Real estate aiming to do better in 2019
The combined effects of the real estate law, the goods and services tax (GST) and demonetisation hurt India’s real estate sector in such a manner that 2017 became one of the worst years for residential real estate. Sector players hoped for better times in 2018. Although some positive signs were visible in 2018, but still a lot remains to be done. According to a Proptiger report, on the positive side, the downslide in homes sale numbers has been arrested and the sector has moved out of the bottom of sales cycle. Since building within the deadline is mandatory under the real estate law, completion rate of housing projects has improved, too. “While there is a lot to be done before it is able to benefit the sector in a manner it is expected to, the real estate law gained ground in 2018. And affordable housing continues to get the government’s attention. However, the sector is not short of challenges as issues pertaining to lack of capital have emerged during the year while some bankruptcy cases against developers stay unresolved,” says the report. Across cities, there has been a significant rise of 55% in unit completions over the previous year (2017). Mumbai and Pune contributed nearly 36% of the total unit completions during 2018. Kolkata, on the other hand, witnessed a decline of 19% in the number of units delivered. It is expected that around 8.78 lakh units may be delivered by the end of 2020, of which about 2.5 lakh units are likely to be delivered in Mumbai alone.
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