leading to higher prices of projects and property

The uptick has however led realty players to increase property prices. Ramnath believes that new properties launched in Mumbai, for example, were offered at 10-15 per cent higher property prices as against their lows in March 2009 quarter. Moreover, real estate developers are now offering properties without any discount and freebies (such as waiver of stamp duty and registration charges of properties).Says Dutt, “Real estate Developers in key cities have been hiking prices to test the flexibility of the real estate market. At first, this trend was evident only in the luxury and semi-luxury segments, but it has now percolated down to the mid-income housing segment as well.” A good example is DLF’s Capital Greens project in Delhi. DLF increased its prices at Phase II of this real estate project to Rs 6,750 per square feet in September 2009, which is at a 30 per cent premium to those in Phase I launched in April 2009.