gurgaon mumbai emerge as top residential destination

Gurgaon and Mumbai have emerged as the top destinations for residential investment in the country. Both have seen a massive infusion of commercial and retail space owing to residential demand, which in turn was spurred by a growth in employment opportunities, according to the fourth quarter Asia Pacific Property Digest by global real estate consultant Jones Lang LaSelle. The residential market in both the regions witnessed a price correction of 25-30% from their peak values which presented opportunities to end-users and investors alike.
Despite being hit hard by the recent turmoil, the residential sector of the crisis-torn Indian real estate industry has emerged as the sole bright spot for individual investors, the digest ranked Noida, Pune, Bangalore, Chennai, Hyderabad and Kolkata behind Gurgaon and Mumbai. The six cities, which are witnessing an influx of IT/ ITeS employees, also provide residential units at affordable prices. However, infrastructure continues to remain a concern across most of these cities as it is unable to keep pace with the growth in population. With the exception of Bangalore, oversupply will be a concern in the short term due to large number of projects launched over the past 3-4 quarters. Read More »

Assocham Asks Govt to Withdraw Service Tax on Real Estate Sector   |  March 19, 2010

Industry body Assocham has asked the government to roll back the service tax proposed on real estate developers at the time of construction, as it would increase the tax burden on home buyers and impact the recovery of the sector. The government, in the Budget, said that real estate complexes will attract service tax, unless the entire consideration for the property is paid after the construction is complete.
In its post Budget memorandum to the Finance Ministry, Assocham had said that the real estate sector was gradually returning to normalcy and imposition of service tax on immovable property would increase the cost of housing by four per cent. “In addition, it would also make the entire housing facility costlier to end-consumer and will be contrary to government’s aim of providing affordable housing,” it said.