Pune: As Dussehra marks the beginning of festive season ahead, developers in the city shared that there is overall cheer in the market with bookings steadily picking up. On the other hand, jewellers are claiming that people wanting to buy gold for investment purpose are looking for other options, while those buying jewellery continue to do so.
Shantilal Kataria, President of CREDAI, Maharashtra, said that this festive season has infused new energy and enthusiasm in the real estate industry, particularly for new projects.
He said, “New projects are coming in the required budget with respect to rate and area. We don’t have a mechanism to count bookings or sales but when I surveyed a small group, the result was very positive among developers. The mood is definitely upbeat among home buyers. It seems due to RERA, the confidence has increased. It is certain that ‘wait and watch’ attitude of the purchaser is over. Development of Metro, Ring Road, Airport, Daund-Lonavla local train, new IT corridors, etc, will keep Pune’s real estate sector shining. It is surely a right time to purchase.”
Similarly, Kapil Gandhi, MD of Sigma One Landmarks, said that the market has definitely picked up this year and the footfalls to projects were good this Dussehra. Sentiments were upbeat and now people have started seriously contemplating buying a house.
Gandhi added, “This year, the affordable housing segment has seen good sales numbers while premium segment is also picking up, which is a good sign. After a year of RERA, demonetisation and GST, the market now is stabilising and with developers giving attractive schemes, the sales have picked up. Buyers, who were sitting on the fence, have taken this opportunity and are now looking at immediate investments.”
High rates dampened the spirits of customers after the gold rates skyrocketed to Rs 32,000 per 10 gm for 24 carat gold and Rs 31,200 for 22 carat owing to the stock market crash of last week and the fall in the value of rupee against US dollar.
Dussehra sales were lukewarm as compared to last year due to two reasons. One was rate as it has gone up by 6 per cent in the last three months and secondly that the people have started realising the transaction cost impact due to the increase in GST as compared to VAT. Overall, there was less sale in quantity due to lack of interest in investment gold due to higher transaction cost but at same time, there was a maintained level for jewellery. So, people are preferring jewellery purchase rather than going for investment gold form,” said Amit Modak, CEO Director of PN Gadgil and Sons Limited.
Vastupal Ranka, Director of Ranka Jewellers, said, “We experienced lukewarm response at our stores. The total number of footfalls were lesser than we expected but definitely more than last year. The rates of gold have risen considerably and might have disheartened many of our customers. People purchased gold coins of 1-2 gm to assure themselves that they buy gold on this auspicious occasion. Only few bought hefty jewellery items.”
On the other hand, Saurabh Gadgil, Chairman and Managing Director of PNG Jewellers and National Vice President of Indian Bullion and Jewellery Association (IBJA), shared, “Consumer sentiment was positive and exciting. It all converted into good sales compared to previous two festive seasons. Due to volitity in the equity market, customers still have faith in investing in gold. A noteworthy trend observed is that though gold is available at estores and banks, customers still prefer to buy from traditional jewellers.”
