Chennai formerly known as the city of Madras, is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, is renowned as the commercial and cultural capital of the region and also considered As the gateway to South India. The area rests on the Coromandal coast extending till the bay of Bengal. The city has grown to be the 4^th largest metro in India.

Chennai is considered to be a vital industrial and commercial hub in South India. Also the city is famous as the automobile capital of the nation as it houses many automobile plants like Mitsubishi, TVS, Ashok Leyland, Hyundai Motors,  Ford Automobiles, BMW, and a Rubber Factory (MRF) 

Also the city is home to several IT parks. The Sriperambur Economic Zone (SEZ) has several established manufacturing units of companies like Nokia, Samsung, Motorola, Dell, Samsung, Foxconn and Flextronics. Chennai has a distinguished position in the IT industry of India and also plays a key role in the fields of communication and bio-technology.

Chennai Property Markets 

Chennai is home to several multi national companies and has witnessed unparallel growth in the commercial real estate sector in the recent times. Chennai, being one of the 4 major cities in the India, has an advantage over its counterparts as the city offers an affordable standard of living when compared to the cities of Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore. The city also has a vast coastline which comes as an advantage in various aspects.

The value of residential property and assets has seen a magical rise in the last decade in Chennai as it has, in most parts of the country. Chennai’s real estate market is equally balanced and is on part with other majors staying in step with development in residential and commercial sector taking an upswing, giving boost to its real estate sector.

The value of properties has seen a rise in the last decade and in the course of the global economic slowdown, the prices in the real estate sector appear to be stabilized. The rise in cost of labour and the high prices of steel resulted in the construction costs go up. There has been an increase of 10-15% in the property value in the last few years.

The real estate market in the city has been cheerful since 2006, as the prices of rental values have seen an upward trend due to the demand for premium housing apartments and budget flats. Many suburbs also have seen an increase in real estate development activities.

Today, one can avail housing loans at attractive rates and many consider the real estate in Chennai as an investment opportunity. Many builders have begun joint ventures to endorse housing apartments. There has also been a rise in the sale of apartments. Also many independent houses are giving way to high rise apartments changing the prospects of the city entirely. Also there is great demand for resale markets.

Some of the new projects in the city are Eden Park project by L&T South City projects, Project Estancia, a new integrated township project from L&T (Larson and Toubro) Urban Infrastructure Ltd in association with Arun Excello in Chennai spread over an estimated area of 78 acres costing about 2000 crore. The Estancia can house about 2000 apartments, an IT park, hotel, shopping mall and even a school. The entire infrastructure planning and development is being taken up by L&T, which is a pioneer in this sector. 

Also a new concept in the form of villa apartments is catching up pace in the city, which has the elegance of an independent villa and security, convenience and maintenance of an apartment. These kind of projects not only increased the capital and rental values of the commercial property, but also stimulated a demand for housing. The ITeS and BPO sectors can be attributed for this kind of boom in the real estate sector in the city. 

The Tamil Nadu government has also announced its plans to set up a marine bio-technology centre near Mahabalipuram. Many transport issues will be resolved after the completion of Siruseri IT Expressway. Many bottlenecks like the ones between Madya Kailash on the way to Taramani which enroutes Tidal Park are likely to be resolved after the completion of this section of the project. 

Growth Drivers of Chennai 

The city’s scenery is due to witness many new landmarks which will be a challenge to the Tidel Park, which constitutes a 128 million sq ft IT Park. Many residential real estate builders like Arihant Foundations, Ceebros Property Development, Prince Foundation (earlier called Rajyog construction) and Real Value Properties, promote small IT parks which are about 2.5 lakh to 3 lakh sq ft in area which are at the verge of completion. The present scenario looks promising for software and BPO companies in the city as  projects like Khivraj's Olympia Tech Park (first phase of 6 lakh sq ft), RMZ Corp's RMZ Millenia of 5.6 lakh sq ft and the already completed first phase of Ascendas International Tech Park of 5 lakh sq ft will lead to the availability of more space in the first quarter of 2006. 

Major MNC’s setting up facilities 

Many companies like TCS, Infosys, Wipro, Cognizant Technologies, and Polaris already have their development centre in the city's IT corridor. Also, considering the significance of the Nokia deal, many suppliers will be enabled to set up their store which may lead to an additional investment of $ 300 million in the state. Nokia also has chosen Chennai to set up its manufacturing unit, first of its kind in India and its 10^th unit globally. There is an estimated cost of $150 million involved to setup the 210 acre facility which has been allocated site near Sriperambur, which is about 40km from Chennai on the Bengaluru highway. Also the Electronics Corporation of Tamil Nadu Limited (ELCOT) has given nod to 70 private builders for construction of IT parks, covering more than 19.2 million sq ft of which 2.2 million sq ft has already been built, 5.2 million sq ft is under construction and 11.8 million sq ft have been proposed. 

Once the six-lane highway by TNRDC's on the information technology corridor will be completed by April 2006, there will be an additional boost to IT and ITeS companies to set up their facilities in the location. An investment of $100 million by the Singapore based Flextronics will see a rise in supplier base in the industrial park. After this project, Chennai will also be known as a hub for leading electronic manufacturers. 

Global auto manufacturers like Ford and Hyundai already have their manufacturing unit setup in Chennai, and giving boost to this BMW has announced its plans to set up an assembly plant in the outskirts of the city which may involve an investment of 20 million Euros. These investments will not only enhance the office space in the city, but also generate employment opportunities.