The real estate sector in the city, which keenly anticipated a turnaround of fortunes by the year-end, it appears, will have to wait for some more time.
After tasting huge success during the boom time of 2008 to 2010, the construction activity in and around the city nosedived due to various reasons, with the agitation for a separate State apportioned a major share of the blame. In the aftermath of Telangana State’s formation in June, builders hoped for glad tidings to return and were near unanimous in giving a period of six months for the sector to register recovery. “Enquiries for projects have increased, but to what extent they get converted to sales is to be seen. As of now, property seekers are continuing with the wait-and-watch policy,” says P. Dasharath Reddy, president of Telangana Real Estate Developers’ Association (Treda).
Fewer permissions The president of Telangana Builders Federation, Prabhakar Rao, looks at a period of another six months to a year for the real estate activity to pick up positively. “Unsold stocks are still waiting for buyers and the fact is, very few permissions are being sought by builders for new projects,” he says.
The break in property buying is a passing phase that got extended, reason builders. “Forget speculators and investors, there is a huge market for need-based buyers in the city for small ticket flats. These sections have to emerge from the shell of wait-and-watch,” points out Mr. Dasharath Reddy.
P. Prem Kumar of Doyen Constructions says the positive vibes from buyers have already started. “Let us not benchmark with 2008-10 situation. Compared with more recent times, acquisition of commercial spaces has increased sharply and there is no commercial space available in Banjara Hills and very little left in Madhapur,” he says.
Dampening factors There indeed are certain dampening factors, but Hyderabad scaling up from a regional player to national level makes real estate lucrative here, aver most. For the last few years, the actual market was seen between Miyapur and Shamshabad, but now the focus has moved to areas such as Adibhatla, Manchal and others. “The need-based are indeed picking up properties in different locations of the city,” Mr. Prem Kumar reasons.
The real estate market in and around Hyderabad is fluctuating between steady and unsteady, analyses D.S. Prasad, Director, Aparna Constructions. “There is a marginal growth in last few months but it will take some more time, say around March-April in the next years to really show more progress,” he observes.
His argument is that the market is still best suited for buyers and it is right time for property acquisitions. “My assessment is speculators will return by next year and pricing will go up,” Mr.Prasad says.
PBEL Developers Executive Director, Anand Reddy refuse to buy the argument on unsold stocks piling up in the city and suburbs.
“Unsold inventories are not as huge as being made out. Interest in property is renewing and few national players are keen on restarting their projects,” he says. A couple of major launches are lined up for February-March and he expects it to be followed by more local ones. “Positive outlook for real estate, I feel, can be felt from mid-2015,” he adds.
