Evaluating the Real Estate potential of South India: An overspill of opportunities for the realty sector in the region

The ever expanding horizon of the Indian realty sector is witnessing yet another rising of a profitable region. While the Delhi NCR region has been the talk of the town, owing to the large township projects by DLF, Supertech, Vatika, and others, what is worth noticing is the immense potential that South India holds because of the ample availability of land parcels. The peripheries of the main cities have already attracted quite a few developers and the region is projected to gain a lot of traction in the near future.

As per research reports, apartment prices have risen annually by nearly 37 percent and 22 percent in 2012 and 2013, respectively, as compared to previous years.Prices did notice a standstill in 2014, but towards the end it gained a 4% hike. Now the projects are moving up the value chain, from affordable housing to mid-segment housing and premium housing. In a scenario such as this, exploring newer segments seems a lucrative option. All said and done, there is no doubt that robust accessibility and good connectivity will make the region the new ‘Mumbai’ and ‘Delhi’ of the Indian realty sector.

Regions around Devanahalli and Hoskote in Bangalore,and Old Mahabalipuram Road (OMR) and Grand Southern Trunk Road (GST) in Chennai show the positive graph. But amid all the prospects, the bottleneck is the lack of required social infrastructure for such projects. Once the infrastructural bit starts getting fixed, the nearby areas would also join the bandwagon soon. What might become a catalyst in this case are the REITs (Real Estate Investment Trusts) which will act as investment vehicle between investors and developers. In phases such as today, when the sector is reeling under acute funding pressure, REITs will give the sector a much needed fillip.

Bangalore has been in much limelight owing to the abundant supply of resale properties, followed by Pune and Chennai. This bountiful availability has lured even the investors to invest in such properties, besides the end-users. Bangalore mounts up to 60% of the overall availability of resale properties in India. Be it direct or latent, Southis a powerhouse for the real estate sector in India and there is still so much to explore. From natural resources to man-made, Southhas an answer to every doubt.

As IT companies have entered the economic arena of South India, it will soon surpass Silicon Valley by 2020, as predicted by industry experts. South has outscored North in terms of growth centres. In this regard, Knight Frank noted the potential of 150,000 IT professionals working in the four phases of Technopark. Its impact on the economy of the city and its suburbs will be substantial and take it to the heights of urbanization.