Builders were stuck with high-end apartments which had no takers. There was a severe drop in sales with people wanting to conserve resources. As a result, property prices too fell 30-45% since peak of 2007, according to industry estimates. But today the scenario is different, with builders getting a mix of mid end and affordable housing into their portfolio. Raminder Grover, CEO--Homebay Residential, Jones Lang LaSalle Meghraj, says the revival in sales has been, conservatively speaking, to the tune of around 25% across the mid-to-high income segments, according to his company's sales records. Rohtas Goel, CMD of Delhi-based Omaxe too says there has been a 30% increase in sales thanks to factors such as a reversal in general economic sentiment after the elections and more options available in affordable housing.

Statistics too would appear to bear this out. India's largest real estate developer DLF says it has sold almost 1,500 flats in various cities since April, notably some 400 flats in its mainstay market Gurgaon, 700 in Bangalore, 100 plots in Indore, 200 flats in Hyderabad and 50 in Cochin. Rival Unitech has managed to sell more than 4,000 units in the last two and a half months in the National Capital Region, Chennai and Mumbai. Omaxe has also sold almost 500 apartments in its Omaxe Eternity project in Vrindavan. Niranjan Hiranandani, MD of Hiranandani Developers says there had been a sale of 7,000 apartments across the industry, mainly in Mumbai suburbs, over the last 60 days. Despite indications of improving demand, builders don't seem to be in a hurry to raise prices. They are conscious that demand was up due to price cuts and the affordable housing strategy. Builders are loathe to do anything that could incipient recovery.

"We will not be looking at a price increase," says DLF's group executive director Rajeev Talwar. The company says it has cut prices by up to 30% from peak levels of 2007. Others point out that the demand is coming from the low-end housing segment comprising houses prices under Rs 25 lakh. "Buyers have come out of the waiting mode...By December, the situation is expected to become much better," said Mr. Goel of Omaxe. Mr. Hiranandani of Hiranandani Developers also agreed that affordable housing was selling the most right now, saying that while the overall market had improved, this particular segment was doing really well as buyers realised that the market has bottomed out. Bank officials SundayET spoke to also confirmed the trend of rising demand, and noted an increasing demand for home loans.

"Largely the demand is coming from the sub Rs 30-40 lakh category. Resale market is also showing high growth. However, there is lesser demand for new projects as well as in yet to be completed ones," said Kamlesh Rao, senior vice president at Kotak Mahindra Bank. "While during January-March, there was a growth of 10-15%, now it is around 15-20%." He is not alone. Officials at UCO Bank, Axis Bank and the country's top mortgage lender HDFC too agree that an improving sentiment had helped drive housing sales. "We are witnessing an increased interest from our clients. The condition has definitely improved over the last 3-4 months," says Sujan Sinha, senior VP and head of retail assets at Axis Bank. An HDFC spokesperson felt the growth is up month on month mainly due to decline in interest rate and the growth of affordable housing. "We are confident that we will achieve the 20% annual target growth," he said.