Medavakkam among 13 growing realty markets

CHENNAI: Medavakkam in south Chennai is expected to outscore all other residential hubs in the state in terms of real estate appreciation in the next five years, according to a report released by realty consultant Knight Frank.

It is among the 13 most happening places across the country that would appreciate more than 90% in the next five years, the report said. Ulwe in Navi Mumbai and Wadala and Chembur in Mumbai figure on the list.

Seven of the top nine spots on this list are in Mumbai and Pune. While rates in Ulwe are expected to rise 145% in five years, in Wadala and Chembur the hike is likely to be 133% and 125%, the report said. The report seeks to identify areas that will develop because of factors such as job creation, infrastructure development and lifestyle change.

"We identified 100 cities using banking penetration, hotel room demand, and air passenger traffic as surrogates for business activities. For infrastructure development, the current and proposed investment in infrastructure was taken as proxies," said Samantak Das, director, Knight Frank.

Taking a number of factors into consideration, the firm identified Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore, Chennai and Pune as the top five cities to identify investment opportunities.

Of the 13, the top three areas are in Mumbai. They are followed by Noida Extension and Dwarka Expressway in the National Capital Region (NCR), Medavakkam in Chennai and Hinjewadi in Pune. The cheapest areas identified by the study are Noida Extension in NCR and K R Puram in Bangalore, where prices range from 3,200 to 3,245 per sq ft. At the other end are Wadala and Chembur, where market prices reign in the region of 12,000 to 15,000 per sq ft.

Confederation of Real Estate Developers' Association of India (CREDAI) Tamil Nadu chapter president Sandeep Mehta said, "Medavakkam is an emerging location, no doubt. But it is tough to say whether it will have the maximum appreciation in the near future. It has some advantages like wide interior roads, good connectivity to the Old Mahabalipuram Road, Velachery, Pallavaram and Tambaram. It is close to many residential hubs, IT parks, schools, entertainment facilities and commercial establishments. These are factors that drive the real estate growth in any city."

CREDAI Tamil Nadu secretary Suresh Krishn had launched a residential apartment project in Medavakkam two years ago at 2,800 per sq ft. "We have completed the project and today it is going at 4,200 per sq ft," he said. The Planning Commission's projection of a housing shortage of 26 million units does not reflect the demand for housing but the need, said Das. Employment generation will translate that need into demand by increasing affordability, he said, adding, "Our research is targeted at the end-user market".

Source: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/chennai/Medavakkam-among-13-growing-realty-markets/articleshow/17316452.cms