2012: A Year To Look Forward To

This new year has brought some good news for both property developers and home buyers. With stagnant property sales and unremitting high interest rates on home loans, last year proved to be a tough time for real estate. The government’s decision against raising stamp duty and registration fee, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) hinting at softening its stand on interest rates, the plan to increase floor space index (FSI) in metros and streamlining of the time-consuming approval procedure, 2012 has brought a lot with it to cheer about.

Welcoming the government’s decisions, managing director of Puranik Builders, Shailesh Puranik said, “The property market was quite dull in 2008, but it was rejuvenated in 2009. And 2009 was a really good year, wherein a large chunk of property sale was registered. Presently, the market has dipped 30% below the usual and we are hoping that 2012 will repeat the trend of 2009 by boosting the stagnant sale.” 

“Sales have been badly affected as many prospective buyers have become fence sitters. Most of them could not take the decision to buy the house in the volatile market. Now, the inflation is under control and the RBI will soon announce that it’s bringing down the lending rate. This will lower home loan interest rates and therefore, boost sales,” said Manohar Shroff, general secretary of the Maharashtra Chamber of Housing Industry.