Mobile phones have been flooded with messages on WhatsApp, offering discounts. Many brokers are cutting prices from seven to 15 per cent across major cities, with the highest portions in Delhi-NCR and Mumbai.
Earlier, freebies in the name of free vacations, motorbikes, a gold coin and a modular kitchen were being offered to lure customers.
Analysts and consultants expect the October to December period to garner sales of at least 60,000 units across seven major cities, almost double what was recorded in 2012 and 2013, when slowdown had hit developers.
“This time, the festival season will see more activity and sales.
“The sentiments are positive; enquiries have gone up substantially,” says Ashutosh Limaye, head (research & real estate intelligence service), JLL India.
Sales are expected to reach 200,000 units this year, on the back of a good festival season contributing 30-40 per cent to the total, he said.
In the earlier two years, total sales were 120,000-140,000 units annually, with very little contribution from the festival season, traditionally considered the biggest season for sales.
Supertech chairman and managing director R K Arora said brokers were giving 10-12 per cent discounts on the upfront price of flats.
A broker in Noida is offering an upfront discount of up to 10 per cent on unit charges, along with no transfer charges (which a buyer pays to the developer after selling his unit before possession). In Gurgaon, discounts vary by location, in the range of seven to 10
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