Property sale picking momentum in city

The home loan rates may have shown a consistent increase for the past year but property sale is not as down as was being feared in Pune city.

The home loan rates may have shown a consistent increase for the past year but property sale is not as down as was being feared in Pune city. In fact,the property sale has increased this year compared to last year with businessmen in real-estate industry sector expecting that the trend will continue till the end of the year. In Pimpri-Chinchwad where construction activity is booming,flat sale is down by around 10 per cent.

Data obtained from the government and private sources have shown that the property sale had gained momentum this year. Sale and purchase of property figures provided by Joint District Registrar,Pune,show that there has been an increase this year. The total number of registrations between January and August,2010,including that of sale deeds,was around 7,900 in the city which has now increased to 82,000 from January to August this year.

Joint District Registrar,Pune,Kalyan Pandhare said the sale of property has increased. “The growth in sale has come about as the Pune economy has strengthened,” he said.

Story continues below this ad

However,real-estate body Confederation of Real Estate Developers Association of India (CREDIA) said the increase in sale is seen as purchase of property is an alternative investment mode and the growth is despite the hike in the labour and material costs. “The input cost of labour and material has shot up. There has been a consistent increase and the input costs have gone up by more than 30 per cent since 2009-10. Besides,there has been an increase in the tax rate,including the premium which is paid to the government on the clearance of building plans which has now gone upto 182 per cent. The sale during June and July usually remains low due to rain but now the sale has picked up in August,” said CREDIA member Kapil Gandhi.

CREDIA vice president Rohit Gera said the increase in August will continue towards the end of year. “The sale will further pick up after Diwali and continue till December end,” said Gera.

In Pimpri-Chinchwad,R B Doke,incharge at the registration office,said from April to August this year,2,290 flats have been purchased while last year the figure was 2,533. “The figure is certainly down but only by 10 per cent,” he said.

High rise

The market is growing for real estate sector despite substantial hike in property rates. In Kothrud,the increase in property rate has been from Rs 4,500 to 8,000 per square feet,in the last few years. In Baner and Deccan,property has been selling on an average rate of Rs 8,000 per square feet.

Click here to join Express Pune WhatsApp channel and get a curated list of our stories