Ajit John
PANJIM: The state is a popular spot for tourists, attracting increasing number of visitors from all over the country as well as the world. This has resulted in some staying for extended periods of time and others taking a conscious decision to settle in Goa. This resulted in an increase in the demand for the several apartments that were being constructed around the state.
The rate per square metre in some of the more fashionable addresses of the state touched Rs 35,000 to 40,000 and then went on to breach the Rs 50,000 mark.
The ban on mining however punched a big hole in the balloon. The market prior to the ban on mining witnessed several purchases by individuals residing in Mumbai and Delhi. Their apartments were considered holiday homes and were essentially occupied in the month of December or occasionally during other festivals. A lot however has changed in the last one year.
Brokers contacted by the Herald revealed that business had slumped and that a market that was rife with speculators is now limping along.
Raj of Shree Ganesh Land a broker based in Panjim claimed that the majority of speculators had left the market and today it would be safe to say that there possibly 25% of those speculators now left in the market.
They, he also said, were now very circumspect in their purchases. During the early days he said where people purchased plots without looking at the antecedents of the builder. The days when business was good he said properties on the coastal belt were very popular. Today he said there were Goan families based in the gulf who were keen on buying properties. The families who were based here usually purchased the flats to live in them.
With regards to those who were purchasing the flats as an investment, Raj said that there was also a drop in the number of people who gave it out on rent. According to him earlier almost everyone who purchased a flat earlier would give it out on rent but that was not happening now.
According to his estimates it had now dropped to anywhere between 25% and 40%. Asked why this was so, he attributed it to the low rents that were now in vogue in the market.
Sophia Fernandes of Insight Strategic Solutions another broker based in Margoa said that the investor today was interested in holding on to his or her money. They were also now more discerning and were only interested in investing projects of builders who had a good reputation.
They were also looking at the three cardinal rules before investing in a property. They were checking the history of the property before making any decision, reputation of the builder and percentage of the job completed before making any decision.
Asked if there was a drop in the number of enquiries for new properties she said it was imperative in this industry to organise events to highlight properties.
She said “ that has not happened this year which mean the number of enquiries have dropped dramatically. Look at the business last year in terms of advertisements released by reality companies, there were a lot which meant we had a lot of enquiries but this year there has been a 60-70% drop in the number of enquiries. Please understand in this business there are no walkins”.
A broker who did not want to come on record said that people were still looking out for projects by builders like Commonwealth in the south and Milroc, Models, Acron and Riveira in the north to invest.
This he attributed to the confirmed quality of the project. He also said that the number of investors had also reduced due to the hassles faced by those who had purchased land in the past and wanted to build bungalows.
He went on to explain by saying that it was normal for anyone from outside the state buying land to come up against the panchayat or a local group who would go around opposing what they wanted to do on the land they now owned. This he claimed had happened in Varca, Benaulim to name a few places. Land in Goa he said was at a inflated price and it had to reduce by 20-30 % .
The market is down and no one seems to have an idea how long this will continue and felt that if the ban on mining was removed it could get the local buyer interested but the days of the large numbers of outstation buyers may well be over.
