Sanjay Chugh, City Head – Chennai, ANAROCK Property Consultants
Today, a city’s real estate success formula depends on quite a few other industries than just housing. Housing demand is a natural by-product of the success of businesses and industries that drive consumption and create jobs.
Chennai’s strengths as an automobile hub have already earned it the tag of ‘the Detroit of the East’, but it has also emerged as one of the leading IT/ITeS destinations of the country.
Both these industries drive job growth, which in turn drives housing demand, but there are at least two other industries that share a deep symbiotic relationship with Chennai’s overall real estate viability – the organized retail and warehousing & logistics sectors.
Shopping Malls
An economic downturn or no economic downturn, Indians love to shop.
Some consumer items like cosmetics (the fabled ‘lipstick effect’), fast fashion and electronics like Smartphones are actually beating the current trends, with the growth figures in these industries still firmly in the green.
Malls are the best places to shop for these – and to enjoy a few hours in clean,