Kolkata Real Estate Experts Suggest Sellers to Wait for Another six Months

While everybody is speaking about how good an opportunity it is to put in your money in real estate now, investors who intending to sell could do well waiting for about six more months to get some added advantage, say experts. “It depends on at what level they had entered. In another three to six months the market will be stable and input costs are anticipated to rise after that. Since there are no major projects that have been announced, there will be strain on supply. People should wait for at least six months before starting to sell,” said Pradeep Sureka, managing director of Bengal Park Chambers Housing Development Ltd. He added that ideally a twoyear wait would bring in maximum returns.
Debjani Mukherjee Sarkar, general manager — marketing of Bengal NRI and Varun Kathotia, director — marketing of Fort Group agreed. “In the past two months, the trend has shown that the market is picking up. The Bengal NRI, however, believes that people should wait for around six months to get an appreciation of about 10 to 15 per cent,” she said. “Land prices have not changed much and unless one can strike a very good deal, it is better to wait another four months before one sells a property,” Kathotia said. Some said in a couple of years, there would be major rise in property prices. “Those who had invested between 2005 and 2007, early 2008 had been the best time to sell off. At the moment, the market is slightly down and it is the right time to buy rather than sell. By 2011, there will be another 20 to 30 per cent jump in the market and that will be the ideal time to sell,” said Mayank Saksena, associate director of Joneslang Lasalle Meghraj.
“Two years from now, there will be a more than 30 per cent rise in prices,” said Sumeet Dabriwala, managing director of United Credit Belani Group. He added that people should wait for six months to one year because the condition at present was just the beginning of an uptrend. Many divided investors into different categories. “Selling will depend on when the person had taken possession of the property. If he is an old investor, this time is good enough to fetch him a profit and if he has been a recent investor, it will be better for him to wait for some time as the market has stabled and from here, it will only improve. In another year, the market will improve at least 10 per cent,” said Rahul Todi, managing director of Shrachi.
Rajesh Somani of Somani Realtors classified investors according to the amount of money they had spent. “People who had put in their money in properties of over Rs 40 lakh can sell them off as market growth in that segment is very slow but for investors under Rs 30 lakh, it will be advisable to wait for another six months, because the market is showing a positive trend,” he said. “The market has stabilised. People who had bought a correctly priced property will get better returns than bank interest, but those who purchased at exorbitant prices, expecting to make a fortune, will suffer a loss. Sellers who can afford to wait for another six months will get better return. The slowdown has put a check on speculative buying,” said Biswadeep Gupta, general manager of Eden City Group.
Sushil Mohta, managing director of Merlin Group, said two factors crucial to selling were whether the deal was mutually beneficial to both the seller and the buyer and whether it satisfied the consumer’s requirements. As long as these conditions were fulfilled, selling could take place. “Now, when the market sentiment has changed and developers have become more approachable, consumers are finding it easier to visit them and discuss in details their buying or selling decisions. Moreover, in such conditions, developers extend extra cooperation and added incentives to consumers, making deals more lucrative,” he said.
A few experts do not anticipate much of a rise in the near future. “Going by my interest, they should be buying, but realistically speaking, all buying and selling should be held for another three months,” said Kumar Shankar Bagchi, managing director of Bengal Peerless. Asked whether there will be a similar boom in two years, he said, “There will be, but prices will not soar to the level at which they were in the near past, before the financial crash. What happened was a catastrophe, caused by individuals who kept investing endlessly. They have learnt a lesson and I am sure that kind of situation will not rise again in my lifetime.” Harshvardhan Neotia, chairman and managing director of Ambuja Realty said he didn’t see any significant appreciation in the short run. “If one needs the money, one will have to sell anyway, but if one has the retaining capacity, one should wait for another couple of years before any considerable rise in property price,” he said.
“I believe that the decision should be based on the necessity to raise capital. I do not see any sharp increase in the value of real estate in the immediate future. Then again prices of real estate are dependent on location of the property and it is difficult to make a general statement,” said Santosh Rungta, president of the Confederation of Real Estate Developers’ Associations of India (CREDAI).