Onam, Kochi Metro and Emerging Kerala expected to usher in property appreciation in Kochi real estate market

As Malayalees get set to celebrate their most awaited annual festival of Onam in the end of August, real estate developers in Kochi are the most anxious as well as exuberant. In stark contrast to the property correction which has been witnessed in Kochi over the last one year, developers believe that the gloom prevailing over the sector  will soon fade off and prices would again rise by 15 to 20% after Onam due to the triple bonanza - Onam , Emerging Kerala and the Kochi Metro launch.

In anticipation of a rise in price and demand for property near the Kochi metro stations, most developers have already bought parcels of lands in the proposed vicinity of where the stations have been announced. We had mentioned earlier why improvement in accessibility to mono rail or metro or LRT augments the real estate prices within a radius of 1-2 Kms of the station.

The end of Karkidakam masam and the onset of Chinga masam is considered an auspicious time for Malayalees. Most marriages, new business launches take place in this season and it is also an auspicious time to register a property. So Malayalees who are on the look out for property at the moment in Kochi, might be spoilt for choices by many developers. Developers also are hoping to close many new bookings in the Onam season and are preparing welcome bonanza's and discount schemes for home buyers. The key trend that is beginning to emerge however is that after the NRI driven demand, Kerala’s real estate market is now slowly turning in favour of the working class with a gradual shift towards the affordable housing segment.

Since common sense states that most users of the Kochi metro will live and breathe in the city, (than an NRI who would sit abroad), the demand for housing in areas near the metro station is expected to be real and measurable. There is a growing belief that the correction seen in the Kochi real estate market over the last many quarters, might be the prelude to a phase of stability in property prices.

In the interim some malls like Abad Nucleus at Maradu have also started selling individual shops, which is seen to be a new trend in the real estate sector. As per CREDAI Kerala, "Building rules which were amended three years ago, is the main reason behind the collapse of real estate sector in the state. Because of over supply, 40 per cent of residential properties have not been sold.In 2008, 10 new projects were announced in a month but now only one new project is announced in six months. In Thiruvananthapuram, the most happening place in real estate in the state, the property prices have doubled in 4 years."

For the sake of the investors, the developers and those aspiring to own their home in Kochi, we hope the predictions come true and the prices reign in, in Kochi and other parts of Kerala and offer stability.

Onam 2012, can then finally be one to savour and remember!