Source: High Rise 

The subdued response at the recent land auction in Mumbai’s coveted Bandra Kurla complex indicates signs of cracks on the great wall of the property market.

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Indeed, sales volumes in the NCR region -- and even Mumbai -- have fallen by 50-60 per cent. Similarly, the sale of property is down by 30-40 per cent in Hyderabad, Chennai and Bangalore.

No wonder then, that developers of many projects have started offering incentives to homebuyers.

One such popular scheme aimed at attracting consumers is an EMI (Equated Monthly Installment) payment scheme. Here, the developer ties up with a bank for a certain project. The homebuyer pays only 15-20% of the property’s sale value upfront, at the time of booking. The bank will pay the remaining 80-85 per cent to the developer.

But now, developers are offering to bear the EMI cost of the home buyer till the date of possession of the apartment. This reduces the consumers’ burden to pay both the rent -- if he is currently living in a rented home -- as well as the EMI on the home loan.

The developer benefits as he gets 100 per cent of the apartment value in just a couple of days to fund the construction of his project, instead of getting the payment over 2.5 years, which is how the usual time and construction linked payment is made.

Some projects that offer this scheme:

• Parsvnath's Preston in Sonepat in the NCR
• City of Joy by the Nirmal Group in Mulund, a Mumbai suburb
• Vista by K Raheja corp
• Nahar Amrutshakti in Powai, Mumbai.

In Bangalore, some projects are offering the EMI scheme, while others offer free modular kitchens and furnished apartments in areas like Sarjapur, outer Ring road, Maratahalli and Whitefield.  

So, have you invested in the property market and are wondering whether to sell out?

Consultants advise that if you have already made a reasonable expected return or profit, there’s no better time to sell than now because there is not too much upside left in the property market, at least, for the next 18 months.