The abundance of fair visitors in previous years is just a handful of people interested in real estate bargains. “Our plan is to gather as many contacts as possible. We are not relying on sales or pre-contracts. People are less willing to sign contracts. They prefer analyzing opportunities,” Raluca Dan, Sales Consultant of the Israeli Globe Trade Centre (GTC), told Business Standard. GTC, a major active residential developer locally, is promoting its Colentina and Felicity projects at the fair. Gone is the abundance of generous stands, colorful scale models, and top foreign developers of previous years at the National Real Estate Fair (TNI), which began yesterday and will last until Sunday. Instead, small companies are offering discounts of up to 30 percent.
According to the event’s planners, exhibitors rented stands of 6-9 square meters at prices of €1,500-2,500 for the 4 day fair. “We are promoting a luxury project, Green Lake, whose average price is €2,070 per square meter, but we do not expect to sell it. We are just making it known to the public. For less expensive projects, we expect to sign at least some pre-contracts at least,” said the Head of Residential Department of the Media City real estate agency, Anda Marian. The level of pre-contracts has also dropped, to an average €1,500 from some €5,000 in 2008.However, some companies are still confident. “We have a partnership with BCR [Ed. n. Banca Comerciala Romana lender], and we are optimistic about sales at the fair. The lower VAT [Ed. n. value added tax] is very helpful, as are the discounts of up to seven percent for pre-contracts two weeks after the fair,” said the Sales Manager of RPF Development, Adrian Achim. (A.U.)
