More buyers are heading to South Chennai
An interesting fact about Chennai’s realty market is that more buyers are heading to South Chennai for property purchases. PropIndex, a quarterly research initiative of Magicbricks confirms the same. Eight out of ten preferred destinations are in South Chennai. Why so? Take a look….
Sushil Venglet, proprietor, Century Realtors and member of Chennai Real Estate Agents Association (CREAA) says, “Everything about South Chennai is more organized. Be it traffic, residential units, proximity to commercial complexes, healthcare or entertainment avenues like beaches or clubhouses.”
“Consequently, South Chennai attracted early investors and buyers. The region as a whole is still drawing in many NRIs and expats as well. Families prefer areas that are in close proximity to schools and where the social fabric is conducive. South Chennai is promising on that front.”
Therefore, even developer interests lean towards South. While, North Chennai is progressing gradually with infrastructural enhancements like ring road construction, development of smart city, Ponneri or even Kolathur that features in the list of preferred destinations, the progress is slow. More new projects have come up in South Chennai owing to its address value and long term appreciation prospects.
Why North Chennai lags behind?
North Chennai took off way later than South Chennai. This is the reason why the former lags behind in terms of social infrastructure. Occupancy was low, consequently development was slow paced and it remained more of an industrial area with warehouses and plants. Abu Baker, Colliers International-Chennai says, “Except for areas like Perambur, Kolathur or Ayanavarm, most areas have failed to gather developers’ interest. Properties in this market are slow moving and therefore even if land costs are less, investors are apprehensive about putting it into the local market.”
“While Ponneri and certain other pockets may emerge as residential hubs, it is only in the long term perspective. As of now, issues such as land acquisition need to be sorted. Government should also focus on improving the transport and infrastructure front of North Chennai, which is poor,” adds Baker.
More buyers in Chennai are drifting towards convenience. As Venglet puts it, “Most residents who put up in Old Mahabalipuram Road (OMR) on rent preferred East Coast Road when it came to owning a property. While OMR meant proximity to workspaces, ECR meant better infrastructure.”
“OMR residents face water issues, as there is no groundwater and the corporation is unable to provide. Residents went in to buy water for daily use. Naturally, ECR posed as a better alternative. Buyers don’t mind driving a little more or paying a little extra for convenience. Similar is the reason as to why South Chennai is preferred by buyers than north,” adds Venglet.
In North Chennai, traffic is a problem. While connectivity is exceptional, roads need a facelift. Baker says, “25-30 ft roads form highways which make commuting difficult. More so, heavy vehicles on the roads also make driving by difficult.”
Are North Chennai residents at an advantage when it comes to property prices? The answer is both a yes and a no. While prices are low, infrastructure wise, buyers would need to compromise.
However, most trend watchers also believe that North Chennai is not a forsaken deal. It is however, just a matter of time, some environmental and infrastructural monitoring and North Chennai could be investor friendly as well. May be in the long term when South Chennai is at the brink of saturation, North Chennai would mature as has been the case in many metro cities which have branched out.
Preferred Destinations
PropIndex data informs that Guduvancheri, OMR and Porur feature as the top three localities for capital investment. While affordability might be driving Guduvancheri, OMR and Porur are hotbed for investment by IT employees. The broad range of capital values in these areas are Rs 3000-5000 per sq ft.
Other localities in the top-ten list are Velachery, Medavakkam, Madipakkam, Kolathur, Pallikarnai and Tambaram.
Source: Times of India