No interest rate hike likely in 2-3 months: HDFC

Keki M Minstry, managing director of Housing Development Finance Corporation (HDFC), today said the company is not anticipating a further hardening of interest rates in the next two-three months.

"Hardening of interest rates depends on many factors like global interest rates, inflation and oil prices. Given the current trend, I don't see interest rates going up in the next two-three months," Mistry said on the sidelines of a Ficci-organised real estate summit here.

Mistry said that though demand for housing finance has slackened in certain pockets of the country, the demand from individuals is on a high.
"While talking about high interest rates, people miss the picture of the mid-1990s when interest rates on home loans were about 17-18% and the cost of borrowing was also higher. Now, the income of individuals has gone up, and interest rates are hovering around 9.5-10%," he said.

"The demand for home loans from end-users is thus very strong," he added.