Riding on festive fervour, real estate betters pre-Covid numbers in Gujarat

GANDHINAGAR: In what is a strong indicator of Gujarat’s real estate market shaking off Covid-19 blues and staging a bounce back, the state government’s stamp duty and registration fee revenue in September and October this year has surpassed the collection in the corresponding period last year.
State government clocked an income of Rs 1,271 crore as stamp duty and registration fee in September-October this year. Correspondingly, the state had earned Rs 1,187 crore in the same period in 2019.

Market experts said that the realty sector which had got depressed during Covid lockdown recorded a healthy recovery especially during Navratri month ahead of Diwali festivities.
The festival of Navratri is considered auspicious for realty deals. While Navratri was celebrated during September last year, it was celebrated in October this year.
Officials of the state stamp duty & collection office said they expect this upward trend to continue post Diwali.
“The real estate sector is witnessing fairly good number of transactions and we expect revenue to rise further. Total collection for 2020 may be lower than last year’s due to prolonged lockdown and pandemic situation. The gap will however be lower than expected,” the official said.
President of Gujarat chapter of Confederation of Real Estate Developers Associations of India (CREDAI) Ashish Patel explained, “Most real estate sales recorded are a backlog from February till July. The overall stamp collection will dip this year because of the pandemic. We have requested the state government a 2% reduction in stamp duty or even a little less to boost buyer sentiment. This will help sales till March 2021 and bring in revenue for the government.”
Plotted schemes got good response
Gujarat Institute of Housing and Estate Developers (GIHED)-CREDAI president Ajay Patel was buoyant about the real estate market. He said, “This year we are seeing a jump in sales of plotted schemes especially on the Sanand -Nalsarovar stretch because of Covid triggered preference for individual homes. The reduction in loan interest rates to 6.7% has also acted as a catalyst in improving buyers sentiment.”
With real estate deals grinding to a near halt in the months of April, May and June, the government is bracing for a loss of revenue from stamp duty and registration fees this year. Budget estimates had put revenue from this segment at Rs 8,700 crore. According to official estimates, there could be a 30% drop in revenues from stamp duty and registration fees this year.