Prices by the Square Foot

To give a general rundown of land available for housing plots near Ramana Nagar and the more famous Tiruvannamalai Ashrams, previously the place of choice has land behind Yogi Ramsuratkumar Ashram. The area which used to be a collection of fields, is now densely packed middle-class urban housing. Sadly the whole development has proceeded randomnly, so its difficult to know how it will fare in the future and don't recommended it for anyone wishing to buy a housing plot. Four years ago the land sold for around Rs.80 a square foot, and at that time many locals and businessmen built houses for rental purposes and thats exactly what has happened. The area is popular with Western visitors and middle class Indians and rent can be as high as Rs.5,000 - Rs.8,000 per month.

Consequently land in this area is priced at anywhere from Rs.450 - Rs.800 a square foot, and I've heard of land going at even higher rates. To the south of this developed area, are agricultural fields adjacent to Vana Durga Shrine. It has been reported that land there has recently changed hands for a crore per acre (a crore = 100 Lakhs). Its not known at this time as to what realtors plan on charging once the land has been surveyed and made into individual plots. I will post photographs of all the areas I am writing about over the course of this upcoming week. So keep checking back.

However the below sequence of photographs are of a small village that I do recommend. It is close to the Hill and located on its southside. Certainly this area will get developed in the future, but I believe less randomnly and will maintain a better ethos and atmosphere. Currently prices per square foot, are a much better value than land elsewhere.

I will post more photographs of this particular area soon. But if any readers have specific questions, please email me at the email address at the top left of this page.

In answer to recent questions about current square foot land price. I would suggest that it is practically impossible to buy land anywhere within 2 kms of the base of Arunachala for less than Rs.250 per square foot. Currently land is being sold at that price just off the Perumbakkam Road, which although looks very promising, much of the land will be blighted with severe water shortage. The reason being is that throughout the Arunachala area, there is sometimes a rocky shelf underneath the land, and once water has been depleted out of the shelf basin, there is no more until the next rainy season.

In my area, there is a farm to the south that has such a rocky shelf under their land and their agricultural tank and water supply always runs dry in a hot summer. However a farm to the east of me, is fortunate not to have the rocky shelf under their land, so has an excellent water supply that so far has never run dry.

In other words just because land seems economical it doesn't mean that its a bargain. A 12,000 litre tanker of water costs a minimum of Rs.500 - so any savings made on the land purchase would be quickly lost in paying for an independent water delivery service.

The suggestion being work through a land agent you trust and if in doubt pay to have a water survey done of your chosen area.