Property market in South is driven by end user specifically IT sector - Sushil Mantri
Sushil Mantri, CMD, Mantri Developers Pvt. Ltd, is a pioneer in Indian realty sector, whose vision has set up a new benchmark for the luxury segment in India. Mantri Developers is an organization that has established its leadership standing in real estate development in Southern India in a span of just 11 years.
The journey of Mantri Developers Pvt. Ltd, started in 1999 with Mr. Sushil Mantri moving to Bangalore to set up the organization. Today, around a decade later, Mr. Sushil Mantri, a visionary with an astute and resolute sense of enterprise, made the transition from entrepreneur to industry trendsetter with absolute panache and understated ability.
His rise to being one of the top leaders in the property development business saw him being nominated for the prestigious Ernst & Young "Entrepreneur of the Year 2003" award. He was also recently honored with the "Young Visionary Award in Real Estate Infrastructure" from Construction Source India in 2010.
MakaanIQ got an opportunity to interact with Mr. Mantri. In this brief interaction he shares what is in store for the realty sector in the coming few years….
1. What is your medium term (9-12 months) outlook for the real estate market in India in general and South India in particular?
On a medium term basis, low ticket size apartments will sell fast and will do well. For the ticket size more than 80 lacs, post budget 2013 could give the roadmap. Delhi has overtaken Mumbai in terms of housing loan disbursements. Delhi real estate market is expected to remain stable while Mumbai real estate market will continue see dampening sales. There could be some corrections in Mumbai. In south India the IT sector has given increments to its employees in the range of 3-5% which is less than inflation, this indicates that the disposable income of the prospective customers has gone down. In such a scenario we do not expect much movement in the segments that are greater than 50 lacs. However, below 50 lacs segment is doing well.
2. How is real estate in South India different from rest of the country specially North and West markets?
South India customers are 80% end user driven – so delays are noticeable and highlighted – project completion and timely delivery is the expectation of the customer while North Indian market is 80% investor driven – the hype around real estate is high. Delay of projects is also high and it appears that the customers along with the developers are into price escalation benefits. West Indian market is very similar to that of North India.
3. What is your opinion on Luxury or Public Housing? As a developer, which is more sustainable?
From a developer’s point of view project which is sold out before structure completion & that is delivered to customers in time, is sustainable. It will be improper to compare public housing vs luxury housing as the model is different. Both have excellent prospects, however it advisable to have a good mix of public housing & luxury in the portfolio as product offering.