Chennaiites see luxury everywhere

At a time when the residential and commercial real estate markets are facing tough challenges across the country, luxury real estate has shown resilience to slowdown by clocking 10-15 per cent growth year-on-year.

According to an ASSOCHAM-Yesbank study, India’s luxury market is valued at US $ 8 billion and is pegged to grow at 25 per cent from 2013-2015 to cross US $ 15 billion. Boom in economy since 2005 and spurt in the number of high net worth individuals (HNWIs) are the main reasons for the growth of luxury realty across the country as developers are cashing on the extended affordable limits being enjoyed by home seekers by offering them world class amenities.

People in Chennai, who were once traditionally conservative as for as buying homes, are now a evolved lot ‘aspiring to live in luxury’, thanks to the phenomenal growth in income and taste levels.  

The amenities that buyers in Chennai look for in their residential units, whether independent houses or villas or apartments, are private swimming pools, fully equipped gym with sauna and Jacuzzi, imported bath fittings, individual lift, air conditioned lobbies, private open space for parties/barbecue, premium flooring, electronically controlled security systems and ample car parks, club houses and landscaped gardens, among others. The list may go endless as people’s aspiration for luxury living keep growing every moment and developers are coming up with new innovations to satisfy customers’ needs.

“There are several factors involved in the luxury housing segment in Chennai continuing to do well despite the challenging times. The first is that this city has been seriously under-serviced in terms of luxury housing, so demand is healthy. Secondly, this segment is driven by the relatively higher salaries of the IT/ITeS sector and the accompanying aspirations. Thirdly, the supply is opening up because many developers have decided that since input costs have risen anyway, they can add a more amenities and launch luxury projects instead of mid-income projects,” says Badal Yagnik, Managing Director, Chennai, Jones Lang LaSalle India, a leading real estate research firm. 

Through not all locations in Chennai are preferred by luxury home seekers, the areas that buyers seek within city limits are Boat Club, Poes Garden, Adyar, Besant Nagar, RA Puram, Nungambakkam, Kotturpuram, etc. Apart from these, there are a few localities like Neelangarai, Akkarai and Uthandi on the ECR (East Coast Road), Thuraipakkam and Padur along Rajiv Gandhi Road on OMR and few locations on west Chennai such as Porur, Mowliwakkam, Kattupakkam, where some of the leading builders have launched mega residential projects promising world-class luxury living for the residents. 

Contemporarily designed and loaded with features like video door phone, exclusive car parks, power back up and luxuries like imported vitrified tiles across apartments and Kohler fittings are some of the offerings by a few leading developers in city for their clients with apartments price going up from Rs 1-20 crore.

According to a JLL report, the total value of luxury homes, launched in 182 luxury residential apartments, offering a total of 25,570 units across the top seven cities of NCR-Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Chennai, Hyderabad, Pune and Kolkata in 2008-2012 was around USD 30 billion.

Lodha, Sunteck, Kohinoor Developers, Sobha, DLF, Hiranandani, Prestige, Amarprakash, Akshaya, Isha homes, Adarsh are some of the players who largely cater to the luxury residential segment in Chennai.