Trust the festive
season to improve the mood of the real estate market.
LAKSHMI KRUPA finds
out about the deals on offer
Even as home buyers
grapple with the eternal ‘to buy or not to buy’ question, builders / promoters
are gearing up to make up for lost time in the upcoming festive season, with
offers of cars, gold & even air-conditioners to customers.
A project in Perungalathur
from StepsStone is offering a free modular kitchen & free registration for
all spot bookings while Cee Dee Yes Infrastructure Development offers a free
Hyundai Eon with a 3 BHK flat & a Maruti Alto with a 2 BHK.
The innovation does
not stop here. If you do not want a free car, the builder offers to give you
rental returns upfront to the tune of Rs. 3.96 lakh for a 2 BHK apartment and
Rs. 5.76 lakh for a 3BHK.
Besides this, there
are offers of free car parking, free
Registration, free EB connections, free sewage treatment plants, waiver of
legal and documentation charges, and so on.
Mr. Advitiya Sharma,
Co-founder and Marketing Head, Housing.com, “The unsold real estate inventory
has been dampening the industry’s mood this year. Now, with the festive season
around the corner, the market is likely to pick up again.”
The other reason
behind the freebies is the Reserve Bank of Indias (RBI’s) clamp-down on schemes
such as the 20:80 payment scheme. Builders / promoters are working hard to find
alternative ways to attract buyers.
One of these is to
monetise the waiting period.
Chennai - based XS
Real, for instance, is offering a ‘No pre-EMI until possession deal’. Mr. Vikas Ramanathan, Manager - Sales,
explains, “We have had a lot of enquiries and closed 6 deals in one day. Since
the RBI has abolished the 20:80 scheme, we are offering a No Pre-EMI scheme.
Here, upon an upfront payment by the customer we offer cheque payments to him
or her for the EMIs until the property is handed over.” If you cannot bear
rental and EMI expenses simultaneously, such offers are worth exploring.
According to
Makaan.com, which has done a research of festive season expectations &
offerings in the real estate sector, “Looking at the economic condition of the
India , developers / promoters are taking a cautious approach this festive
season but they do not want to disappoint buyers & lose out on an
opportunity to revive sales.” Their research shows that several developers plan
to launch between one and five projects this season, while about 27% are more
upbeat and might launch 5 to 10 new projects.
Although the overall
number of launches this year (2013) is
likely to be lower than last year (2012), the number of discounts and freebies
is likely to be more. The Makaan.com report shows that about 29% of developers
are considering offering more than 5% cash discount, while 21% is willing to
offer 2 to 5% discounts. “Moreover,” says the report, “homebuyers can also
expect offers such as ‘pay 40% at the time of booking and balance on
possession’ or ‘pay 20% at the time of booking and no EMI for next 12 to 18
months’.”
When we scouted the
Chennai market, there was not much by way of cash discounts. However, there
were other offers that could work to the buyer’s advantage, such as better
instalment facilities or value additions to their home. The other major
attraction this season is the offer of up to 500 grams of gold with each new
booking. Mr. M.K. Prakash, Olympia says, “We are offering four grams of gold
with a booking as well as 2 air-conditioners to encourage customers. We have
already sold nearly 78% of our inventory and we are confident that the
remaining 22% will be sold with these offers.”
Also, use the festive
season to up your bargaining power. Mr. N. Hariharan, Office Director, Cushman
& Wakefield, says, “The ongoing festive season is an apt opportunity from
the end-users’ perspective as they can take the advantage of flexible payment
schemes, the various offers, and sometimes even reduced interest rates on
housing loans.”
Src: Hindu
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