Bangalore's real estate scene is now looking up

The sector was in the doldrums during the economic downturn not long ago

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Sale of apartments has been good in the city
Transactions in sites, houses have picked up

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— Photo: K. Gopinathan

Boom:The garden city is again seeing a spurt in housing activities. BANGALORE: Bangalore's real estate scene, which saw a slump during the economic downturn, is clearly looking up if the sale of apartments and registration of properties is any indication. The sale of apartments has been good in the city areas, particularly of branded properties. Transactions in sites and individual houses have also picked up.
The downside, however, is that the sales are still slacking on the outskirts where hundreds of housing units developed by small individual players remain unsold, industry insiders say.
The sector that had been laid low for two years between 2007 and 2009 has improved so much so that revenue from registration of properties in Bangalore Urban district jumped to Rs. 2,556 crore in 2010-2011, an increase by 41 per cent over the previous year.
The registration of apartments has been more or less consistent since March 2010 with an average 2,150 units being registered every month. On an average 1,400 units were registered during recession, according to statistics provided by the department.
Even registration of non-agricultural land that includes sites and houses on an average have been over 5,000 properties each month as against an average of 3,000 properties during recession.
“Though the number of documents registered during 2010-2011 was less than the previous year by almost 1.75 lakh, revenue collection increased by Rs. 941 crore,” the Inspector-General of Registration and Commissioner of Stamps B. Shivappa, told The Hindu. He attributed this to high value transactions that took place in 2010-2011.
Stable prices
“While the sale of apartments has picked up, the property prices have stabilised despite spiralling input cost,” Confederation of Real Estate Developers Association of India (CREDAI) member S. Suresh Hari said. He said that the sales in the real estate sector were not speculative as it used to be before recession, and that prevailing prices were realistic. He, however, said that the recently implemented six-per cent stamp duty on joint-development agreements has affected the industry leading to higher cost.
Incidentally, Bangalore Urban district contributes 68 per cent of the total revenues from registration of properties. The sector has shown such buoyancy that the Government has now decided to revise the guidance value of properties across Karnataka, including Bangalore. The last time that the guidance value was revised in Bangalore was in 2007. The properties that have clear titles and in areas offering good facilities are on demand right now since investors do not want to invest in unbranded properties or in areas that have not witnessed any development, Builders' Association of India vice-chairman M. Ramesh said. Emerging BDA layouts such as Banashankari 6 th Stage, Visvesvaraya Layout and Anjanapura are recording good transactions, he said.
Meanwhile, properties in Bangalore North seem to be in good demand among the investors. “Gated communities are being sought by the buyers though they are a little away from the city. Despite being expensive, people prefer to be in gated communities as they offer other facilities,” Mansoor Naghnoor of REACH Realtors and Investments said.
Among other areas, he said, while properties in well-developed areas were less in number, transactions happened faster. Sarjapur and Koramangala have continued to be favoured areas among property buyers. He, however, said Bangalore South has remained dull in transactions following poor sales in the post recession period.