Chennai Residential Realty Recovery in 6-12 months

The first in South series of Realty+ Masterclass webinars, the Chennai city special E-conclave was held on July 09, 2020 on the topic What’s Trending in Chennai Housing Sector?. The leaders of the city’s real estate came together and discussed the current scenario of the market given the impact of the global pandemic. The overall sentiment was that of positivity and the leading developers estimated the time of recover as 6-12 months, for the residential real estate of Chennai. Explaining whether it is the best time for a customer to buy a property and the potential surge in home prices, Dr R Kumar, Founder, Chairman and Managing Director, Navin’s stated, “This is the best time for the customer to buy a home as the interest rates have never been this low. As everyone is in lockdown it has given people the time to think of their needs and necessities and realise that owning a home is important. As a result customers that were sitting on the fence and now willing to invest. Sooner Or Later the demand supply ratio situation will invert. This will make the prices rise.” Adding on the return of homebuyers to the market, Arun MN, Founder & Managing Director, CASAGRAND voiced, “Right now, there is a pent up demand for housing. Going forward, with less launches the pent up demand will only increase. People have finally understood the importance of having a home. Ultimately is a not only an investment but also provides a sense of security to the homeowner especially in times of crisis. The focus now will be on having a larger house with better amenities and connectivity.” W S Habib, Chairman and Managing Director, RWD, added, “The pandemic has opened up a lot of opportunities and brought in a number of changes. Going forward we will witness a change in home demands with customers looking for larger and better equipped properties. Amenities will be preferred over location and to facilitate this the government needs to improve infrastructure.” T Chitty Babu, Chairman and CEO, Akshaya Pvt Ltd. speaking on whether Covid 19 will further consolidate the market, expressed, “I would say coronavirus would make the developers more efficient and protective. Just like in the past serious developers will revamp and adapt to the new situation incorporating technology. Chennai is a multi-faceted city. In order to prosper businesses and the government together need to need to create job opportunities in the right manner. Employment availability will increase investment.” Jayant Hemdev, Business Director, Hemdev’s Real Estate began emphasized that the real estate market is looking positive and sales are picking up. He said, “Developers are going through a tough period and funding has become a challenge. However, we definitely see light at the end of the tunnel. In a quarter or two things are going to bounce back as there is a genuine interest from end users.” Moderator of the session, Siva Krishnan, Head – Residential Services, Developer Solutions and Strategic Consulting & Managing Director – Chennai, JLL India, summarized, “Customers will come back to the market whether it be pent-up demand or pure need. It is also the best time for customers to invest in property as the interest rates are at an all-time low. In terms of liquidity and finance, banks need to pass on the benefits given to customers so as to facilitate home loans thus promoting sales. At the end of the day Chennai is one of the most multi-talented and multifaceted cities in India, thus the Government as well as the businesses should work together to make it one of the best places to invest and start a business. The pride of doing business should be brought back to Chennai.” The panel discussion was concluded with a Q&A session by K E Ranganathan - Managing Director - Roca India & Ruhail Amin, Senior Editor, BW Businessworld.