After a one-year period starting 3Q 2009, which saw a strong recovery with a record 40%+ increase in prices, the Mumbai residential real estate market has been seeing a slowdown over the last two quarters across various micro markets.
This week has been a good one for investors in real estate shares, who had seen their investments lose 30%-55% in value over the past six months in the wake of a number of corruption allegations involving the sector.
It’s been a weak start to the year for the Mumbai real estate market with the number of property sales registered in India’s financial capital continuing to fall for the second consecutive month.
As the Reserve Bank of India meets to review its monetary policy tomorrow, Thursday, the realty sector is getting panicky that if there is a rate hike the sector may see some more pains in the coming days.
Buying land can be a time-consuming and expensive affair. Not only can the initial phase of buying it be quite complicated, but the cost involved in maintaining a purchased plot can also be quite high.
Maharashtra Chambers of Housing Industry (MCHI), most prominent body of the real estate developers today described the Union Budget presented by the Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee as “Budget with few positive steps focused on the common man who is interested in buying a house in rural and urban areas”.
Reforms in the real estate sector is the need of the hour for tackling issues like high stamp duty which often results in otherwise honest people having to deal in black money, according to the Economic Survey 2010-11 tabled by Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee in the Lok Sabha on Friday.
Nearly all the real estate developers, a whopping 96 per cent, across the country are cribbing for the sectors’ continued under representation in the Union Budget over the years.
The time of the year has come when everyone is dreaming about the Finance Minister’s briefcase. Though real estate is ready with its list of expectations, experts believe that this year it would be good to expect much from the government owing to the kind of fiscal deficit government is going through. Expectations are high because of the increase in home loan interest rates, which have hampered the affordability of the buyer.
While the Indian realtors have often cribbed on the issue of under representation of the sector in respective budget, they have seldom admitted the fact that the real estate has been a divided house over their wants and needs. Navin M Raheja, MD, Raheja Developers suggests a way out and asserts that tax sops given to real estate will actually increase the government revenue.