Ahmedabad Realtors Add Glamour to Hike Sales

Bangalore: Ahmedabad realty developers are now counting on celebrities to launch their projects. They have come forward with this innovative trend to gain property sales amidst low sales in real estate market, as expected by developers, reports Vinay Umarji of Business Standard.

Some prominent names like Amitabh Bachchan, Hema Malini, Juhi Chawla, Bappi Lahri and Darsheel Safary are in the list of celebrities who have graced the project launching events. For example, Juhi Chawla and Bappi Lahri were invited by Om Realty Group for the launch of a residential project ‘Nastaniya’ located on Ahmadabad’s suburb. Likewise, Amitabh Bachchan has become one identical name with Savvy Infrastructure’s Kensville Golf Course-cum-residential project on Nal Sarovar road, Ahmedabad.

Developers point out the emerging trend of celebrity involvement is because of the arrival of national players in Ahmedabad real estate market. For instance, Shukra Jewellers of Mumbai invited Hema Malini for their launch in residential project ‘Royalwoods’ in Ahmedabad. 

Suresh Patel, CMD of Surya Group, a real estate development firm cited that "The Ahmedabad real estate market is now gaining grounds outside the state of Gujarat with some national players also launching projects here. This has helped developers in gaining celebrities' nod for joining in with them," reports Business Standard.

However, Rajeev Shah, MD of RBSA, a real estate consulting and valuation Company, stated that in recent past property sales are already down by 80 percent and developers are facing problem to sell their inventories therefore they are trying to involve celebrities in project launching to attract buyers. But, buyers nowadays are smart enough to survey the property first before buying, rather than looking into celebrity part.

Apart from celebrity involvement, developers are also offering freebies like discount on Equated Monthly Installments (EMIs) and modular kitchens to attract buyers. Nirav Kothary, regional director of Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL) India quoted that “Incentivized schemes and freebies have risen in the past few months. However, these are some of the gimmicks by developers to hold on to their prices. Instead of reducing prices, they are offering value additions or freebies which are not any innovation in the products,” reports Business Standard.