Residential properties registration falls 47pc in Mumbai BMC region in April

NEW DELHI: Registration of residential properties in Mumbai municipal region fell by 47 per cent last month compared to April due to the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, but it jumped 25 times when compared to May 2020, according to Knight Frank India.

Mumbai BMC region (Churchgate to Dahisar and Colaba to Mulund) recorded property registrations of 5,360 units in May 2021, registering a decline of 47 per cent Month-on-Month (MoM) compared to April 2021.

However, the registrations in May 2021 were 25 times higher compared to May 2020 as the lockdown restrictions are less stringent this year, Knight Frank India said in a statement.

Property registration numbers are down 15 per cent compared to 6,270 units in May 2019, which is pre-CoVID period.

Knight Frank India said that only 29 per cent of registrations in May 2021 were from new residential sales concluded in the month, while 71 per cent of the registered properties were from sales concluded in the period December 2020 to April 2021 period that got registered in month of May.

In order to boost housing sales, Maharashtra government had in September last year reduced the stamp duty on registration of properties by 2-3 per cent.

The concession was applicable till March 2021.

The state government in December 2020 had given a leeway of four months to homebuyers to register a property after the payment of stamp duty in order to prevent crowding of registration offices.

"This ensured that homebuyers who had purchased residences and paid stamp duty on or before 31st March 2021, have maximum window of 4 months till 31st July 2021 from the respective date of payment of stamp duty for registering their apartment," it said.

Shishir Baijal, Chairman & Managing Director, Knight Frank India, said: "While the total registration in April 2021 was 10,136, the new residences sold for that month had remained at a low 710 units.

"In May 2021, the number of new residential unit sales more than doubled to 1,553 showing a remarkable improvement despite the on-going lockdown.

However, we are still far from pre-COVID levels of May 2019 or the levels witnessed during the 7 months of lower stamp duty window," Baijal said.