Credai expects GST rate to be neutral for housing sector

Credai, the apex body of private real estate developers, today said that it is expecting a revenue-neutral GST rate without any adverse impact on realty prices, a relief for the sector.
"The central government has assured us that the GST rate will be revenue-neutral. So, no impact on consumers. Prices would not increase. Now, real estate developers pay taxes and duties like VAT, excise and service tax," the organisation's national president Getamber Anand said today.
"Our biggest concerns were GST and its impact on real estate and the irrational rates of stamp duty in different states. GST is treating real estate as service and stamp duty considers this sector as fixed asset," he said.

The Credai's Bengal official said that the bad effect of demonetisation is waning in Kolkata and business became 95 per cent normal.
Now on an average in Kolkata the number of new real estate launches varies between 15,000 and 17,000 a year, which may go up to 25,000 for the government's affordable housing push.
Credai also expects that the home loan interest rate will come down sub-8 per cent very soon.