Mysore realty market shows recovery signs

After a continous setback since October last, the realty market in Mysore has begun to take a brighter note from last April.

Between October and April, the worst affected segment was the apartments, where builders had to resort to cut rates to attract customers. A few major builders abandoned their mega projects, while a few put on hold their proposals.

Seeing the booming market in the tier 2 city, which is seeing huge investments in infrastructure development under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Reconstruction Mission (JNNURM) and as the city next in growth to Bangalore, a couple of major builders had planned huge investments in the housing sector.

More than the locals, outsiders and NRIs were into investments in the market. The recession in the US deterred the NRIs in particular from making long-range investments, which affected the Mysore realty market.

“The demand had fallen almost 100 per cent. Now we see 40-50 per cent improvement from April onwards,” observed Builders’ Association of India Mysore branch president S R Swamy, speaking to Business Standard.

“The market, which had gone down in the last 3-4 months, is picking up from April onwards. Enquiries are trickling in and getting converted,” added M B Nagakumar of Premier Properties.

Price offers of flats offered by developers range from Rs 9 lakh to Rs 60 lakh. There are flats of Rs one crore too. However, the upper range flats have taken a nosedive in the market, investors preferring moderately priced medium range flats of Rs 20-25 lakh. Flats between Rs 10 and 15 lakh range are available, but they lack long-range facilities, said Swamy.

“The question before us is how affordable we can make properties which people will buy. Keeping this target, we have cut down expenses. However, the state government should come to our support like abolishing VAT, a double taxation on apartments, which the Centre has abolished,” Nagakumar said commending the state for reducing registration fee from 7.5 to 6 per cent.

The state should also increase the floor area ratio and this will bring down the cost of apartments. More buyers mean more revenue to the government, he said.

The setback was in a way good for the realty market, as it has settled down at realistic level, they said and added, “Now we see a healthy market with genuine buyers.” The boom last year and prior to it had seen a large number of agents operating, particularly in the site segment where the demand by investors and NRIs was more. The scenario now is “real buyers and less middlemen,” says another builder. “The abnormal boom has neutralised now,” added Swamy.

Developers and builders responded better than last year in the recent “Myreality” property show to market their property. It attracted over 20 developers and 20 other participants, banks offering loans at attractive rates. The annual showcasing saw more footfalls from genuine buyers, said Organising Committee Secretary Srihari Pathak.