Offer Sweeteners to Homebuyers: Deepak Parekh

HDFC Chairman Deepak Parekh has urged state governments to offer sweeteners to homebuyers by providing temporary stamp duty waivers to boost housing demand. “Customers today prefer ready-to-move-in homes over those under construction. I do hope that some state governments will offer some sweeteners like say a temporary stamp duty waiver to encourage more homebuyers,” Parekh told shareholders at the 43rd Annual General Meeting of HDFC. In the residential sector, he said inherent demand for home loans continues to remain strong and the combination of low interest rates, fiscal incentives and softening of realty prices bodes well for new homebuyers. With regard to the housing sector, he said the inherent demand for home loans continues to remain strong and the combination of low interest rates, fiscal incentives and softening of realty prices bodes well for new homebuyers. He also discounted the impact of work-from-home (WGFH) culture on commercial realty, saying that many large firms were using the lockdown as an opportunity to buy up properties when prices are low. Parekh said there is a misconception that demand for commercial real estate will diminish with more companies opting to WFH. “However, many large companies have in fact acquired or leased commercial properties during this period, particularly in Bengaluru and Hyderabad,” he said. The commercial real estate sector has been impacted largely due to massive migration of labour, which is making resumption of projects a challenge. “The sector needs support and policies are needed which will encourage labourers to return to construction sites with adequate precautions and protection. This is important because construction is the second largest employment generator in the country,” he said. Parekh sees demand for real estate from newer sectors like warehousing, e-ecommerce companies and from cloud and data centres as they seek to increase their data storage capacities.