Mumbai property registrations at 8-year high in November, up 67% on year

Mumbai

Residential property sales in Mumbai, the country's hottest property market, have continued to record a spike in registration in the festive month of November surpassing not only pre-Covid19 sales momentum but also registering the highest monthly performance in the last nearly eight years both in terms of volume and total value.

Registration of housing sales in the country's commercial capital rose 67% from a year ago to 9,301 deals in November led by record-low housing loan interest rates, festive offers, discounts and the reduction in stamp duty. The deals are 57% higher than pre-Covid19 month of February and 17% higher than October sales registration.

"The pace of registration has been increasing every month since the announcement of reduction in stamp duty by the state government. While stamp duty collection also continues to rise every month, it still shows a drop based on the year-on-year comparison due to the concession provided by the state government to promote the real estate sector," Shridhar Dube-Patil, Deputy Inspector General of Registration, Mumbai division, told ET.

In terms of value, the market has recorded sales worth Rs 14,395 crore, up 67% from a year ago and 64% higher than pre-Covid19 month of February. The value of homes sold during the month is up 23% from October.

The October performance was the fourth highest monthly sales registration volume and value since April 2013 and now November has topped the monthly activity tally since then.

"Homebuyers are clearly rushing to lock the benefit of lower interest rates, discounts and most importantly stamp duty reduction, which is available for a limited period until March. The numbers are almost at an 8-year high as both pent up demand and fresh enquiries are getting converted into sales," said Sandeep Reddy, Director, Propstack.

In August, the government of Maharashtra had announced reduction in stamp duty on property registrations to 2% for transactions between September 1 and December 31 from 5% earlier.

The stamp duty will be 3% for agreements to be registered between January 1 and March end.

"All the factors including the most important stamp duty reduction, all-time low home loan rates, price rationalization by developers has culminated into unprecedented conversion of this demand. Homebuyers' benefit in terms of acquisition prices is anywhere around 15% and they are taking advantage of this," said Boman Irani, Vice President, CREDAI-MCHI.

While the home sales activity in the country's most expensive property market has recovered sharply from a year ago as well as pre-Covid levels, stamp duty collection has declined given the reduction in rates announced by the state government.

In November, the stamp duty collection stood at Rs 288 crore as against Rs 438 crore in February and Rs 429 crore in November 2019. However, it has increased from last month's collections of Rs 233 crore.

In October, the stamp duty collection stood at Rs 233 crore as against Rs 438 crore in February and Rs 443 crore in October 2019. However, it has increased from last month's collections of Rs 181 crore.

The stamp duty reduction has not only helped converting pent-up demand in the mid-income and affordable segment, but has also promoted the conclusion of several large-ticket transactions in the city and the trend is expected to pick up further.

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