Veteran Developer Irfan Razack Cautions India’s Soaring Property Market

7th August 2025

4 Min Read

From Family Fabrics to Skyline Shapers

Long before towering high-rises and gleaming offices dotted Bengaluru's cityscape, a young Irfan Razack stood behind the counter of his father's humble apparel shop. Back then, the biggest challenge was selling shirts and suits, not multi-million dollar apartments. But Razack, undeterred by modest beginnings, harbored a vision of reshaping cities and futures with brick, mortar, and ambition.

In the 1980s, Irfan and his brothers Rezwan and Noaman took a bold leap from the garment trade to real estate, founding the now-iconic Prestige Group. From constructing their first 10,000 square foot commercial space, they steadily built projects that captured the essence of a new Bengaluru—a thriving hub in southern India, soon drawing comparisons with global tech capitals.

Riding the Boom—But Sensing the Bumps

Post-pandemic India witnessed an unprecedented property boom, and Razack’s empire soared with it, culminating in a collective family wealth exceeding $5.5 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. But even as record sales and profits rolled in, the 71-year-old chairman’s perspective remains grounded.

Amidst the euphoria, Razack voices caution: “Land prices, approval costs, labor, construction—everything is up,” he warns. This surge in costs is creating pockets of stress, especially in Hyderabad’s booming tech corridor, where oversupply and unsold inventory are mounting.

The Affordability Conundrum

For many in India’s burgeoning cities, home ownership is slipping out of reach. “Young buyers today pay 30–33% more, just in taxes and related costs,” says Razack. As a result, the supply of affordable homes has hit a seven-year low, as reported by Knight Frank. Demand in luxury and mid-market segments is cooling, with unsold inventory rising across major cities.

Prestige continues to target mid-market projects, from 10 to 40 million rupees, but the challenge now is precise execution—efficient construction and cost management to keep homes within reach.

Luxury, Location, and Lessons Learned

India’s most expensive market—Mumbai—became the latest conquest for the Prestige Group during the pandemic, with Razack capitalizing on rare low-cost land deals. Yet, as Prestige posts its best-ever quarterly sales, the pressure is on to keep scaling up, especially as rivals like DLF Ltd and Lodha Developers Ltd report near-record profits.

Hyderabad appears particularly fraught. As residential and office supply outpaces demand, owners are forced to offer rent breaks. “There’s so much space that companies want deals, or even months of free rent,” Razack observes.

A Life Beyond the Boardroom

Despite his achievements, Razack stays intimately involved in every project—from negotiating land deals to guiding site selection and sales. Outside business, life is no less adventurous: golf, skydiving, bungee jumping, and even snowy drives in the Himalayas fill his time. Underscoring his philosophy, he repeats advice once given by an elderly lawyer: “It is better to fade out than to rust out.”