Registration of housing properties in Mumbai falls 42%

The registration of residential properties in Mumbai fell 42 per cent in April to 10,136 units as compared with the previous month, as fresh demand was affected due to the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic and expiry of the reduced stamp duty period, according to Knight Frank India.

The fall would have been steeper as over 90 per cent of the registrations were of the properties on which the stamp duties were already paid by the homebuyers before April 1 in order to avail lower stamp duties.

From September 2020 to March 2021, the Maharashtra government reduced the stamp duty by 2-3 per cent to boost housing demand amid the pandemic.

In December, It also gave a 4-month window for properties registration after paying the applicable stamp duties.

Knight Frank India said Mumbai (BMC region – Churchgate to Dahisar and Colaba to Mulund) recorded upwards of 10,000 residential property registrations in April 2021 as against 17,449 units in March.

However, it found out that only 7 per cent of these registrations were from new residential sales concluded in the same month.

As much as 93 per cent of the registrations were from properties transacted between December 2020 and March 2021.

For this, applicable stamp duties were paid during the lower rate window, the consultant said.

Knight Frank India chairman & managing director Shishir Baijal said, "The residential real estate sector had shown a healthy bounce back in the past few months backed by reduced stamp duty, contributing greatly to the state's exchequers."

The demand stimulus provided by the state government helped the sector inch back, providing employment and economic stability, he said.

Baijal said the stamp duty sop was a master stroke that kept the sector and indeed the state economy buoyant during the pandemic.

"In April 2021, as the government withdrew the reduction in stamp duty, coinciding with the second wave of the pandemic resulting in a virtual lockdown, demand and sales of new homes was severely impacted," he added.

Therefore, he demanded that the state government should reconsider measures to reinvigorate demand such as reduction in stamp duty.