The depreciating rupee is a windfall for builders, but a source of worry for parents and students. Property sales have picked up in the city after a gap of two years, with NRIs showing interest in buying villas, premium independent houses and luxury flats. With 20 per cent depreciation in rupee value compared to the dollar, NRIs can get properties 20 per cent cheaper. However, students opting for foreign studies will have to shell out 20 per cent more.
In the recent past, the rupee has weakened dram-atically, with the recent ex-change value recorded as Rs 60, while in August 2011, a dollar was worth Rs 44. A villa worth Rs 2 crore, or $350,000, is now available to NRIs for $273,000, resulting in a saving of Rs 50 lakh in rupee terms.
Builders are getting increasing number of enq-uiries from NRIs to purch-ase villas and flats in Mad-hapur, Kondapur, Gachibo-wli, Manikonda, Tellapur etc. Most of the NRIs inve-sting in Hyderabad realty are from USA, Canada, Eu-rope, Australia and UAE. Builders say that demand for villas and flats has picked up from January this year. Vision Avenues, which has built 107 villas in Tellapur, sold 5 villas in a month, each worth over Rs 2 crore.
Similarly, Saket Engineers, which is develo-ping two mega ventures in A.S. Raonagar and Gowda-valli near Kompally, has sold out 25 premium independent houses during the last 2-3 months, each costing Rs 60 lakh to Rs 1 crore, besides selling 18 flats per month since January this year, priced between Rs 40 lakh and Rs 45 lakh. SMR Holdings Ltd, which is developing two mega realty ventures in Kukatp-ally and Miyapur, sold nea-rly 200 flats in Kukatpally since January this year at an average of 25 flats per month.
Similarly, around 120 flats were sold in Miyapur, the prices varying from Rs 40 lakh to Rs 70 lakh. However, the weakening rupee has hit the confidence of parents. “There has been a 20-25 per cent drop in students opting for foreign degrees as their budget has increased by over 25 per cent,” said K. Siddharth, an overseas education consultant. Ruchika Jain, who is sending her son to the United States in July to pursue MS, said, “Our budget has suddenly increased by 20 per cent. There is also a constant fear of the rupee falling further.”