Indian buyers usually pay for apartments before construction has been completed. Many buyers do not take out mortgage loans (the ratio of housing loans to GDP is less than 5% in India).
The Income Tax department has sent notices to real estate companies, MMRDA, CIDCO stating that all land lease sales or transfers attract a 10% tax, sources said.
The finance ministry has asked the central bank to bar real estate firms from seeking banking licences and alter conditions relating to financial inclusion and stake dilution by promoters.
The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) has said there is a need to improve the infrastructure and increase in flow of capital in the housing segment, given the increase in the land prices.
Real estate developers have expressed their reservations to the proposed Real Estate Bill 2011, which is likely to see light by this year-end.
Mumbai saw a steep rise in property prices during the boom period of 2008. However, the economic slowdown in 2009 led to a property market crash which made itself very tangible in Mumbai in the first quarter of 2009, stabilizing by the middle of year and rising again between the 3rd and 4th quarters.
The Association of Builders and Developers of Thrissur (ABD) will merge with the Confederation of Real Estate Developers’ Associations of India (CREDAI), the apex body for private real estate developers in India.
The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) said in a report released on Friday that the Income-Tax Department (I-T) understated claims on Pune-based businessman Hasan Ali.
The concept of international, standardized luxury floor space must evolve further before India can absorb the demand. Developers must come up with more imaginative ideas of differentiating their luxury malls from the run-of-the-mill.
Global commercial real estate firm Jones Lang LaSalle has announced the firm is donating 100 million yen (approximately $1.25 million) to the Japanese Red Cross to provide aid and relief directly to those most in need following the Japan earthquake and Pacific Tsunami that have left a path of destruction in their wake.