Realtors target NRIs for business

AMARAVATI: With the realty business in the Amaravati capital region experiencing a slump, real estate companies are targeting NRIs and the wealthy classes from AP residing in other states to do business in Amaravati through the virtual format. They are using the proposed nomenclature — Culture City, Electronic City, Financial City, Government Core City etc — for promotion of their online realty business.

The abrupt stopping of land registration by the government has affected the realty sector, leading to developers and realtors starting online businesses with the available po-oled plots in the nine upcoming sectors, promising world-class development and huge increase in land prices in the years to come. They have fixed the price of land from Rs 8,000 to Rs 17,000 per square yard, according to the area in the AP capital region.

Developer N. Sainath said that till June this year, people purchased residential plots and houses in the Amaravati capital region. After the formation of reconstituted/returnable plots, no one was showing interest in buying these in the absence of registrations. The physical realty business would not revive until registrations resumed. Realtors had therefore begun a virtual realty business on the Internet.

Real estate companies and developers are providing information about the pooled residential/ commerc-ial plots and existing old houses with the CRDA maps for the co-nvenience of buyers, mainly NRIs and non AP Telugus, he said.

Real estate broker H. Trinadh said NRI Andhras, who had settled down in the US, UK, Australia and the Gulf countries, were showing interest and inquiring about availability of plots. These NRIs were ready to purchase plots immediately after the physical allotments were made. He said a few people, who had made online contact with him, were willing to purchase plots on paper agreements by pa-ying an advance. The online campaign is thus helping realtors tide over the slump.