Hyderabad: Open plots in high demand

Hyderabad: Ever since the clamour around real estate started to grow loud two decades ago, most of the focus has been on built spaces. If it was initially driven by those with no home to call their own, their aspirations were joined by investors when the reality of realty dawned upon them that money in […]

Hyderabad: Ever since the clamour around real estate started to grow loud two decades ago, most of the focus has been on built spaces. If it was initially driven by those with no home to call their own, their aspirations were joined by investors when the reality of realty dawned upon them that money in property was not only a safe bet but yielded much higher returns. Thus, the property boom was ushered in.

Till the boom arrived, acquiring a home used to be a dream to be fulfilled before exhausting one’s earning phase. For most families, mainly from the then typical middle class, it was like chasing rainbows.

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That however changed when the younger generation, propelled by the spurt in IT and ITeS sectors, were able to land high earning jobs and revolutionised the entire approach to property. Even now, the real estate fascination remains driven by the early earners and also those who had been abroad for education and once starting to earn, send money back home to parents.

Such was the boom and resultant demand that builders were simultaneously executing multiple projects. As the available open spaces along immediate peripheries of the city were exhausted, the trend of pulling down independent houses to replace with apartments picked up. And when even that was done with, the caravan of builders and buyers shifted to suburbs and metamorphosed them with towering structures.

As the apartment culture caught on, the demand for bigger built-up spaces also grew and the first casualty was single bedroom flats. Even 2BHK have started to lose sheen as the yearning for still bigger spaces has resulted in demand for 3BHKs and triplex and villas!

However, alongside this, there seems to be a silent revival in the demand for plotted development in the last two years. Unlike earlier decades, when owners of vast tracts of open land used to get them plotted and sell as individual units, now the trend has several big developers joining the bandwagon.

Anarock Property Consultants in a report pointed out that plotted developments have gained significant traction as an investment asset class in the post-pandemic world. “Since 2020, several large and listed developers have been offering plots, leading to growth in demand and prices across major micro markets in top cities,” it said.

In its report, Anarock cites its data on top seven cities – Hyderabad, Bengaluru, Chennai, Pune, Kolkata, MMR and NCR, witnessing new plotted developments supply since 2020 and saw decent appreciation over the last 2.5 years. “Covid-19 strengthened demand for land for long-term investment, plotted developments also gain traction in Hyderabad, Bengaluru, Chennai, Pune, MMR and Kolkata,” it says.

Santhosh Kumar, Vice Chairman – Anarock Group, says, “Plots have become a hot ticket for property investors on the post-pandemic marketplace. Undoubtedly, well-chosen land offers higher returns on investment when compared to apartments.”

Unlike earlier, many large developers now offer this property type and have increased the overall supply of this typology. This is no longer the stronghold of smaller, unorganised players seeking to liquidate land they cannot develop, it pointed out.

With the advantage of branding, plotted developments have become respectable, and most buyers prefer to deal with the bigger names. Now, this option is being offered by developers like DLF Ltd., Raheja Group, Godrej Properties, Century Real Estate, Puravankara’s Provident Housing, Shriram Properties, Goel Ganga, TVH and Alpha Corp among others, the report says.

In Hyderabad, according to Anarock, the average plot prices in Medchal, Adibatla and Ghatkesar saw 21 per cent, 24 per cent and 26 per cent growth respectively.