Maharashtra's revenue from property registrations to hit all-time high

Maharashtra's revenue from residential property registrations in FY22 is set to surpass its all-time high as the pace of buying properties is going up in the last two months, a realty consultant said on Friday.

The additional surcharge of 1 per cent on property registrations from April 1, 2022 is making buyers advance their purchases, resulting in higher revenues for the exchequer, Anarock Group said in a report.

Within the first 11 months of FY22, the state has earned Rs 5,671 crore from property registrations, which is 63 per cent higher than Rs 3,474 crore in FY21.

The heightened activity in property registrations will help surpass an all-time high revenue of Rs 5,878 crore observed in FY18, as per the report.

With a 27 per cent increase over January 2021, property registrations in Mumbai were the best in February since the beginning of the pandemic, with 10,379 units being sold.

According to Prashant Thakur, head of research of the company, the last peak of property registration was attained in December 2020 when the state government reduced stamp duty to 2 per cent between September 2020 and December 2020.

"The state government's announcement that it will levy an additional surcharge of 1 per cent to the stamp duty on registration of properties from 1st April 2022 appears to have triggered a fresh wave of new registrations in the city. Buyers and fence-sitters are now trying to finalize deals before the overall transaction costs increase kicks in," it said.

The report also noted, "Registrations in March 2022 would likely exceed the current year's levels and establish a new record for 2022 - a year entirely bereft of stamp duty cuts."

The property consultant attributed the healthy rise to post-pandemic economic revival and an improvement in the employment scenario.

New hiring, restoration of jobs, and higher compensation by many companies have strengthened financial confidence, leading to an increase in housing demand, it added.

The area under office space in Mumbai also increased by 28 per cent in 2021 compared to the year-ago period, it said, pointing out that the IT-ITeS and BFSI sectors dominated office space demand, accounting for over 40 per cent of absorption in 2021.