The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : Arumbakkam reflects diverse realities realty check

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Thursday, Nov 13, 2008
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Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

Arumbakkam reflects diverse realities realty check

Aloysius Xavier Lopez

Arumbakkam offers residential accommodation for different income groups.

CHENNAI: Various localities of Chennai have developed their own unique patterns in tune with the changes in the realty sector. Localities such as Arumbakkam reflect some of the diverse realities of the city.

“More than a hundred houses are lying vacant in Arumbakkam now,” said R. Rajkumar, a house broker.

“There was very high demand for residential rental accommodation in the area during the same period last year. Getting a house on rent was very hard a few months ago for a prospective tenant in this predominantly residential locality,” said C. Sukumaran, another broker.

The area, with easy access to other parts of the city, has been one of the important localities opted by people seeking rental accommodation in the city.

On account of its proximity to the Chennai Mofussil Bus Terminus in Koyambedu, the vegetable and fruit market, 100 Feet Road and Poonamallee High Road, Arumbakkam provides its residents with optimum facilities sought after in a residential locality. The groundwater and sewer network are good and the pollution levels relatively low, residents said.

With residential rentals stagnating in some parts of the city, Arumbakkam recently emerged as one such area where prospective tenants were reluctant to pay the same rent paid by the previous tenant. The landlords, however, are not relenting, as a result leading to many of houses remaining unoccupied.

“The posh localities of Arumbakkam, including Janakiram Colony, Jaganathan Nagar and Amaravathi Nagar have rental values starting from Rs.9,000 for a 1,000-sqft house,” said a mediator.

Two months ago, the houses in these areas were booked within hours of the previous tenant vacating. But, the condition has changed now as prospective tenants have started to negotiate the rental values.

The congested parts of Arumbakkam, including Ashok Nagar, Vinayagapuram and Annai Sathya Nagar with narrow roads have residential rental values starting from Rs. 5 per sqft.

However, brokers claim that the demand for commercial rental continues to be high in the area.

S. Deva, a house broker, said that the prevailing situation in Arumbakkam had established the fact that the brokers had no role to play in the increase or decrease of property or rental values in the city. “It is purely determined by market forces,” he said. One of the factors behind the stagnation of rental values in Arumbakkam is the shifting of some big companies, including IT firms, located in proximity to the area. The professionals staying in the area had to seek residential accommodation in other places in the city where their companies were shifted.

However, the builders with projects in the area feel that the grade separator in Koyambedu on completion would provide a boost to property value in Arumbakkam.

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