This is the era of gifts. The `buy one, get one free' formula seems to be the marketing rage of Kerala flat these days. Offers of freebies, discount melas and package schemes rule the roost. The trend has apparently started entering the property and real estate sector as well. Though a `buy one apartment, get one free!' offer is not exactly in the offing, builders and property developers have also started to come up with special offers and gifts for wooing the customers.

Even in Kerala, many builders are offering discounts for a spot-booking of apartments a property fairs and melas. The trend seems to be gaining ground, much to the chagrin of the earlier entrants into the field. The Kerala Builders Forum (KBF), the apex organisation of the builders in the State, has issued a stringent notice to its members against making such `unrealistic' offers.

The offers are sometimes unusual like this one, for instance. Suppose you buy a flat worth Rs.12 lakhs from this builder. After about one-and-a-half years, the builder will buy back the apartment at Rs.16 lakhs, leaving you with a balance of Rs.4 lakhs in your pocket.

That is the question. Is this trend going to effect any change in the real estate scenario of the State? Is it because a burgeoning of builders? Are the builders turning desperate, wooing customers at any cost? Or, is it the desperation of new entrants into the field? These questions will be answered by time.