New Delhi, Nov. 11: Television too is making money out of the real estate boom. Over the past year, there has been a three-fold increase in the number of such ads.

According to a recent survey by AdEx India, an arm of the TV ratings agency TAM Media Research, real estate commercials on TV increased 2.8 times over the period January-September 2006, compared to the same period in 2005.

And the increase followed another year which saw a big surge in ads for houses, apartments, plots and commercial property: in January-September 2005, real estate commercials grew 1.9 times over the same period in 2004.

Most of the ads are booked for the more expensive prime-time slot.

The analysis of property commercials broadcast during January-September 2006 shows that the number of property ads peaks in the morning (6 am to noon). There is a dip in the hours that follow, and a surge again to another peak during the 8 pm to midnight prime-time slot.

Most advertisers prefer news channels — particularly Hindi — to sell real estate dreams.

A big chunk (42 per cent) of property ads during the first nine months of 2006 was broadcast on Hindi news channels. Business channels got a 19 per cent share, regional entertainment channels 13 per cent, English news 10 per cent and regional news 7 per cent.

Familiar names made up the bulk of real estate TV ads.

The DLF Group contributed 20 per cent of the property ads in January-September 2006. Sahara India Housing Limited and Parsvnath Developers had an 11 per cent share each. Suncity Projects followed at 10 per cent.