South realtors eyeing a pie of north market

RERA reforms, land record digitisation are making North an attractive market

- SANAL SUDEVAN @ Chennai

UNTIL nearly a decade ago, real estate developers-particularly residential playersrarely ventured beyond their home markets. The lack of clarity in land and property development laws, absence of reliable land ownership records and opaque approval processes discouraged largescale, cross-regional expansion.

This environment largely favoured small, local players who owned land but often lacked execution capabilities.

The introduction of the Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act (RERA) and the Union government's landrecord digitisation drive marked a turning point for the sector. Greater regulatory scrutiny, escrow norms and disclosure requirements led to consolidation, with several smaller developers exiting the business due to inadequate financial strength or fraudulent practices such as diversion of customer funds.

This regulatory clarity has encouraged southern developers-known for financial discipline, process orientation and timely delivery-to explore markets in North, West and East India. Over the past few years, several have expanded their portfolios nationally, transitioning into pan-India developers.