Owning a house is still a distant dream for most Hyderabadis thanks to high property prices. Of the total 8.81 lakh households in the city, only 49.6 per cent live in their own houses. It is significantly lower than the state average of 78.5 per cent who live in owned houses.
The “Houselisting and Housing Census” conducted by the director of Census Operations, Andhra Pradesh, revealed that Hyderabadis top the list of highest number of people living in rented houses in the entire state.
Mahbubnagar has highest number of people living in owned houses at 91.6 per cent, followed by Srikakulam (88.6 per cent), Nizamabad (88.5 per cent), Nalgonda (86.9 per cent), Adilabad (85.8 per cent), Medak (85.6 per cent), Karimnagar (84 per cent) and Prakasam (83.7 per cent).
The city also has highest ownership of vehicles – 14.1 per cent of the total households in the city own four wheelers, while the state average is just 2.7 per cent. Hyderabadis are also at the top in owning computers at 31.2 per cent as against the state average of just 8.4 per cent and owning televisions at 84.7 per cent compared to state’s average of 58.8 per cent.
“The property prices in the city rose sharply from 2004. Normally, double bedroom flats in apartments which majority of Hyderabadis prefer were less than Rs 10 lakh till 2003. Now it has become difficult even to purchase a second-hand flat for Rs 25 lakh in core areas, though they are available on the city outskirts for that price. For this reason, majority of the people in the city are living in rented houses,” said Mr B. Rajesh Kumar of Siri Property Developers.