Developers see no fireworks this year

This festival season is not bringing the cheer in the country’s Real Estate sector  as the property/building  prices are increasing ver high day-by-day and the interest rates are also on their peak and these factors are keeping the sales under pressure.

As compared to the last year, this year the festival sales will remain moderate due to the interest rate and high property prices.

According to property brokers, general queries from customers have dropped considerably.

"We were expecting sales to pick up around the festive season. But this year there is hardly any excitement in the market. Buying queries have dropped by almost 40 per cent compared to last year," a senior executive at Axiom Estates, an international property brokerage firm, said.

"The drop in sales volume is seen across the country. However, smaller cities are performing better than the metros. Compared to last year, sales in Delhi and Mumbai are very disappointing. We expect volume will pick up next week," he added.

From the realtors' side there are no exciting cash discount offers to lure the customers. Developers say they are hamstrung by the interest rate hikes and high cost of construction, which are already keeping their margins under pressure.

The few discount offers that are doing the rounds of the market pertain to the luxury offerings. For the mid- segment, realtors have rolled out the less interesting lucky draws.

So, there is hardly any scope for any big ticket discounts this season," he added.

Builders are compensating it with increased advertisement budgets. According to ad agencies, the ad spent of realtors has gone up by 20- 25 per cent this year. For instance, Amrapali Developers plans to triple its ad budget to ` 3 crore while rival Raheja Developers is planning to raise its ad spend threefold compared to last year.