a relatively lesser rise during the period.
The work on the Metro Rail project taking off during the year has brought into focus the eastern part and high hopes are pinned on it for the next year. Points out Anand Reddy, Executive Director, PBEL Property Development (India), “L.B.Nagar and Uppal X-roads are the places to watch out and they look poised to grow the way Madhapur X-road grew”. Already areas such as Habsiguda and Nagole here have been witnessing more activity and land prices have escalated by Rs.5,000 to Rs.7,000 per square yard in some instances, points out Mr. Sekhar Reddy.
The incremental rise in property prices during the year is expected by most to continue next year. The positive vibes from prospective buyers has the builders seeking to quickly finish their pending projects and take up more.
The last three months has seen the launch of quite a few new projects in different parts of the city. These included Mahindra Lifespaces which announced its debut with launch of ‘Ashvita’ and Salarpuria Sattva launching their mixed-use development ‘Necklace Pride’. Mr. Anand Reddy says there is more clarity among the builders community on factors such as to which area suits what project. High rises outside the Gachibowli have turned more affordable, Madhapur continues to be prime location and villa projects are getting located in belts such as Kollur-Narsingi.
“Locations heading for saturation due to paucity of available spaces for development such as Miyapur and Kukatpally are leading to a spill over effect on new areas,” he says. Similarly, spill-over from high construction activity at Tellapur is being observed in Kollur and together, they look heading to form a development belt.
