Group Buying in Bangalore Gains Popularity

Bangalore: “Group buying” is a new trend where buyers can get discounts on multiple purchases by going in a group with relatives or friends.  Over the last six months, Bangalore is witnessing a steady growth in group buying and mid-ranged segment home buyers are mainly showing the interest as it reduces cost.

S Ganesh, a city-based real estate agent said “Group buying is not new to Bangalore; even before, families would build houses in one commonly held land, with often elderly parents, and married children with their families residing in each floor independently. What is different now is that this concept has gone beyond and friends and sometimes co-workers join together and approach a developer in a suitable locality and buy the entire set of apartments,” reports Kanchana Dwarakanath of MagicBricks.com.

 “Young families, with a double income of about Rs 1 Lakh plus and a small child is the segment that is going-in for group buys,” according to A K Khan, Proprietor, Meubels Developers.

“This segment wants to be close to schools and the market area, but does not have big budgets like the above Rs 3 lakhs per month segment. They also do not wish to spend too much on travel to their place of work. Thus, areas that are close to commercial establishments but a little away from the main road are where group buy apartments are coming up fast,” added Khan.

The city is observing the maximum demand for group buying in areas like interior Electronic city and areas close to Devanahalli. Although, the infrastructure in such locations are not well developed but potential group buyers are not paying much attention to it.

Group buying has some advantages as well. “We know what tastes the potential group buyers have and often make changes as per client requirements. For instance, in one of the projects, the entire group preferred light coloured granite for flooring, kitchen and bathroom walls (instead of tiles) and opted for a store room near the kitchen and no wood work. Thus cutting down on cost per flat remarkably,’’ according to Ganesh, reports MagicBricks.com.

Moreover, “This works out to be a win-win for all, price-wise and convenience-wise too, as often the groups already have a plan in place for maintenance of common areas and surroundings,’’ added Ganesh.

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