Developers hoped that the benefits of the RBI rate cut would be passed on to the consumers.
Mr Paras Gundecha, President, Maharashtra Chamber of Housing Industry, said commercial banks should cut interest rates so that home loans become affordable. High cost of funding is one of the main causes of rising real estate prices, he said.
He also welcomed the RBI decision to scrap pre-closure of loans. It is a welcome development for a stagnating economy as this is expected to spark off fresh investments.
Mr Hemant Kanoria, Chairman and Managing Director, Srei Infrastructure Finance Limited, said any pick-up in investment now was more reliant on easing of policy-related bottlenecks than on reduction in interest rates. Going forward, I feel fiscal measures should play a more important role than monetary measures. It is imperative to step up investments towards addressing the supply-side constraints that have kept inflation at stubbornly high levels.
Mr Anurag Mathur, Managing Director, Cushman & Wakefield, India, said , “For the whole of last year, end buyers had to defer their purchase decisions as they were facing the double-edged sword of rising interest rates and stubborn price levels. Whilst some of these buyers may still hold out for a while longer to see if there are further rate cuts, we expect to witness some pickup in the volume of sales transactions.”
Mr Om Ahuja, Chief Executive Officer – Residential Services, Jones Lang LaSalle India, said, We do expect that there will be a marginal increase in home loan borrowings because of this positive move. It is unlikely that property prices will come down because of this rate cut, and it is the price of properties that is the decisive factor in residential real estate sales.
Mr Manoj Paliwal, Chief Financial Officer, Omkar Realtors & Developers, said, “It was rather unexpected. Generally, the expectation was towards cut in CRR. For developers and end-buyers, it is a small positive gesture”