Hyderabad - 1 BHK

Though 1 BHK has been seeing increasing acceptance in high rise projects in Bangalore and Chennai in the South market, these units (<700 sft) remain an unheard concept in Hyderabad.  But, some projects have started offering them in ground floor adjacent to the cellar ramps where they have limited areas to construct.  Usually, these are badly ventilated but you have to be on the look out for good ones.

Such projects include - Silpa HillTop, RV Panchanjanya, Prajapati Elite.  And, projects which have such units in regular layout include NSK Blisslands, Venkatadri Towers in Pocharam and Vajra Sree Nivasam. Also, Prestige High Fields is an addition to this list.  The project has about 400 1 BHKs in 614 and 655 sqft in one single tower at the end of the project. And, Hill County in Nizampet also has a complete block with 1.5 BHKs at 975sft. This remains a jinxed project started by Maytas (Satyam sister concern) now with IL&FS. Muppa's Aishwarya and Aaradhya in Narsingi also offer 1 BHK/ Studios in the range of 350 to 620 sq.ft.

And, to top it all the 'ever yet-to-be-complete' Mantri Celestia has some sizes that qualify as super compact 2 BHK, which would be of interest to people looking at these options.

Hyderabad Real Estate - Manjeera Water Connection

Many people know that Hyderabad is on top of the Deccan Plateau. So, the plans of depending on bore water for apartments is not a feasible solution due to the rocky terrain and unpredictability of rock formations to hold water. The low rainfall received this monsoon has aggravated the situation and apartments in Kondapur and Gachibowli belt are spending Rs 4000-5000/- against Rs. 1800/- to overcome the situation.  I would like to strongly advise the buyer/ renting community to prefer apartments/ properties with Manjeera/ Municipal water connection to avoid such experiences.

I would liken the apartments with no Manjeera connection to farms which are rain dependent and ones with Manjeera connection with farm connected to the irrigation canals.  We know the fate of the farmers dependent on rains!!!  We cannot depend on bore-wells and the city should ban bore-wells to ensure sanctity of underground water and ensure water supply to all homes. 

Hyderabad RE - West Zone Performance

Zones	Localities	2007	Jul-Sept 2011	Oct-Dec 2011	Jan-Mar 2012	Apr-Jun 2012	Jul-Sep 2012	Oct-Dec 2012	Jan-Mar 2013	Apr-Jun 2012	Jul-Sep 2013	Oct- Dec 2013	Jan-March 2014
West Zone	Serilingampally, Patancheruvu / Ramachandrapuram,  Kukatpally	100	90	80	88	94	96	108	106	104	112	108	107

Affordable Housing

Affordable housing is no small game, this is the space that will need excellent planning and execution skills.  Operating on lower margins would mean any delays can kill the commercial viability of the projects.  This is the space in real estate that will separate the men from the boys.  Think about affordable housing doing the same to real estate companies like the sachet story establishing the road to riches for the consumer / FMCG companies.  Brands/ corporate ethics really matter here.

Some top brands in the affordable housing space include:


Tata Housing              - Tata Value Homes
Mahindra Lifespaces  - Happinest
Puravankara                - Provident Housing
(Launched a 24 acre township at Rajendranagar, Hyderabad near Walmart Best price under the PVNR expressway)
Lodha                         - Casa

Another one is VBHC promoted by Jerry Rao of Mphasis (not sure about the track record)

Drivers -

Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana - A subsidy of 2.5 lacs provided to first time home buyers
RERA - Only the best companies with brand and financial heft can with stand the strict norms
Limiting Loss against housing to 2 lacs - Reduces demand for housing as an investment. So, the developers need to build most (50%) of the units that fit the bill for 1st time buyers or buyers planning self occupation.

Innovative price discovery for real estate projects - Book building method

Puravankara Projects, a leading real estate developer in India, for the pre-launch of the project Purva Palm Beach in Bangalore adopted a book building method to sell the project. The project saw an oversubscription of 3 times with over 1,200 applications received as opposed to the units released for allocation during the initial pre-launch stage. This scheme has attracted buyers from Mumbai, Delhi and Chennai.

The homebuyer needs to submit a request expressing his interest. The expression of interest will be within a price range of Rs. 4290 to Rs. 4650. The people who have expressed their interest will be allotted a reference number. Once the price is discovered, the allotment would be made on a ‘FIFO’ (first-in-first-out) basis. Homebuyers who have been allotted the unit of their choice can buy, and for other the company will refund the booking amount paid.

Puravankara adopted book building method with a base price of Rs 4,392/- offered customers an opportunity to book their dream home through a transparent price discovery mechanism. The same mechanism was followed for the launch of Purva Westend in Bangalore.