With inflation touching 12.98%, realtors here are finding it difficult to hold their price line and plan to increase rates for residential units by Rs 100-500 per sq ft later this month.
According to Confederation of Real Estate Developer’s Associations of India (Credai) Bengal, there has been a 25% increase in the construction cost of residential buildings over the last one year, almost double the increase during last year over 2006.
“Construction cost has increased from Rs 1,265 per sq ft in 2006 to Rs 1,811 per sq ft in July 2008, or by 43%,” said Pradeep Sureka, president of Credai Bengal. The city has added almost 10 million sqft of real estate space in last one year.
While steel prices have gone up by 107% in the last two years to Rs 45,500 per tone, cement has become dearer by 39% at Rs 4,900 per tone. “Even cost of bricks has doubled in the last two years to Rs 4.40 per piece,” Sureka said.
In April this year, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had asked steel companies not to increase prices and the big steel makers had responded by holding the price line for three months.
“If the steel companies start increasing prices after August, prices could go up by Rs 500 per sq ft,” said S. Rungta, VP of Credai.
According to Credai estimates, direct and indirect taxes add nearly 27% to the cost of a six-lakh sq ft residential project with 30-40-metre high buildings. For a property selling at Rs 2,600 per sq ft, a buyer has to shell out Rs 211 as stamp duty and registration charges. Indirect taxes have already added around Rs 483 per sq ft.
Realtors said their sales have come down by more than 30% in the first quarter of 2008-09. Many of them will be gauging the customer mood at a property fair scheduled to open on August 11.
“We have requested Credai members to hold prices till Home Front-2008,” said Sushil Mohta, executive body member of Credai India, referring to the annual event.
However, banks said housing spends in West Bengal pick up after the second quarter, after people have done their festival spending.
According to SK Goel, chairman and managing director of Kolkata-based Uco Bank, the demand for housing in Kolkata and West Bengal starts picking up after the festive season.
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One Comment
Learning to know what precedes property price increases can be challenging for any investor. There are some well-recognized factors that drive the market. I have discussed few of them below:
1. Demand & Supply- Population change is the key driver of demand. When an area becomes popular more people want to live there. Given there are fewer dwellings than interested parties, prices increase and vice-versa. The other driver is availability of land.
2. Affordability and availability of money-Affordability is the relationship between housing prices, interest rates and wages. It’s the cost to the owner or investor to retain and enjoy a property. When prices, interest rates and wages reach a ceiling in a particular area, residents often realise they can have a better lifestyle elsewhere.
3. Infrastructure-Infrastructure is always a major driver for price growth when it increases the attractiveness and amenities of an area. The benefits of infrastructure are generally recognized after the changes.
4. The resources boom-The demand for skilled and unskilled workers is increasing day by day.And with an increase in their salary scale, these workers seek to improve their lifestyle by buying bigger and better homes, or maybe an investment property or two.
Put a number of these drivers together and you have an extremely good understanding of what’s going to drive price growth. Having identified these areas, careful homework may reveal good cash-flow returns as well.For more view- realtydigest.blogspot.com