Mumbai property registrations down 20% in November, at 31-month low

Registration of property deals in Mumbai, the country's most expensive realty market, continued to decline, hitting a 31-month low in November. During the month, registration realty deals slipped 20% from a year ago to 4,060, said a report from brokerage Prabhudas Lilladher. On a monthly basis, realty registration remained weak with 12% decline in the backdrop of no significant price correction and high interest rates. The data reinstates the fact that the festival season of Diwali has also failed to drive up sales or gather momentum even after offers and freebies offered by developers. According to brokers, some project and developer-specific discounts to the tune of nearly 5-8% have already started, but most consumers are deferring their decision on assets purchases anticipating a sharp correction. Bookings momentum, barring few projects, continues to be on downtrend in most pockets of the market, and sales are expected to remain low until property rates decline or home loan rates start easing, they said. Registration of lease transactions for November, however, continued to show an uptrend with 58% year-on-year growth at 8,580. On a monthly basis, leasing activity witnessed rise of 6%, indicating that prospective home buyers are delaying their decision making and entering into lease transactions. source: http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/tech/articlelist/13357270.cms