'Lower rates, discounts to bring fence-sitting buyers in market'

The fence-sitting buyers are likely to come into the market with a firm intention to buy a home if lower interest rates coincide with a hard discount or some other money-saving offer, says property consultant Jones Lang LaSalle.

"We keep hearing of the 'wait-and-watch' or 'fence-sitting' syndrome on the residential property market, which basically means that a significant number of people who want to buy a home are not doing so for various reasons, including expectation of price correction, lower interest rates, among others," Anarock Property Consultants CEO Ashwinder Raj Singh said.

It is frequently said that buyers may also be waiting for lower interest rates on home loans, especially in the affordable housing segment, he noted.

"However, lower interest rates alone are not a sufficiently compelling rationale for aspiring mid-range housing buyers to abandon their 'wait-and-watch' mode.

"If, however, the lower interest rates coincide with a hard discount or some other money-saving offer, many people will certainly come onto the market with a firm intention to finally buy a home," Singh said.

As long as unofficial discounts to serious buyers serve the purpose, it is unlikely that there will be an official correction of prices, he said.

"In other words, it is unwise to wait for a formal price correction, since prices may not reduce and could even increase in certain locations and projects," Singh said.

"The best course of action for 'fence-sitting' buyers today is to short-list the properties they are interested in, ensure that they are RERA-compliant, negotiate the best possible deal with the developer and go in for purchase," he added.