There seems to be no bottoming out in the slump in Bombay's real estate prices, which have been sliding since the second quarter of 1995.
Prices have fallen to barely 60 per cent of the March 1995 levels.
Several corporates - such as Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M), Lloyds Steel, Videocon, Godrej and the Great Eastern Shipping Co (Gesco) - which made a foray into the property sector at the height of the boom between 1991 and 1994, are desperate to sell flats in projects launched after 1995.
Not that they were willing to say they had a problem on their hands. They said their names guaranteed quality and reliability.
'It is our brand name that carries weight with people, because we are delivering quality,' V.K. Sheth, executive director of Gesco, said. 'We have had no problem selling flats in our projects.' Officials of M&M Realty said Phase 1 of their Ghatkopar project, in northeastern Bombay, was almost sold out.
Gesco's real estate managers said demand was good for their 21-floor GE Royale at Tardeo, central Bombay, and another residential building nearing completion in Juhu, in the northwestern suburbs.
However, some companies that accepted down payments for flats are having difficulty collecting the balance.