Developers timing their project launches with festive seasons are now coming up with some attractive deals. And for those wanting to buy property back home in India, now is the right time.
The sluggish demand from domestic buyers over the past year has deterred any major price hike in the market. With developers packaging their launches with other benefits, NRI buyers could score favourably.
New projects
“While a falling rupee is not the best news for domestic markets, it certainly provides a good opportunity for exporters and NRI investors who stand to gain from the weakening rupee on conversion, making India an attractive destination to park any surplus funds,” says Brotin Banerjee, Managing Director and CEO, Tata Housing, whose projects are attracting interest from consumers in the US, UK, Singapore and the Middle East.
Tata Housing’s The Promont in Bengaluru is due to launch its second phase this season. Similarly, phase two of Primanti in Gurgaon in the state of Haryana, phase two of Amantra in Kalyan, Mumbai and New Haven in Ahmedabad are scheduled to launch in the wake of the festive season.
Traditionally, the Indian real estate market sees around a 40 to 50 per cent increase in property deals during festive seasons, particularly in cities such as Bengaluru, Chennai, Mumbai, Pune and Ahmedabad.
Bengaluru-based Prestige Group is expected to launch six projects during the festive season, including Prestige Misty waters at Hebbal in north Bengaluru or Prestige Ferns Residency at Harlur in the east.
“It is a very thought-through portfolio that’s been launched this festive season,” says Raja Mukherjee, Head Sales, Prestige Group.
In Mumbai, Lodha Developers recently launched projects, the latest of which are garden residences in Hyderabad, plus a five-star luxury resort-style residential development in Pune. “Lodha Splendora, our township project in Dombivali, Lodha Venezia, and the upcoming project in Pune have already seen huge traction from our NRI customers,” says a Lodha Group spokesperson.
Great schemes
While developers are offering home furnishing, gold coins or early-bird discounts, real estate companies say their focus is on transparency, timely execution and delivering quality products to customers. “Many developers in the past six months have made remarkable progress on construction of previously launched projects, which has also somewhat helped in boosting confidence of buyers. This is also why this season may not see a lot of discounts and freebies being offered simply because most developers are operating on minimal margins in the wake of steep input costs with by and large stagnant property prices,” says Banerjee.
Schemes to attract buyers include Delhi-based CHD Developers offering a subvention scheme with HDFC (a housing finance provider company) for its 106-Golf Avenue project in Gurgaon, where the customer pays 15 per cent of the apartment cost in the beginning and nothing else for the next 24 months. “We are paying the interest for 24 months on the customer’s behalf. In the old days, a fridge, TV or laptop or a trip to Hong Kong used to work,” says Ravi Saund, COO, CHD Developers. ■
