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Realtors shift focus to budget housing

NEW DELHI: Declining sales, high interest rates, paucity of funds and global economic slowdown have badly impacted the real estate sector which is witnessing not only sudden slump in demand but also is at the receiving end in the stock market.

Freebies in the shape of luxury sedans, offers of foreign trips, 15-20 per cent discount or deferred payments have failed to attract buyers.

Fears of recession and an overall depressing sentiment have forced the real estate players to re-draw their strategies and curtail their expansion plans in the high-end and premium segment.

The focus has suddenly now shifted to providing budget housing in order to cash in on volumes and target Tier-II and Tier-III cities.

Parsvnath Developers Chairman Pradeep Jain said the Government should help the developers to launch a special scheme to promote affordable housing as costly land was a big hurdle.

Favouring Government’s intervention to give a fillip to affordable housing, Omaxe Chairman and Managing Director Rohtas Goel said: “There is an artificial scarcity of land. No cushion is left in the hands of developers to reduce the prices.” Omaxe has already put in place National Affordable Housing and Infrastructure Limited for developing affordable housing to a bigger section of the society.

Sanjay Rastogi, Director, Saviour Group, said his company was mainly focussing and attracting customers through its eco-friendly approach combining with many more offers for its top-notch real estate project named Green Isle along NH-24 in the National Capital Region.

On the other hand, experts feel that tight liquidity and high interest rates on home loans has made the situation worse.

“Domestic credit control measures have impacted the availability of funds for developers and delayed project timelines and schedules,” CB Richard Ellis (CBRE) Chairman and Managing Director, (South Asia) Anshuman Magazine, said.

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