Things were looking bright for housing sector, said speakers at Fairpro, a two-day real estate fair organised by the Madurai chapter of Confederation of Real Estate Developers’ Associations of India (CREDAI ), here on Saturday.
There were 24 stalls specialising in gated communities, homes for the elderly and others. Collector K. Veera Raghava Rao and Corporation Commissioner S. Aneesh Sekhar were the special guests.
The Collector said that a booming business was an indicator of a growing economy.
The CREDAI must take steps to address the concerns of the common man. “Owning a house is matter of pride. Most people from humble backgrounds place all their faith in realtors when they build their houses because they lack domain knowledge. So CREDAI must establish a grievance redress mechanism,” he said.
The Corporation Commissioner said the housing sector was making the move from a ‘zonation pattern’ (specific areas for houses and industries) to a ‘mixed use pattern’ with close access to entertainment and amenities. “The housing industry must look to develop communities by taking active part in urban development,” he said. The industry must work closely with the Corporation so that there is no communication lag, he said and added that the Corporation was planning to widen pavements in the city.
R. Ilankovan, vice-president of CREDAI-Tamil Nadu, said Madurai’s had immense potential for growth as it was an ‘end-user market.’ People looked for independent houses here instead of apartments, as is the trend in big cities.
T. Pandiarajan, president of CREDAI-Madurai, said that peripheral expansion would soon take place in a big way in the city.