Housing prices up in 9 cities, down in 11 places: NHB

Showing a mixed trend, housing prices in 11 cities, including Bangalore and Kolkata, declined by up to 5 per cent in July-September, while rates in nine other places increased by up to 10 per cent, according to National Housing Bank (NHB).

Kochi saw the highest price rise of 10.1 per cent, followed by Jaipur with 9 per cent during the second quarter of this fiscal compared with the previous quarter.

In Delhi-NCR, Mumbai and Chennai, prices rose by 3.8 per cent, 0.5 per cent and 1 per cent, respectively, NHB data showed.

NHB RESIDEX tracks the movement in prices of residential properties on a quarterly basis. It covers 20 cities. From January next year, it plans to cover 6 more cities.

"Overall, there is a price correction. Even in nine cities where prices have gone up, there will be net decline if we factor in the rise in input cost and inflation," NHB Chairman and Managing Director R V Verma said.

Asked about falling prices, he said, "Builders cannot sustain at current prices because of oversupply. So, they are decreasing the price to clear inventory and boost sales."

Housing demand has been affected for last few years due to high interest rates on home loans. "The movement in prices of residential properties has shown marginally declining trend in eleven cities, ranging from -0.4 per cent in Faridabad to -4.8 per cent in Surat, and rise in nine cities ranging from 0.5 per cent in Mumbai to 10.1 per cent in Kochi during July-September, 2012 in comparison to the previous quarter April-June 2012," NHB said.

Ahmedabad saw 3 per cent rise, Bhubaneshwar 2.3 per cent, Lucknow 2.2 per cent, Chennai 0.8 per cent, Pune 0.7 per cent.

Prices fell the maximum in Surat (-4.8 per cent), followed by Indore at -3.54 per cent, Kolkata -2.4 per cent, Vijayawada -2.4 per cent, Patna -1.8 per cent, Ludhiana -1.7 per cent, Bangalore -1.7 per cent, Hyderabad -1.3 per cent, Guwahati -0.7 per cent, Bhopal -0.5 per cent and Faridabad -0.4 per cent.

On the overall trend, NHB said that prices have started to decline in some smaller towns and the increase in other cities is mostly marginal, barring Kochi and Jaipur.

"There is some signs of convergence of prices around this level across the 20 cities," it added.

PTI

West Bengal to amend Urban Land Ceiling Act

The West Bengal government is contemplating making critical amendments to the Urban Land Ceiling Act which will provide new incentives to developers

By Chandrabindu; igovernment

Kolkata, Nov 7th: With a view towards promoting commercial activities in upcoming residential colonies, the West Bengal government is contemplating making critical amendments to the Urban Land Ceiling Act. The proposed amendments will aim to provide incentives to developers who agree to integrate housing projects with commercial activities.

Confirming the plan, Mr. Debashis Sen, Chairman and Managing Director of West Bengal Housing and Infrastructure Development Corporation, said “We are looking at framing a policy by which we can facilitate housing-cum-commercial projects.” Mr. Sen added that that the revised Act could be announced by the end of this fiscal year.

Other officials also added that the amendments will not only encourage commercial activities in metropolitan townships, but also allow the state to earn revenue in terms of duties and other taxes. As per the proposed policy, which is in draft stage, developers could be offered some relaxation in stamp fees as well as allowed the ability to purchase land that was prohibited under the existing ceiling act.

“However, construction companies will be required to dedicate 51 percent of their land for commercial activities, under this act and nearly one-fourth of the houses to be developed on the remaining 49 percent of land will be allocated to economically weaker sections under the proposed amendments,” Mr. Sen added.

Under the existing West Bengal Land Ceiling Act, private ownership of agricultural land in the State is restricted to 17.5 acres for irrigated land and 24.5 acres for areas that are rainfed. In urban areas, private ownership is capped at only 0.125 acres.

Officials of the Urban Development Department said that the proposed policy would also seek to allow conversion of agricultural land for housing purpose. “Through this proposed policy we will try to provide some relaxation in the conversion process as well as easing the approval of building plans,” they maintained.