Realtors try to beat slowdown blues with publicity push

Real estate advertising sees 30% jump in first Jan-Jun 2013

If the surge in realty-sector advertisements is any indication, the developers have clearly braced up to woo the buyers who had been deferring their plans to buy property in a slow market. In volumes, these ads jumped 30 per cent on television in the first six months of this calendar year, compared with the same period last year, TAM data showed.

These advertisements peaked during June. Pearls Infrastructure Projects, followed by Supertech Ltd and Jaipur Development Authority, topped the list of advertisers in the period.

Real estate companies are also rushing in with discounts and offers in the festive season, which accounts for a third of their total sales. Such discount offers have also increased, by 45-50 per cent. These might see further surge by Diwali and the year-end, when realtors try to clear their inventory, say experts.

An executive with a North India-based real estate firm says: “Advertising is the best medium to reach out to people and build a factor of trust and confidence among them. It may not help generate sales, but it has a positive impact on a developer’s brand.”

Sudhir Pai, business head, Magicbricks, a property-related portal, says: “There is no slowdown in developers’ marketing activities. They are trying to sell whatever they can in these two-three months of festival season and that is causing the advertisement rush.”

“We have seen a 40-50 per cent jump in number of clients/projects, compared with last year,” Pai adds. Websites like Magicbricks.com, 99acres.com and makaan.com, which are effective tools to research on residential properties across the country, are fast becoming the choice of consumers looking to rent/buy real estate, say experts.

Realistic Realtors Managing Director Harinder Singh says: “In real estate, people have a different mindset. If a developer is advertising, there is an assurance to brokers, channels, partners and customers that the product has got all the clearances. It is an important confidence-building exercise. Though, of course, the purpose of advertisements is to push sales.”

Real estate firms, battling a slowdown with high inventory levels and low sales, are betting big on festive-season demand for push to the sector. Also, for the past few months, the sector has roped in celebrities like Deepika Padukone, Aishwarya Rai and Shah Rukh Khan to endorse real estate projects across the country.

Shweta Jain, executive director (residential services), Cushman and Wakefield, says endorsement by celebrities in realty segment creates additional level of identity for a product and is a brand-building exercise for developers.

Besides, many developers have not delivered on their committed supply and there have been fewer launches this year. And, they are trying to clear their existing backlog without going for direct price cuts. Mumbai has an inventory of close to 48 months, Delhi of 23 months and Bangalore of 25 months. These are above the comfortable level of 14-15 months, according to a report by Jones Lang Lasalle.