The low-down on luxury homes in chennai: JLL

The following is the report by Ashwinder Raj Singh, CEO – Residential Services, JLL India

When compared to other metropolitan cities in India, Chennai has traditionally been one the most stable and even predictable real estate markets. However, in the recent past, the luxury homes segment in the city has not performed very differently from markets like Delhi-NCR and Mumbai.

The Luxury Ethos

Luxury is all about feeling special and set a cut above the masses. This feeling must therefore be conveyed in luxury homes. In India today, luxury homes include palatial villas and sprawling penthouses outfitted in Italian marble, Spanish furniture and private swimming pools, in buildings and projects designed to reflect European architectural styles and with all the other accoutrements of a luxurious lifestyle – spas, gymnasiums, golf courses and all the rest.

At the same time, the locations themselves must reflect luxury, so we are basically talking about creating a rarefied world of opulence in the prime core areas of the city. This definition of luxury homes holds true for Chennai, which is a city steeped in traditional values yet constantly aspiring for a more cosmopolitan ethos.

Does Chennai Want Luxury?

The people of Chennai are conservative at heart, yet highly educated and able to evolve with the times. Luxury definitely has pertinence in a city where people work hard to climb the ladder of success. That said, one cannot trifle with Chennai’s conservative sensibilities.

Because the luxury real estate industry showed a lot of promise, the year 2013 saw a big rush of major real estate developers opening shop and buying massive land parcels to build ultra-premium projects in Chennai. However, negative macro-economic factors and unrealistic pricing conspired to throw a spanner in the works – many of these projects never saw the light of the day because they failed to incite interest at the pre-launch stage.

While the aspiration for luxury homes burns as brightly as ever in the city, Chennai’s HNIs drew a firm line at the over-enthusiastic pricing. Builders had no option but to become smarter and to realize that even within the context of luxury, the pricing has to be right for a city like Chennai. Today, homes previously priced between Rs. 7-8 crore have now been toned down Rs. 4-5 crore – and the market is moving again.

Affordable Luxury – Gaining Ground

Like every other metropolitan city, Chennai has prime areas that the most affluent choose to call home. The most prominent are Boat Club Road, which commands residential property prices in the region of Rs. 27,000/sq ft and Poes Garden, where luxury homes cost in the region of Rs. 33,000-35,000/sq ft. However, Chennai is also seeing the emergence of new luxury precinct – Nungambakkam, Adyar, Alwarpet, Kotturpuram, Egmore, Bishop Garden, and Perumbur.

In fact, these localities are witnessing the highest growth because they address the city’s new-found need for affordable luxury. Also, in their quest to address this burgeoning demand, Chennai’s builders are on a spree to acquire defunct factories and mills in the northern and southern parts of the city, with a view to raze them to make way for premium properties. This supply aims to catch the upward curve when the luxury homes market revives in earnest.

USPs For Luxury Homes In Chennai

· Location: For ultra-luxury, the address matters. Central location, convenient access to the city’s nerve points, high snob value. An important criterion for resale value, too.

· View: Breath-taking – not overlooking a slum, busy road or hospital (this isn’t Mumbai). Like location, critical consideration for resale value

· Facilities: Top-of-the-line – clubhouse, gymnasium, spa, swimming pool, landscaped garden

· Safety: No compromise – world-class electronic security throughout, with the best security agency at the console and gate.