PUNE: On April 10, the Promoters and Builders Association of Pune (PBAP) pronounced that property prices in the city would be hiked by Rs50-400 per square foot from April 20 onwards, giving potential buyers ten days to take benefit of the then existing rates. But the buyers rejected to take the bait and sales are in fact showing a dip instead of the rise the builders had expected.
Indicating a genuine slowdown in the Pune property market, property registration figures available with the deputy inspector general of registration and deputy controller of stamps have shown a turn down.
From April 1 to April 10, a total of six thousand two hundred thirty seven property documents were registered in the city. The number declined to four thousand one hundred twenty six during April 11-20, the period in which the buyers were aware of the imminent price hike but had the opportunity to buy before the hike was applied.
Figures available between April 21 and April 29 suggest that there was no considerable increase in the number of new bookings either — a total of five thousand three hundred sixteen documents were registered during this period.
However, PBAP president Lalit Kumar Jain refused to confess the slowdown, rather he said that “The builders are getting a good response, which is better than that of last month,”.
Besides escalation in the price of steel and cement, Jain had previously cited the Pune Municipal Corporation’s charges on real estate developers as the cause for rising prices.