Guwahati residential real estate: The developers, the growth zones and the flippers!

Guwahati Real Estate: From flippers to investors

While on a consultancy assignment to Guwahati, we had a chance to analyse the nascent Guwahati residential real estate market. And we found some pretty interesting facts. As always, we try below, to give you a first hand feel of things. So, read on;

The Developers: Guwahati is a budding residential market and there are many theories currently doing the rounds. We noticed the presence of a clear 'bandwagon effect' where one new real estate developer follows the other. Brand names like Subham, Suryakiran, Sun Syndicate, Infinity (in association with Subham), Basera, Royal, Universal and Protech are starting to cash in on their brands based on project deliveries. That is a heartening thing to see.

We were very impressed by Protech Park, a fairly large residential project in Hengrabari. It is truly something that has been built way above Guwahati standards. The very approach is of national levels and this is a brand which is set to grow! Trust us on that.

Pratik and Umang at Basera are a blessed duo. Daring, talented and men with vision, joint venture developments are their forte and having just started a couple of years back, their dreams are sky high and their processes, rock solid!

Growth Corridors of Guwahati: NH 37 towards ISBT and a little beyond, the way to the Guwahati airport and small pockets in the city near the Secretariat in Dispur are definite growth corridors. Land is slowly becoming a scarce commodity. We think that the ISBT and the airport road are the strongest growth corridors in north east India!

Who is buying? Guwahati currently is full of flippers. People who are looking at small time investments, again, small in size and getting big returns out of it. Folks with a little money to spare are seeing dreams of doubling their investments in 6 to 9 months with small size real estate investments! The reality is a different story and flippers like these are affecting the cash flows of the developer.

Launch a residential project and you are sold out 50% on day 1. Awesome eh? The truth is far from that. Most bookings done are by flippers who will pay you 10% of the total apartment price and will want to sell out for 100% profit on their investment in the next 6 months. That situation is far from real. If your marketing agent assures you that kind of returns in Guwahati, he is giving you a bag full of bulls***! Get real. Real estate investments will pay off in the long run. Please do not expect unreal returns and roger the builder's cash flows in the process!

We reckon, all of this will change. Guwahati is a market which is the nerve point for the entire North East of India. And that, is a huge market in itself. Attitudes have to mellow down. Maybe, the supply situation will change that. Flippers will turn into long term investors and then, end users. Better deliveries will uplift the standard of life and turn many investors into end users. The transition will come.

That, is the sound of inevitability. And by the way, KFC just opened up here and there is a queue on weekends to grab that piece of colonel's closely guarded recipe. More on the Guwahati real estate scene soon.