Hyderabad Real Estate Boom Dooms! Flat / Plot buyers be careful!!

Is it the right time to buy land in Hyderabad, or is it wise for
buyers to wait for some more time to gauge the actual real estate
scenario, especially as the Telangana movement is now in full swing,
ahead of the elections next year? In what one may call a cooling-off
period, there has been a slight drop in real estate in the last couple
of months. Realtors, especially those selling land and houses on and
near the outskirts of the city, had to drastically bring down the
prices. For instance, Hari Haran, a call centre employee, who had been
hunting (to buy) a house at Turkamjyal near Hayathnagar, was surprised
to find a house being sold for Rs 10 lakhs. Six months ago, the same
one was priced at Rs 16 lakhs. "There is a fear that with the division
of the state, much of the Andhrite population would stop investing in
Hyderabad and would go back to their native place. And this would mean
a reduction in the population which would result in a reduction in
land prices. Hyderabad's loss is Vizag's gain as there are many IT
companies coming up there too. Land which was at Rs 5,000 per sq yard
has gone up to between Rs 8,000- 10,000 per sq. yard in just a couple
of months in Vizag," says DBR Murthy, a real estate agent. Parts of
Hyderabad where land prices may be adversely affected include areas
like Hayathnagar, Dilsukhnagar, ECIL etc. where it is believed there
is a high proportion of Andhrite population.

In Hayathnagar, where land was around Rs 6,000 per sq yard has now
come down to Rs 3,000 to 4,000 per sq yard, and wary buyers are
careful in investing in land here. This also applies for areas beyond
Ramoji Film City, Timmapur near Shamshabad and Shameerpet, where the
prices have not gone up but remained steady. Suggesting an alternative
to investing in land, Mayank B, a software employee, says, "Investing
in land right now ,with fluctuating prices will be a high risk.
Instead, it is better to invest in gold."

However, some industry watchers like Vishwanadha Manohar feel that
this could only be a temporary phenomenon. "In the long run, the
prices would remain steady. Telangana is one of the factors. But the
primary reason is that prices have gone beyond the margins of reason
and a slowdown is necessary."

Others like Nikhil Trivedi, a realtor from Shameerpet, are more
optimistic, " The real estate growth has become oblivious to such
issues. IT employees, who constitute a majority of our clientele is
hardly disturbed by it." While the debate continues, investors eagerly
await a clearer picture.

Courtesy: hyderabadtimes - 2nd feb, 2008