Trickle of customers has builders bending backwards

By M H Ahssan

It was after a lull of six months that a city builder witnessed a rare sight— a potential customer. Not having sold a single property in the last few months, the builder says he was in no mood to take any chances. So, he brushed aside his marketing manager, flashed his best smile, fished out the brochure and gave his best performance. And, as luck would have it, he got a chance to repeat the same act two days later. Two sales in a week, he now beams, are a “positive sign’’ and hopes that these are signs of things to come.

City builders agree. They say after State Bank of India cut its floating home loan rate, which was soon followed by several other banks, they have finally seen a trickle of buyers who had turned elusive over the last few months. Builders, who would routinely send their marketing teams to meet clients and net deals, are now doing the needful themselves.

Anand Reddy, executive director, PBEL, says that while earlier customers had to approach the builders, now “we are going to them’’. “We are making ourselves available 24X7 and trying to establish a comfort level with them, sharing details on home loans and the banks they could approach,’’ Reddy says.

Besides, tapping new customers is the mantra for most builders now as they are now approaching individual entrepreneurs and those in businesses other than IT.

But the excitement of receiving customer calls is evident. “Just today (Tuesday) I met a client who is on the verge of buying property and is looking for the right bank to take a loan from,” says Anwar Pasha, general manager, Sillicon Property Dealers, his excitement palpable over the phone. He shares that he is making personal visits now as against talking to potential customers over the phone. “I now have a one-on-one interaction with them,’’ he says.

Most builders are giving out each and every detail of the property they are developing in the fond hope that at least one detail would woo the customer. C Shekhar Reddy, president of Builders’ Forum, says that builders in the city over the last two weeks have suddenly seen some increased activity after a period of gloom and predictably, wouldn’t want such consumers to look any other way and grab their full attention.

Several real estate firms in the city had started downsizing over the last few months with much of their activity coming to a standstill. Construction activity of many upcoming projects had stopped and their phones had stopped ringing. Some builders had started placing advertisements explaining the downward economy and how it was the right time to buy property.

But consumers were clearly not convinced and what could eventually stir them was the drop in home loan interest rates.

Prem Kumar head of Doyen Constructions says that after a lull in the real-estate market the reduction of interest rates have brought some much needed cheer to the sector. “People want to take advantage of the situation and a number of buyers who had temporarily put their plans of purchasing property on hold, are now approaching real estate agents,” he says.

Shekhar Reddy notes how the high interest rates in the last few months had led to buyers thinking twice before availing of loans. “We were expecting a cut in home loan rates by March or April but fortunately the banks decided to reduce their rates earlier than expected,” says Reddy, adding that with builders lowering their property prices and interest rates declining conditions have become more balanced and conducive for buying.

However, some like Ashwin Rao, director of Manbhum Constructions is not too hopeful, with many private banks that control a large chunk of the home loan sector not slashing interest rates yet. “The rate cuts are uneven and even SBI’s move to increase demand is not adequate to encourage customers. And even though property prices have fallen they haven’t decreased at the rate that customers were expecting, so it is not going to bring a great change in the market,’’ he predicts.