NEW DELHI: Call it a silver lining in the bearish market. Your dream home may become cheaper than it appeared earlier. With buying activity at a low in the residential market, real estate developers are offering scheme like EMI holidays (between booking and possession of property) to drive demand. Major players such as BPTP, Era Landmarks, Parsvnath Developers, Pearls Infrastructure and Vipul have already declared incentives to woo buyers.
Of late, a slowdown in property transactions and a correction in prices have been witnessed due to high interest rates and rising land costs. According to Avneesh Sood, Eros Group director “It’s time to be more realistic after having enjoyed all the optimism in the past. Incentives to attract buyers in this segment is definitely needed now.”
This argument is seconded by Vipul’s vice president (sales & marketing), Brijesh Bhanote, “The schemes are definitely a result of the negative market sentiment,” he said. Vipul on its part will soon come up with a subvention scheme in which it will bear part of the cost of interest on customers’ loan.
Parsvnath Developers is offering a scheme at Parsvnath City in Sonepat where a buyer can just pay 15% of the amount and relax till the residential apartment is completed. No EMI will be sought till possession. A similar scheme is also offered by BPTP — the customer needs to pay only 15% of the basic sale price and no EMI for the next two years. The company will pay interest to the bank during this period.
According to Omaxe vice president (marketing), Vineet Nanda: “It’s not exactly slowdown; most of the real estate developers are offering subvention schemes as the focus is shifting from investor based customer to the end user.” Omaxe does not have any such scheme at present but might offer a subvention scheme in the near future.
There are other offers as well in the market. Era Landmarks is offering a combination of schemes such as assured returns on investments, fully furnished homes, priority location for second booking and discount in other Era group projects. On the other hand, Pearls Infrastructure is offering a marginal discount to buyers and also special rates in bulk booking to its corporate clients. Pearls Infrastructure’s marketing head; Sanjay Mathur admits that the low market sentiments have been one of the reasons to introduce such schemes.
Going forward, one can expect more schemes and incentives from the realty groups due to the emergence of newer players in the market. Anshuman Magazine, chairman and managing director of global real estate consultancy CB Richard Ellis, aptly sums it up: “There will be adjustments in the times to come. Growing competition in the sector will ensure price correction as buyers will have more options.”