Hudhud hits sale of flats in Vizag

Visakhapatnam: Hudhud has taken toll on real estate in Vizag. There are no transactions since last month and apartment builders are of the opinion that it will take at least 6 months for the sector to revive. There are around 5,000 flats that are waiting since sometime for disposal and Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s announcement that Vizag would be made a Smart City had kindled the hopes of realtors and apartment builders, which was in no time crashed by cyclone Hudhud.

“After Hudhud, forget about transactions there are no inquiries either from prospective investors. Now that because of the hype created on possible investments and smart city, the land rates have gone up steeply, which is making us builders difficult to buy land and construct an apartment. It's not viable to construct at such a high cost as none is showing interest in buying a flat at high price,” Confederation of Real Estate Developers’ Associations of India (CREDAI), Vizag wing secretary, Peela Koteswara Rao told this newspaper.

Apart from steep increase in land cost, non-availability of sand has also become a burden on these builders, who have been waiting for an opportune time since 2009, when separate state agitation gained momentum.

Apartment builders were hopeful that though Vizag has lost the capital race to Vijayawada, the proposed investments, and a special 'charm' the city carries and being the only place having cosmopolitan culture in the state would help them tide over crisis. But, the over hype had actually increased the land rates thereby burdening the construction costs. Mr Rao added that a truck load of construction sand which was a year ago costing Rs 9,000 to Rs 12,000 is now between Rs 35,000 to Rs 50,000. He questioned how we could pass on the burden to the customer.

There are reports that some of the builders have even dropped their project plans.