Ekam and Roma Bansal’s (names changed on request) dream of owning a home came true last month when they booked a 12th-floor two-bedroom apartment on the Greater Noida Expressway, near Delhi. They will be paying about Rs 30 lakh, of which some Rs 20 lakh will financed by a loan.
The Bansals are thanking their stars that they failed to seal a deal in the past two years they were looking to buy an apartment. Prices in the National Capital Region (NCR) are currently down a third from their peak at the end of 2007 and the slowdown has forced property developers to drop prices and build cheaper, compact homes that fit the budget of those such as the Bansals. Their builder Unitech was down in the dumps earlier this year as real estate prices crashed and buyers disappeared. The company is now patting itself on the back after deciding to launch so-called affordable homes, the relatively lower-priced apartments that are attracting buyers such as the Bansals.
Unitech says it sold 8.16 million sq ft of residential space between March and September out of a total of 10.11 million sq ft, helping it post revenues of Rs 3,913 crore that are higher than in the boom years of 2006 and 2007. And all the apartments it sold were in the affordable category, costing less than Rs 30 lakh apiece.
More : economictimes.indiatimes.com
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