Majid Khan, Rahul Dev and Partha Chakraborty were at South City Mall on Sunday afternoon to scout for a home of their choice at a real estate fair.
The sellers were happy with the footfall. Some said the interest among prospective buyers was back to the pre-pandemic levels.
The 12 real estate companies that participated in the two-day Gems Group presents Anandabazar Patrika and The Telegraph Real Estate Fair, Kolkata, 2022, which ended on Sunday, received about 1,100 leads. Officials of the companies said some of the leads could turn into business if the prospective buyers were happy after visiting the site or after learning more details of the project.
The fair was held in association with Alcove Realty and Camellia Group.
An organiser of the fair said that buoyed by the response, they had extended the time of the fair by 30 minutes on Sunday.
“By the end of Sunday afternoon, we had over 200 leads for multiple projects. This is a very good response. We found many eager and serious customers,” said Yash Vardhan Kejriwal, executive director of Pioneer Property Management, a company that markets real estate projects of multiple developers.
Kejriwal said many visitors were looking to invest in gated communities, a change in preference triggered by the experience of living through a lockdown when one couldn’t even visit a park.
Gated communities give residents the necessary open and green space, he said.
Sankalan Mukherjee, general manager (marketing and sales) of Rajat Group, was happy at being able to present the group’s projects at a real estate fair “after a very long gap owing to the pandemic”.
“A real estate fair was held after a very long gap and that itself was a welcome step,” said Mukherjee.
The group was marketing Southern Vista, its project on the Southern Bypass comprising 138 row bungalows.
Launched in February 2021, half the bungalows have been sold, highlighting the demand for private space as well green open areas, he said.
A notable presence of young people — in their 20s and 30s — was a standout feature of the fair. Majid Khan, 32, was looking for a home where he and his fiancée — who accompanied Khan — would move in after their marriage.
Partha Chakraborty, 25, was at the fair with his father. He was looking for a flat close to a hospital so that if he moved out of the city, his parents would not face much problems accessing healthcare even during an emergency by themselves.
Rahul Dev, 36, an IT professional, visited the fair with his wife. The couple wants to buy a flat that is close to their offices. The participating builders said they noticed high demand for the affordable housing segment. Eden Realty, which was marketing Solaris Joka, Bonhooghly and Serampore — all in the affordable category — had about 100 leads.
Biswadeep Gupta, director (marketing), Eden Realty, said: “We launched Solaris Shalimar in August. All 832 units were sold in the 30-day campaign period. We have a waiting list of 300 people for the five towers that are coming up.”