Chennai: The pandemic has taken a toll on the IT sector and the real estate on OMR has been hit hard by the coronavirus. This has resulted in reduced activities in the IT parks.
KEY HIGHLIGHTS
- The prospects of the residential realty sector have been dented
- One in every three apartments on OMR has remained vacant
- IT sector and the real estate on OMR has been hit hard by the coronavirus
Chennai: The coronavirus outbreak has left the real estate workers worried as most of the employees have been asked to work from home to contain the spread of Covid-19 infections. This has, in turn, flattened the vertical growth curve of the real estate market along Old Mahabalipuram Road (OMR).
The prospects of the residential realty sector have been dented as employees are working from home.
Damage to the IT sector
The pandemic has taken a toll on the IT sector and the real estate on OMR has been hit hard by the coronavirus. This has resulted in reduced activities in the IT parks ranging from the closure of star hotels to fall in the apartment occupancy. Also, many developers have put their housing projects on halt at OMR.
Work from home effect
Since the employees are working from home, according to the estimates by some stakeholders and property managers, in the past 3-4 months, one in every three apartments on OMR has remained vacant as employees have moved to their native place, courtesy work from home. Also, all these have led to a fall in demand which has, in turn, caused the rents to fall down by 50%.
According to TOI, K Chandrasekar of Rajam Property Management Services Private Limited said “We maintain 100 rental properties on OMR, of which 15 have been vacated and another 35 have been locked up after the tenants shifted to their native places. In contrast, we maintain 400 properties on rentals in west, central and southern parts of the city, where only 2% of tenants have vacated and the rent was revised only by less than 10%,” he said. Most of these properties were investments made by NRIs. “If the situation continues, OMR will lose its sheen in as an investment destination for residential vertical.”
Future of Apartments
Almost future of 5000 apartments which are under construction between Perungudi and Tiruporur is uncertain due to the pandemic. The developers agreed to launch projects due to the demand despite the stretch being notorious for poor civic infrastructure.
Another developer has decided to wait and watch the situation. One of the developers told TOI that land prices are high and even if a project is launched now, it won’t attract many takers as OMR already has enough stocks to be sold in the price bracket.
However, the developers are bullish as they believe the coronavirus crisis is a temporary phenomenon. Mehul Doshi, director of Doshi Housing said TOI “Work from home will shoot up the demand for housing and the and the corridor has witnessed the development of good social infrastructure making it an attractive destination for homebuyers.” He also mentioned parts of OMR will get piped water supply and IT corridor will continue to thrive in the real estate market.
Source: Timesnownews