Upcoming Festive Season Creates Good Buzz for Property Buyers
Why the Festive Season?
Diwali and Dhanteras are around the corner. The festival brings a buzz to the country’s real estate industry as it is considered an auspicious time to buy and sell the property. As such, hopes run high for both developers as well as buyers. While builders are hopeful about increased sales and revenues, buyers look forward to exciting festival offers on property buying.
The festive season is the most awaited time of the year when most homebuyers shop for high tickets. The period usually starts with new project launches as well as offers unfold by developers to attract customers. A recent survey by CommonFloor.com shows that besides being an auspicious occasion to buy properties, several buyers are also excited about the discounts.
But we can not forget that the year 2020 has been the worst in the form of a nationwide lockout for the Indian real estate sector, and the rapidly growing COVID-19 cases have severely affected home buying sentiment. Most migrant workers return to their villages during the lockout, and the supply of raw materials is heavily disrupted due to restrictions on Chinese products and lack of funds with developers, severely affecting construction activities. Although, the festive season has started with general hopes of an economic revival and realtors are confident that it will certainly help in recording sales.
Festive Mood
Dhanteras and Diwali are considered auspicious festivals that bring prosperity and wealth across the country. Since real estate is a sign of wealth and prosperity, people prefer to buy properties during this time leading to a significant sales activity during the festive season.
The last couple of festive seasons witnessed dampness when it came to real estate buying in different parts of the country, owing to various reasons. Some of the main reasons included the global economic slowdown and its effect on the country’s economy and job scenario. Another factor that led to dampness was a state of uncertainty in the country owing to the central government’s policies. Cities such as Mumbai and Delhi continued to witness sky-touching property values, putting several buyers on the back foot.
However, with the new government formed at the center, there is a renewed interest in the country. The government has not only taken steps to improve the country’s economy but also improve the real estate sector. This has renewed the hopes of several builders as well as buyers, especially for the upcoming festive season.
Good time for homebuyers
The infrastructure and real estate sectors are supposed to blast due to their strength to generate millions of jobs. Many reports state that these two sectors have the potential to generate approximately 24 million jobs within the next decade. Of this, around 16 million jobs will be in the real estate sector alone. This is the reason policymakers have stated several steps to catalyze the real estate industry. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has reduced the repo rate by 140 basis points this year. While the repo rate was left unchanged at the last review meeting in October, a waiver in the loan-to-value (LTV) rules would make new home loans cheaper by March 2022, benefiting realty stakeholders significantly.
Reason to invest during the festive season
Offers & Freebies
The period starting from October – December is the time when developers are ready to offer offers, discounts, and tax rebates to motivate buyers. If you are a homebuyer, you can expect to host offers during this time, including brokerage discounts, cash discounts, benefits on registration and payment of fees, travel vouchers, free memberships, and home appliances.
Offers on the home loan
Apart from discounted property prices, you can also avail of attractive home loan offers during the festive season. Ranging from discounted interest rates to many freebies; Banks and lending institutions have a lot of offers during these months.
New project launches
Taking perception of the fact that homebuyers are excited for new investment and purchases during the festive months, developers also wait for this time of year to launch their projects. In fact, the number of projects undertaken during the festive season is much higher than at any other time of the year. As a result, investing during the festive season gives you an excellent portfolio of newly launched projects.
Linking home loan to the repo rate
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) recently made it mandatory to link home loan rates with repo rates. The decision by the RBI is set to make home loans cheaper which will increase sales and therefore be of significant benefit to developers. In addition, the increased discount on the home loan interest rate will further increase the demand for potential buyers. Real estate builders can take advantage of discounts by adding costs and offers per square foot to improve sales to new customers.
Buyers prefer discounts on property prices
According to a recent survey conducted by CommonFloor.com, several prospective buyers are looking to buy a property during the upcoming festive season. While there are people who are looking at the festival season as an auspicious occasion to buy property, there are also several buyers who look for attractive festive offers and those expecting a price hike post the festive season. Pre-launch offers have been gaining the highest interest, while there is also a good demand for ready to occupy projects or those that will be ready in the next 6-12 months.
Builders and developers come up with several offers to boost their sales during the festive season. Some of these offers may include discounts on property prices, rebate on EMIs, free parking space, free maintenance, and free gifts such as gold coins with every property purchase. As expected, according to the survey, a majority of respondents (73%) preferred a discount on prices per sq. ft. Bangalore, Delhi-NCR, and Mumbai remained the most preferred cities for purchase and investments.
As a whole, a good buzz is expected in the realty sector during the festive season this year with a good number of property transactions on the cards.
