Builders face a trust deficit

KOCHI: ‘Trust, isn’t that all?’ ( Viswasam athhalle ellam?) This particular line in a popular advertisement with a movie star endorsing a product seems to haunt many who are planning to buy a villa or flat in Kochi these days. After the infamous Apple-A-Day scam that left more than 1,000 customers cheated and homeless, and allegedly swindled around Rs 100 crore from the buyers, the credibility of builders has become the most important factor in the real estate industry. For, the scam has made people cautious about spending their hard-earned money. The impact of the scam is that those who invested money in houses and apartments earlier have stopped doing so. Though the builders claim that the scam has not impacted the industry negatively, there has been a considerable change in the category of buyers. According to the builders there are two types of buyers- those who buy an apartment or villa as an investment option and the other which buys a property for accommodation. The builders term the second group of buyers ‘serious buyers.’  “Only ‘serious buyers’ purchase a villa or a flat nowadays. They buy it for  personal purpose, rather than as an investment. It is true that the number of people investing in houses or flats has come down,” said a builder.“The scam has not affected the industry in total but it is a fact that it has created  fear among the people. Now, people are looking for completed or sure-to-be-completed projects only. With this, booking at the time of announcements has also vanished,” said John Thomas, secretary of the Confederation of Real Estate Developers Association of India (CREDAI) - Kochi  Credibility has become the unique selling proposition (USP ) of the builders now. “After the scam, each builder has to be more transparent about his activities. He has to give an assurance to the customers that the project would be completed and that they would not be cheated,” he said.  John is of the opinion that builders who have  a fine track record have not been affected by the scam in any way.