The demand for homes with an extra room or an extra toilet, which started during the pandemic, is continuing and builders are constructing flats keeping such demands in mind.
Increasing the size of a dwelling so the rooms are more spacious or carving out a separate study are some of the changes that builders have brought in, conversations with realtors at the Anandabazar Patrika and The Telegraph Real Estate Fair 2023 on Saturday revealed.
Till a year ago, one did not know whether the demand for bigger homes would continue but real estate builders said buyers were still looking for spacious rooms.
“The size of our 3BHK or 2BHK dwellings has gone up. This has been done to give more space. Buyers are now looking for a grand experience as they are spending more time in their homes,” said Sankalan Mukherjee, general manager (sales and marketing), Rajat Group, which is showcasing two of its projects at the real estate fair.
Lalit Bhutoria, the managing director of Gems Group, echoed a similar assessment.
“We are now keeping more 3BHKs in our projects than we used to before the pandemic. This change has been necessitated by the demand for bigger homes from buyers,” Bhutoria said.
Gems Group is showcasing two of its projects at the fair. The two-day fair at South City Mall’s atrium started on Saturday and will be on from noon till 8pm on Sunday.
An organiser said this was the third time the fair was being held at South City Mall because of the overwhelming response they received on the previous occasions.
Visitors will get to interact with officials of companies and explore projects by eight developers under the same roof.
“Visitors can ask for site visits, they book a home if they like it,” said an organiser.
Day 1, Saturday, saw a total of around 246 leads or inquiries from visitors, an organiser said.
Among real estate companies at the fair are Gems Group, Rajat Group, Amratya Projects, Ideal Real Estates, Alcove New Kolkata, Rajwada Group, DTC Group, Atri and Ambuja.
The State Bank of India (SBI) is the lender that has a stall at the fair.
The builders said the sharp rise in home loan interest rates has not affected the real estate market negatively.
“Buyers know that the current rates are standard. The interest rates that prevailed during the pandemic were low and people understand that such rates cannot go on forever,” said a builder.
Builders said they were happy with the introduction of the West Bengal Real Estate Regulatory Authority. The Bengal government recently launched the website of the authority, which allows builders to register their projects above a certain size with the authority. The website had not been operational for a long time though the authority was formed in October last year.
Bhutoria said the presence of the authority had made things more transparent.
“There is greater clarity about a project. Customers are also happy because they know that a project has to be delivered within the deadline,” he said.