'Hyderabad realty on growth path despite Covid 2.0'

THE second wave of Covid-19 that hit the country in March and continued for over three months, crippled every sector in the country as most of the States imposed lockdown to contain the deadly, Chinese-born coronavirus which had since turned more dangerous. But has Covid 2.0 left any adverse impact on the Hyderabad real estate sector? Naredco Telangana chief says 'no'. "Frankly speaking, Covid's second wave has not crippled the real estate business in the city. It's true that site visits dropped due to the lockdown. To that extent, there was some dip in the sales growth. But it was a temporary phase. And it's business as usual now," PS Reddy, president, Telangana Chapter of the National Real Estate Development Council (Naredco), told The Hans India.

According to him, the growth momentum will continue in the residential and commercial real estate sectors. "The Hyderabad market is doing well even in bulk land sales. The overall realty market is upbeat as people are keen on buying new properties here," he remarked.

Asked why the real estate sector is doing well in Hyderabad when other cities are facing challenging times due to the Covid crisis, he cited lower prices as one of the prime reasons. "Prices are low in Hyderabad when we compare it with other cities. Further, it's the best cosmopolitan city. So, people are interested in investing in the Hyderabad realty market," he maintained.

The Naredco Telangana chief further said that uncertainty in Andhra Pradesh was also driving real estate sales in the City of Pearls. "People including NRIs invested in the Amaravati area after it was declared as the capital. All those investments got stuck now. Most of the real estate investors from AP shifted their focus to Hyderabad now. Companies like Aparna completed a project in Amaravati, but there are no sales. What they will do?" he pointed out.

Reddy, who is also Managing Director of Silpa Homes Private Limited, said that the Hyderabad real estate sector witnessed brisk business from September last year to March this year after the Covid's first wave receded. "Property registrations data is a clear indicator of the activity in the sector. The State witnessed record registrations on Dharani portal and outside of it in the last few months," he explained.

According to him, farmland sales also zoomed near Hyderabad. "Due to Covid, people living in apartments are now looking for independent houses. Farmlands are also in demand now as many families want more lung space. Farmland sales more than doubled in the last one year. Further, prices went up by 20-25 per cent. This trend will continue in the future too," he said.

He urged the Telangana government to come out with a concept and policy framework for farmland sales. "I already submitted a memorandum to the Telangana government, urging it to come out with a development concept for farmlands. Delhi has a good concept on this. The government here will get good revenues if it develops a similar model,"Reddy said.

When asked about the proposed auction of lands in Kokapet taken up by the Telangana government, he said that the government should create sufficient infrastructure in the area before going for such auctions. Otherwise, the area will witness huge traffic jams in the future, he warned.

On the issue related to the sale of undivided shares of a land, Reddy said there was nothing illegal in such transactions. "There is nothing wrong in selling an undivided share of a land and again entering into a development agreement with the buyer. Such transactions don't violate any RERA provisions," he claimed.

He however termed illegal the attempts made by some developers to sell properties through pre-launch offers. "This is against the law. RERA came into existence after developers sold properties left and right through pre-launch offers, but could not complete them in Delhi," he remarked.