The real estate market in Karnataka is seeing a revival after the hard knock it took in the wake of the Centre’s move to ban high-value currency notes in 2016, followed by introduction of goods and services tax (GST) and uncertainty surrounding the Real Estate Regulation and Development Act (RERA). The department of stamps and registration said the realty market recorded a nearly 20% increase in revenue from property registrations in the last seven months of 2018 as against the corresponding period in 2017. The 250 registration offices across the state collected nearly Rs 6,000 crore as revenue from property deals between June and December last year.
“It’s an increase of about Rs 1,000 crore from the previous year’s revenue,” said inspector general of registrations and commissioner of stamps KV Thrilok Chandra. Nearly 10 lakh property documents were registered till December 2018 as against 9.2 lakh in 2017, although the December figures are yet to be compiled by the department. “The market has moved out of the shadows of successive reforms like RERA and GST after demonetisation. The revival prompted the government to increase the guidance value after a span of two years,” Chandra said. Bengaluru saw the highest sequential growth followed by Mysuru and Mangaluru.
Hubballi-Dharwad, Belagavi and Kalaburagi also recorded decent growth. Real estate companies echo the view. Viswa Prathap Desu, senior vice president, sales and marketing, Brigade Enterprises, said of late, customers are showing a keen interest in investing in a new property after realizing there’s no point in waiting for prices to fall. “Also, the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY) and Credit Linked Subsidy Scheme (CLSS) launched by the Centre have provided a much-needed fillip to the sector,” Desu opined.
Errol Fernandes, CMD, Ferns Estates and Developers, said: “The residential sector, which was under a lot of pressure because of demonetization, is steadily growing and there’s renewed optimism among home buyers following reforms like RERA and GST due to the transparency and accountability they have brought to the market. Developers too have become more sensitive towards customers’ demands and are offering more affordable and attractive schemes. There’s also been a rationalisation of new launches, with the focus being on clearing existing inventories.”