Hyderabad realty poised for higher growth now

Amaravati offers huge potential for growth, but AP govt should generate more high-paying jobs, says NRA president-elect Sumanth Reddy

TRS has won Assembly elections with a thumping majority of 88 seats. Will this victory have any positive impact on real estate sector in Hyderabad?
The TRS Government did a fabulous job in reviving Brand Hyderabad by taking proactive measures to regain the confidence of all the stakeholders in this sector. Real estate in Hyderabad has been doing exceptionally well over the past three years and with the TRS Government back in power now, its progressive policies will bring stability and will continue to attract investors and fuel the growth of the sector.

What new initiatives and schemes real sector is expecting from the new TRS government?
We would want the government to set up institutes to train realtors, real estate agents /brokers and professionals. This will go a long way in empowering them and equipping them with global best practices. That way, they will offer better services and solutions to all the stakeholders. Also, we would like to see the revenue records integrated with the registration department to increase transparency in property transactions.

Will single window clearance mechanism, if implemented, help the sector?
It will give a tremendous boost as it eases out lot of stress from the real estate sector. Further, it will save lot of time, efforts and the overheads associated with them.

Land prices have gone through the roof in Hyderabad in last one year or so. Will the prices cool down post the elections? or Will the prices go up further?
Prices in certain pockets of the suburban Hyderabad have already been inflated, but the market by and large still has a room for growth. But when we compare our market with any other Tier 1 and Tier 2 cities, Hyderabad is still a lot cheaper. We see a lot of influx of investors and developers as they are bullish on Hyderabad market. We expect the markets to grow in the coming year and settle down slowly. We don’t see correction happening anytime soon.

RERA is already in place in Telangana. But response from developers and real estate consultants is not encouraging. Why there is poor response for RERA in Telangana? Who should take the blame?
RERA has been introduced in Telangana only a few months ago. Lot of developers and real estate agents are still not aware of the repercussions if they don’t follow the rules. We at Hyderabad Realtors Association (HRA) with help of National Association of Realtors India have organized a lot of programmes for realtors, real estate agents, brokers to create awareness about the RERA Act. If you see the agent registrations, more than 500 applications are already with the RERA Board. We are setting up camps for our members to get them registered under RERA. It is time for all the stakeholder associations to take the responsibility in educating all the stakeholders about the act and ensure everyone is registered with RERA.

How the residential and commercial realty will perform in terms of price appreciation and sales in Hyderabad over next five years?
Commercial real estate in Hyderabad is doing exceptionally well over the past three years, which indicates more jobs and opportunities are being created. More opportunities mean more demand for residential sector. Fundamentally, Hyderabad is a strong market as more than 80 per cent of the supply is absorbed by the end user. With the rise in land prices, RERA and other regulatory measures, the cost of construction have gone up. With strong demand for space, we are confident of growth in terms appreciation and activity.

Real estate sector in Amaravati, the capital of Andhra Pradesh, has hit a slow lane. How long do you think the sluggishness in Amaravati will continue? What measures Andhra Pradesh government should take to revive the sector there?
Government of Andhra Pradesh has great plans to develop Amaravati which is a market with a lot of potential, but things don’t happen overnight. It takes patience and perseverance to build such massive infrastructure. I personally feel AP Government should focus on creating more lucrative job opportunities to attract talent from all over the world. Once people start shifting their bases to Amaravati, the market will automatically improve.

You have been chosen as president-elect of National Association of Realtors (NAR). What will be your top priorities as NAR chief?
My priorities are to take the objectives of National Association Realtors of India (NAR) forward by empowering the realtors, real estate brokers and agents with knowledge on global best real estate practices, create a platform to do multi-market transactions and also to create value for every stakeholder through our organisation.

Will NAR take up any activities in Hyderabad? If yes, explain them in detail.
National Association of Realtors India have been actively doing a lot of programme in Hyderabad through our local chapter HRA. We have done multiple training programmes in the past decade. We organised NAR India Convention at HICC in the year 2011 with 1,200 delegates from across the globe. Our Convention was arguably the largest ever real estate conference in Hyderabad. Hyderabad is the host city for NAR India Convention for the year 2019.

Is there any plan to start NAR chapter in Amaravati and other major cities in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana?
Yes, soon we will have more chapters coming from both Telangana and Andhra Pradesh. We will at least have two more from Telangana and two from Andhra Pradesh in a year or so.