Mumbai property market on record-setting spree, February scales over 10,000 registrations
Mumbai
Property registrations in Mumbai, the country’s biggest real estate market, have continued to reflect robust momentum in February, surpassing the pre-pandemic levels witnessed two years ago by a wide margin.
This is also the first time since the stamp duty reduction benefit came to an end last year, the city has seen monthly registration of over 10,000 apartments. In terms of revenue to the state exchequer, the month has recorded the best February ever with over Rs 561 crore stamp duty collection.
The country’s commercial capital witnessed registration of over 10,026 residential deals in February, showing data from the Inspector General of Registration, Maharashtra. This registration number is up 23% from January, which itself was a 10-year record.
February 2020, the month just prior to the outbreak of the Covid19 pandemic in India, had witnessed registration of 5,927 residential deals and the performance recorded this month has surpassed this pre-covid level by over 70%.
“Mumbai, apart from being the country’s largest realty market, is now also one of the strongest growth markets. A slew of measures like the progressive budget, availability of the lowest home loans rates and a good homebuying environment is driving this growth. We expect this uptrend to continue in the months to come and hope that the government remains supportive,” said Boman Irani, President of realtors’ body CREDAI-MCHI.
Record-low interest rates, incentives, and stable pricing have been prompting a robust response from homebuyers for nearly 6 quarters and now the fear of a price hike due to cost-push or an upward revision in government rates is also pushing the sales velocity.
“We are seeing good traction in sales activity across categories and micro-markets, robust conversion of inquiries into deals. It is an indication of positive sentiment combined with low interest rates and stable pricing that is translating into business momentum. With all positive factors in place, most homebuyers have realised this is the best time to buy,” Vikas Chaturverdi, CEO, Xanadu Group that handles sales and marketing of several developers across their portfolios. “Both western and central suburbs of Mumbai are leading the sales activity.”
According to Irani, the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR) posting sustainable growth for the last several months is extremely encouraging news for over 250 ancillary industries and job creation in general.
With the central bank maintaining its stance on low policy interest rates, and developers providing attractive offers, sales trajectory has been on the rise with monthly sales surpassing even pre-pandemic levels seen in 2018 and 2019.
The Mumbai property market has been buzzing with activity since the state government announced a reduction in stamp duty rates in 2020 to kickstart the realty sector and other industries linked with it.
The reduced stamp duty had led to a surge in the number of transactions across segments including luxury, mid-income and affordable housing. While the lower stamp duty benefit window period ended in 2020, the property markets across key cities of Maharashtra are still witnessing robust activity.
Kailash Babar, ET Bureau
Source - content.magicbricks.com
