Realtors want more

Reacting to the the announcement by PSU banks to cut home loan interest rates for small-ticket housing, Sanjay Chandra, MD of Unitech, said the company doesn’t have any benefits on the reduction in interest rates for loans up to Rs 5 lakhs. The good part, Chandra said, was the reduction in rates for the Rs 5–Rs 20 lakhs bracket, “the affordable housing segment, which most developers have been focusing on for the last few months and are looking to expand in.” “It is a big benefit — the rates coming down, no processing fees as well as the fixed nature of it because a lot of people didn’t like the uncertainty with the way interest rates were moving. So I think the fixed rate and also the only option possibility of downward revision is a good thing for the sector and for us in general,” Chandra added.

Reflecting back on what went wrong with the real estate story, Chandra said, “One of the biggest things that were affecting business was rising interest rates and of course the rising property prices, which took away affordability.” With property prices not rising anymore and interest rates coming down, he said real estate companies will now get real, end-user buyers. “This home loan package by the public-sector banks, which is valid till June, will encourage a lot of people to buy within that time frame. The next few months could be fairly good for the sector.”