In Ahmedabad, July-September home launches drop by 77%
With real estate project launches gettinghampered due to sluggish pace of building plan approvals under Online Development Permission System (ODPS), the supply of new homes in Ahmedabad declined 77% during July-September period this year. Data compiled by a real estate research and data analytics firm, PropEquity, shows that only 729 new residential units were launched in Ahmedabad in the third quarter (July-Sept) of 2018 as compared to 3,131 units in the corresponding period last year. The launches declined 63% on quarter- on-quarter basis as 1,944 homes came into the market between April and June (Q2) 2018. Residential unit sales in the city also declined by 40% year-on-year. Sales of homes in Ahmedabad declined to 3,137 units in the third quarter of 2018 as against 5,208 units in July-September 2017. Real estate players say that realty project launches were adversely affected due to delays in getting building plan approvals under ODPS, which came into effect from May 1, 2018. "In absence of building plan approvals, developers cannot apply for registering their projects under RERA. According to the RERA Act, real estate projects cannot be advertised without RERA registrations. Hence, the new launches were hit in July to September period," said a city-based real estate developer. Realty projects aggregating to Rs 8,000 crore were stuck in Ahmedabad alone due to lack of approval under ODPS. However, the new launches will again start picking up in months to come as the state government has for the time being allowed manual approval of building plans, while continuing the online system as well. The decision was taken after several representations by real estate bodies in Gujarat. Although Dussehra is considered an auspicious day for launching real estate projects, only 15 new real estate projects were announced on Dussehra. Last year also, Dussehra launches remained muted due to the implementation of Goods and Services Tax (GST). "However, as many as 50 projects hit the market on Dussehra in 2016," said an industry player.
Tags : News/Views