Vijayawada: The realty boom prior to the announcement of the capital region in towns like Nuzvid, Agiripalli, Ganna-varam and Bapulapadu has gone bust and small-time realtors are feeling the heat.
Unable to handle the pressure from creditors, an employee turned realtor, Vijay Kumar of Vijaya-wada, committed suicide on Monday.

Expecting high returns, wannabe realtors in Nuz-vid and surrounding areas had raised crores of rupees and bought land alongside the main roads connecting Nuzvid, Agiripalli, Gannavaram, Bapulapadu and other villages. The activity continued till October last year when the boom peaked.

They woke up to the crude reality when the government announced that the new capital would come up only around Tullur village on the banks of the Krishna river in Guntur district.

The vice-president of the Chamber of Real Estate, Mr S. Naga Raju, said it was a great loss for those who had invested in Nuzvid, Gannavaram and surrounding areas. “There has been no sale of lands in the area in recent times since the boom has shifted to the core capital region in Guntur and West Krishna region including Nandigama, Kanchikac-herla and Chillakallu. Lakhs of rupees were given as advances to land owners and they are not returning the money. Further, the investor has to pay the full amount while buying and selling. This is a major problem for individual realtors,” Mr Naga Raju said.

“The situation is extreme where realtors are even committing suicide. However, we hope that in the near future real estate activity will gradually increase in and around Nuzvid,” added Mr Raju.

Recently, an NRI from the city, who had invested crores of rupees in realty, was found hanging in a city hotel. Though his wife had blamed his family for abetment of suicide, the police feels that loss in business was behind the extreme step.

Meanwhile, real estate prices have picked in areas in the Krishna district opposite the capital region in Guntur district. This is the stretch of Ibrahimpat-nam, Kanchikacherla, Nandigama and Chillak-allu where flyovers connecting the capital will come up.