Realtors welcome stamp duty cut on property registrations, but say not enough

Bengaluru: The State government's decision to cut stamp duty on property registrations has brought cheers to real estate sector in the State. The stamp duty on the registration of houses costing between Rs 35 lakh to Rs 45 lakh has been slashed to 3 percent from 5 percent.

Reacting to the development, Anuj Puri, chairman, ANAROCK Property Consultants, said, "Karnataka joins the bandwagon of States which understand that this is by far the single-biggest housing demand booster. However, while the move is definitely welcome, it is not likely to give a significant boost to housing sales in Bengaluru similar to what was seen in Maharashtra, where the State cut stamp duty for homes across all budget segments and not just one category. The fact is that housing demand in Bengaluru is largely skewed towards the mid-segment – properties priced within Rs 50 lakh to Rs 1 crore. For these properties, the stamp duty charges, unfortunately, remain unchanged at around 5%. The positive impact would be more visible in cheaper cities like Dharwad, Mysuru, Hubli and Belagavi." "In Maharashtra, the stamp duty cut made a massive positive difference to sales while it lasted, and this State is still feeling negative after-effects in terms of slower sales after the stamp duty reduction period expired and was not revived. West Bengal recently followed suit with a 2% stamp duty cut coupled with a 10% reduction in circle rates, which will work wonders for Kolkata's housing market," he added.

The real estate sector has been demanding the cut in stamp duty for quite some time.