Bengaluru, Hyderabad top 2 realty destinations

Tell us about CREA (I)… What does it do?

The Confederation of Real Estate Associates (India), CREA (I), is the largest real estate association in any city in India with over 315 companies as its members in Bangalore, Karnataka.

CREA (I) has pioneered the patented KYD (Know Your Developers) events in Bengaluru, a platform that all top developers like Brigade, Mantri, Puravankara, Vaishnavi, Sobha, Total Environment and Reliaable, among others have used to launch their projects and showcase their products.

CREA (I) conducts regular training programmes for members and both the KYD and trainings are considered world class events now. CREA (I) also represents all realtors to resolve any issues with developers or co-ordinate with govt agencies.

CREA (I) is the single umbrella and go-to organization for all realtors in Karnataka.

How will NAR-India 11th Annual Convention benefit realtors, developers and others related to key real estate sector?

Your network is your networth. The Game Changers which is the 11th NAR-INDIA Convention plans to bring in all the stakeholders of real estate industry, especially the realtors and developers from across India under one roof.

There can be no better opportunity to build relationships via networking. Learning through TedX quality speakers who are the domain experts and being flown in from across the world and India, will offer every realtor a learning experience to take back that will benefit them a lifetime.

Business growth, learning, networking, bonding and education are the key benefits from this well-designed and planned Convention. It is bound to be a game changer.

How do you think this Convention will benefit Bengaluru and real estate sector there?

CREA (I) has joined hands as co-host with HRA under the aegis of NAR-INDIA to host this amazing Convention where 2,000 realtors and developers are likely to participate.

Many of the prime sponsors are Bengaluru-based and more than 200 plus realtors are travelling from Bengaluru to attend the Convention.

Bengaluru and Hyderabad have large number of real estate cross transactions, both in commercial and residential segment. The Convention will benefit all players in both cities tremendously.

Many Bengaluru-based top developers like Prestige, Puravankara, Brigade, Mantri, also have large projects and footprints in Hyderabad.

There are some reports indicating that the property sales have come down in Bengaluru in the last few months. How the real sector is doing in Bengaluru now?

There is no doubt that demonetisation, introduction of GST and implementation of RERA have brought in some amount of correction in real estate in the last couple of years.

These are much-needed efforts to transform real estate into an organised sector. However, Bengaluru had led the path by holding on prices in residential segment.

While growth has been slightly slow, there has been a significant upswing in growth in the city. The city has been registering best growth among all the cities and it still holds the #1 slot in India in both commercial A grade space and residential sales.

Given the organized nature of the city with its IT-oriented population with disposable income and loan eligibilities, the future looks bright for Bengaluru when it comes to real estate.

How the property prices are moving in the Garden City?

Unlike some other cities in India, the property prices did not fall at all in last many years in Bengaluru.

Like Chennai, Bengaluru is also facing drinking water shortage. Will this adversely impact real estate sector on Bengaluru?

The infrastructure in Bengaluru including essential utility like water is being continuously upgraded.

Water of course is a challenging subject the world over and for a city like Bengaluru that has witnessed the highest population growth in last 20 years, it is a bigger challenge.

However, it is unlikely to impact real estate as realty is also governed by multiple factors and most of them are in favour of Bengaluru becoming a bigger financial power centre.

Of course, water challenges will have to be handled and managed along the way.

What kind of government policies are required to push real estate growth in Bengaluru?

Infrastructure growth pace needs to be speeded up. Metro linkage and fast metro to airport needs a fast track construction.

Along with infrastructure, a friendly business environment and stability in policies with impetus to real estate will help sector in Bengaluru and India. Also, there is need for GST standardization.

Hyderabad and Bengaluru are among the fastest growing real estate markets in India. Will the two cities complement each other or compete?

Bangalore and Hyderabad will definitely complement each other with a tinge of healthy competition which is a must in today's business world.

Eventually, there will be meaningful collaborations between the two cities. CREA (I) and HRA (Hyderabad Realtors Association) are already setting a big example for the same through 11th NAR-India Convention.

Many developers from Hyderabad launched projects in Bengaluru. How the Hyderabad developers are doing in Bengaluru?

They are doing excellently. A couple of Hyderabad-based developers also launched their projects on CREA (I) platform and have tasted huge success.

The Hyderabad developers are very bullish on Bengaluru market. They signed multiple land deals and will soon launch many more new products.

In your opinion, which is the best city for real estate investment in India now?

Bengaluru and Hyderabad are top two destinations in the country for real estate investments. Both the cities offer investor-friendly environment.

Investment wise, Bangalore and Hyderabad continue to be Investor Friendly environments and Top 2 options. Pune (Maharashtra) is close third behind Hyderabad.

However, Tier 2 cities like Coimbatore, Vadodra, Raipur and others will grow by leaps and bounds too.

What is your take on real estate in Hyderabad?

In the changing business environment post RERA and with both Telangana as well as Andhra Pradesh poised for growth, there will be interesting times ahead for real estate in Hyderabad.

Hyderabad has grown at a very fast pace and is likely to reach Bangalore's consumption level in commercial space in a few years.

In residential market segment, the city will witness a new high after some correction now. It makes Hyderabad a very intelligent investment decision.

In what way, RERA benefits realtors and real estate consultants?

RERA is new to India but not new to the sector worldwide. USA, Europe, Australia, Dubai etc have all adopted RERA earlier and every country has grown with RERA norms.

RERA benefits buyers immensely and the consumer is the king now. The unscrupulous developers find it impossible to operate in RERA regime and so do the fly-by-night realtors.

The legislation provides an opportunity to a well-meaning, law-abiding, knowledgeable developer and realtor a fabulous environment to grow his or her business.

However, RERA will need some modifications. Efforts should be made to bring one-country-one-licence regime.

There is also a need for lowering fees realtors and agents. RERA is a game changer for the sector.