As we say goodbye to 2017, lets take a look at how the year has fared for the real estate market for both developers and buyers alike.
The year stared on an extremely slow note reeling from the effects of demonetization and due to the initial troubles of GST, we saw a very cautious buyer in the 1st half of 2017. The period was challenging for real estate developers of the tri city.
However the 2nd half of 2017 (especially the last quarter) has been significantly different. Sales of finished apartments have been great, especially in the Zirakpur market. This has been due to various factors:
1. The short term slowdown post demonetization ended. (The expected price drop did not arrive simply because the prices had been at the lowest crest for a couple of years anyway. Also primary apartment sales have never really depended on cash, they have been 100% cheque based transactions using home loans, so the expectation of price correction in the first time apartment sales was unfounded to begin with.)
2. GST implementation lead to a slowly stabilising market especially in the Ready to Shift category where there is no GST burden on the buyer.
3. RERA implementation led to increased confidence among the buyers, especially in the organised players.
4. Reducing home loan rates by leading government and private banks.
5. Reduction in stamp duty rates by the Punjab government was also a great step to reduce the taxation burden on the buyers.
Forecast for 2018?
The above mentioned factors including a stabilized and transparent GST regime, a strong RERA mechanism, cheaper finance options for apartment buyers and strong support by government of Punjab will ensure that 2018 is much better that the last 5 years for both the developers and buyers (especially in the Zirakpur Area).
Even Industry leaders like Godrej Properties and CREDAI are of the opinion that the coming two years will see a lot of growth in the real estate market of Tier 2 & Tier 3 cities of India.
Therefore the coming few months are a great time to be a home buyer. They can take advantage of the numerous ready to move options available in the market and get their dream homes at a good value before prices start increasing due to reducing inventories and a market that’s begun to take pace again.