In 15 days of March more than 10K housing sales took place in Mumbai. In December the sales figure stood at 19k above. Most attribute it to the stamp duty concession and the industry now wants the concession to remain.
By Varun Singh
Real Estate had it best festival of sales during the pandemic. A record was set in December when more than 19k sales took place in the city of Mumbai.
In the 15 days of March already sales had crossed the 10K mark.
The attribution for the high sales is to the stamp duty concession that was announced by the state government.
The state government in August 2020 announced a stamp duty cut.
The stamp duty cut between September 1, 2020 to December 31, 2020 was 3%.
Between January 1, 2021 to March 31, 2021 the cut is 2%. Within a week’s time from now, the stamp duty concession will be gone.
The real estate industry feels it should continue, the reason being that sales will continue as it is.
The government has remained silent what its stand would be on the concession from April 1.
Manju Yagnik, Vice-Chairperson, Nahar Group and Sr. Vice President, NAREDCO, Maharashtra says, “It is no surprise that as we approach the deadline of the stamp duty holiday of 3% from the original 5%, the industry along with buyers would want the government to look at an extension of stamp duty waiver at least till the end of 2021. We all know that the introduction of reduced stamp duty from mid-2020 proved a huge success and gave an extra impetus to the industry who, in the wake of the first national lockdown saw plummeting sales.”
Developers feel that the cut should be extended, as also with rising COVID cases not many are coming ahead for registration.
“There are a couple of reasons why the government should extend the stamp duty cut further. In the past few weeks, a large number of prospective flat buyers have not been able to go ahead with the process of completing the purchase of flats or paying stamp duty due to rising COVID cases etc. Also, the mechanism is such that it allows one to deposit stamp duty only in PSU banks leaving people with a limited option of time, especially with the bank holidays on account of Holi,” says Rohit Garodia, Managing Partner – Pecan Reams.
Developers also claim that the stamp duty cut has led to revival of the real estate industry.
Deepak Goradia, President CREDAI MCHI says, “The record breaking property registrations and the high demand that we witnessed due to the stamp duty rate cuts has led to a definitive path for the revival of not only the real estate industry but the entire state’s economy. In view of the drastic change in perception where consumers are more keen on buying instead of renting, we strongly feel that if the reduced rates are maintained beyond March 31, it will definitely ensure the continuation of high sales momentum that we’ve seen in the past 6 months.”
Meanwhile, developers are expecting that the stamp duty concession should be extended till end of this year.
“With a further extension of the stamp duty cut till Dec 2021, thousands of new home buyers along with the government would stand to benefit.”
Manju Yagnik, Vice-Chairperson, Nahar Group and Sr. Vice President, NAREDCO, Maharashtr
Also Read: Stamp Duty Concession, Woman To Pay 1% Less
