Real estate stocks were on fire on Wednesday, led by Godrej Properties and DLF. The BSE Realty Index was the biggest gainer on Wednesday rising 8.39 per cent and all the 11 stocks on the index closed in the green, as property market revived post Covid-2.

Interest rate cut on housing loans and a slash in stamp duty for registration in key markets such as Karnataka and Maharashtra also boosted sentiment for the beleaguered realty sector, said analysts.

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Godrej Properties sales

Godrej Properties, which achieved sales of ₹575 crore in a single day at the launch of the second phase of its project Godrej Woods in Noida, surged 13 per cent to ₹1,950.15. DLF, which gained 11.61 per cent at ₹369.15, crossed the level for the first time since July 2009.

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"Realty stocks were in focus owing to an increase in property registrations in September," said Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services. According to a Motilal Oswal Financial Services report, more than 6,000 units were registered in the first 21 days of September, surpassing the September 2018 total of 5,913 units. Overall registrations will be about 7,000, units which will be a record in last decade, it added. Godrej Properties, Macrotech, Oberoi, and Sunteck are some of the prominent Mumbai-based listed companies, it said.

NRIs keen to buy

Anuj Puri, Chairman, Anarock Group, said, “There has been a very perceptible increase in Indian housing demand from NRIs at this stage of the Covid-19 pandemic. In the recent years before Covid-19, many NRIs were in wait-and-watch mode amid the various structural reforms in the economy and the real estate industry."

Recently, the Karnataka Government reduced the stamp duty by 2 per cent for property worth ₹45 lakh. “Had the stamp duty cut been across the price categories, as was done by the Maharashtra government, the impact would have been desirable,” said Shantanu Mazumder, Executive Director – Karnataka, Knight Frank India. Analysts expect other States to also cut the duty soon.

Another key positive is dwindling interest rate for home buyers. HDFC recently announced special limited period offer of 6.7 per cent for the upcoming festival season. Earlier, SBI, Bank of Baroda, Punjab National Bank and Kotak Mahindra Bank had reduced the interest rates for the festival season.

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