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The sector is at cross roads but signs ahead appear heartening for real estate in and around the city. If statistics are any indication, the commercial office space consumption has really taken off and there are hopes that residential segment too will follow soon.

In terms of commercial office space including IT, SEZ and standalones, the consumption during last few months is termed as comparing with the best year. “The commercial office space leased out during September 2009 to July 2010 stands around 40 lakh sft and the trend is quite refreshing in the prevailing scenario,” says D. Sreedhar Reddy, former president of Andhra Pradesh Realtors Association (APRA) and president-elect of National Association of Realtors (NAR)-India.

These figures compare well against earlier months when real estate ended up in complete disarray following global economic recession and other factors such as the agitation for a separate Telangana. In the year 2008, if the commercial office space leased was around 22 lakh sft, the same was about 11 lakh sft between January 2009 and August 2009.

The real estate scenario across the country started to recover around September 2009 and the same was the case with Hyderabad and its suburbs but the Telangana agitation in November last year slowed down the pace here. Yet subsequent leasing is a reflection of the market and the fact that the sector has picked up, he points out.

At the same time, the residential segment has been struggling to recover and gain a direction in the market. Most concede that though sales have been happening, they are not to the level which could comfort the industry. “Both the investor and end-user are waiting to understand the market and will move in once there is more clarity. Perhaps, by the year-end the residential segment should be better placed,” says Mr. Reddy.

Also, traditionally the residential market start picking up once the commercial and office space segment register good times. Since the latter has already started to happen, the residential one too is seen as poised to recover and grow in the often seen cycle of six to eight months.

Via The Hindu