Chennai-a fundamentally strong real estate market

Positioned as the emerging destination for real estate boom in Tier 2 segment, Chennai—the capital city of the southern state of Tamil Nadu—is set on a high trajectory of growth.

Equipped with an international airport and port, Chennai as one of the four metropolitan cities of India namely Mumbai, Delhi and Bangalore, enjoys the advantage of global connectivity. Its proximity to Asian Tiger of Singapore, Sri Lanka and other South East Asian countries acts as an impetus to the industry and businesses here.

It already has an established base of traditional manufacturing industries like equipment, electrical etc. and is even referred as automobile capital of India owing to its huge production capacity of automobile parts and accessories.

Furthermore, the services industry is also advancing speedily over here. As a matter of fact, it was Chennai where the major IT companies of India had started their initial operations. Later on, Bangalore garnered all the attention and became the software hub of the country.

Of late, the city has been observed to be in the process of regaining its status of being a preferred destination for IT and services industry. It offers a vast pool of skilled, and English speaking manpower, that is a primary requirement of Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) companies. About 90 per cent of the commercial space is said to be occupied by the IT and BPO sector alone.

Residential Real Estate

After facing the recessionary cycle for about 18 months, subsequent to the sudden spurt in prices earlier, the residential property market of Chennai has been seen on the path of recovery.

Demand of both apartments and individual houses is on rise with influx of more and more professionals in the city. NRIs have also triggered the markets of luxury housing in Chennai. Meanwhile, properties in the areas of Besant Nagar, RA Puram, Mylapore, Eqmore, Adyar and Annamalaipuram are the hottest one in the city. Capital prices at these locations hover in the range of Rs 1,200 and Rs 2,400 psft, with RA Puram being the most expensive.

Commercial Picture

While the prices of commercial property in Chennai soar to unprecedented levels in established business hubs of Bangalore and Hyderabad, Chennai makes suitable propositions with moderate prices and availability of space.

Capital prices of office spaces at preferred business areas of Cathedral Road, Anna Salai, Mount road, Nungambakkam, Lloyds Road, Giundy and Radhakrishnan Salai are treading between Rs 1,800 and Rs 4,500 psft. Tidel Park, which houses offices of most IT companies in Chennai, is fully-occupied and therefore firms are scouting for land and office spaces at other suitable locations.

Rental Trends

An upsurge of about 10-15 per cent is observed in the rentals of both commercial and residential properties in Chennai, in the past 12 months.

As for space at office complexes and retail shops at major areas, the rentals hover from Rs 20-50 psft, which are still believed to be half than that of other metropolitans. Residential locations near tourist spots of Boat Club, Poes Garden, Kotturpuram and Wallace Garden are the hottest one.

Future Perspective

From investment point of view, Chennai markets have potential to generate sizeable returns in the medium to long term horizon of 3-10 years. Real estate here is working on sound fundamentals with least of speculative trends, which is a good sign.