Realtors now turn their focus to Puttaparthi

Penukonda (Anantapur): The news of Puttaparthi being made a new district headquarters for the notified Sathya Sai district has dampened the spirits of realtors and even individual investors from the present district headquarters who dreamed of making a fortune.

Until recently, Penukonda was the favourite destination for investors for two reasons: One, the bright prospects of industrialisation and secondly, its prospects for emerging as the new district headquarters.

Hundreds of layouts sprung up in and around Penukonda where land prices had skyrocketed because of twin reasons. Due to the establishment of Kia Motors and Penukonda, already hosting the government medical college, has given a fillip to real estate activity. Now with the government's announcement, realtors say that there will be no takers for their plots. Until before the new districts were announed, plots in Penukonda wer sold at Rs 10 lakh to Rs 15 lakh per cent. Now they fear no one will want them for less than Rs 5 lakh per cent. Many are now on the losing side.Ramarishna Reddy, a real estate housing developer, told The Hans India that ruling party leaders just to make money created a hype about chances of Penukobda emerging as district headquarters and promoted housing ventures making people believe that Penukonda will witness a massive land value surge. Now those who have invested in the lands are in a soup, he lamented.

Another realtor Surendra, bemoans that he purchased 10 cents of land in Penukonda for Rs 50 lakh but now he fears that he is unlikely to get even Rs 25 lakh for his property.

Realtors had made a roaring business selling plots at exorbitant prices in layouts sans amenities until recently but now they are in a fix over the expected dip in land values.

There are nearly 100 private layouts in 10 mandals and 95 panchayats in and around Penukonda Assembly constituency. The layouts are spread in Puttaparthi, Bukkapatnam, Somandepalle, Kothacheruvu, Hindupur, Lepakshi, Chilamattur, Penukonda, and Gorantla mandals.

Now the real estate scene is shifting from Penukonda to Puttaparthi. People who invested a lot in Puttaparthi housing projects because of the demand for housing from annual foreign tourists were disappointed with the fall in real estate values after Sathya Sai Baba's death.

Now the announcement of upgradation of Puttaparthi into a district headquarter has rekindled the dampened spirits of the past investors. The house rents and quest for properties to purchase and the demand for vacant buildings to house government offices is an opportunity for property owners who kept their buildings idle for years, to recover from their losses.