The real estate market in Chennai and its suburbs is witnessing a revival of sorts, with a spate of new launches and a rise in sales of housing units.
According to a study by PropEquity, a real estate data, research and analytics firm, Chennai reported a 24% increase in new launches in the April-June quarter when compared with the January-March quarter.
As many as 2,852 housing units have been launched in the city in the past three months.
The areas covered in the study include the city and suburbs such as Ponneri, Tiruvallur and Kancheepuram.
The study points to a rise in sale of housing units, with total absorption of housing units in the last quarter up 24% when compared with January-March. It reports a 17% increase in the number of housing units sold in the period, when compared with the corresponding period last year.
“This trend is expected to continue in the following quarters with new launches to pick up further in 2018. The increase in carpet area in the affordable category is expected to also give a boost to this residential market segment which has already seen good traction,” said Samir Jasuja, founder and CEO, PropEquity.
Simpler processes
Urban planning expert N. Mathavan said the increase in new launches was because of quicker planning permission being granted by the Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority. “CMDA has started issuing plan sanctions within a month. The process is much easier now. It is really encouraging. Earlier, there was a delay of more than six months. The new initiative taken by CMDA has started attracting more developers to launch projects. The market will improve in one year,” said Mr. Mathavan.
A senior official of Chennai Corporation said the civic body will also take measures to quicken the process of plan sanction for structures for which powers have been delegated to it by CMDA.
According to researchers who participated in the study, the real estate market has come to terms with GST and RERA in the past few months, leading to an increase in sales of ‘ready to move in’ and ‘nearing completion’ projects. A senior official of TNRERA said the market sentiment in Chennai is expected to improve because of new regulations in the real estate market.