Stamp duty hike report in Maharashtra for the Real Estate Sector.

Shares of real estate companies with significant exposure in Mumbai slumped in a weak market today after media reports surfaced that the Maharashtra government proposes to hike stamp duty for properties.

Shares of realty players like India Bulls, Oberoi and HDIL today slumped as much as 6 per cent after reports that the state government is planning to hike stamp duty by as much as 160 times.

India bulls Real Estate slumped 4.53 per cent to a low of Rs 65.25, Oberoi Realty tanked 2.32 per cent over its previous close to Rs 250 and Housing Development and Infrastructure Ltd was down by 6.64 per cent to Rs 89.15 on the BSE.

If the hike comes into effect, it will increase prices of both residential and commercial leave-and-licence properties, by a huge margin, market analysts said, adding that it will affect the already-sluggish Mumbai real estate demand.

“This news is going to be negative and stock prices of realty companies who have exposure in Mumbai took a hit. The cost of property in Mumbai will move up it will worsen the situation as there are already very few takers at the present interest rate regime,” Ashika Stock Brokers Research Head Paras Bothra said.

Moreover, weakness in the broader market also battered these stocks to some extent, market analysts said. The 30- share benchmark index Sensex was trading at 17,113.62, down 248.12 points at 1321 hours.

According to media reports, Maharashtra government proposed to hike stamp duty on leave-licence to 0.1 per cent on market value or 1 per cent of the average annual rent or deposit paid, whichever is higher, for residential properties.

For commercial properties, the duty for lease agreements over 60 months is 0.4 per cent.

This is a whopping hike from the previous fixed amount of Rs 25,000 for residential and Rs 50,000 for commercial properties for 60 months.

June quarter not good for Realty Firms

Hyderabad Properties - Real Estate India - Vertex Lake View 2
Since the sales of residential realty are diminishing gradually these days, it is expected that the real estate companies will experience decline in the first quarter of financial year 2010-11. However, it cannot be ignored that the office market is picking up with the economy.

As per the data collected by leading stock brokerages show, it is expected that in the June quarter, the realty companies will undergo around a 20% growth in the net profit and a growth of 38-40% in net sales. As per the data of last year, there had been a net profit of over 80% which certainly brings the conclusion that market has experienced a decline in sales and profit.

A stock analyst with a Mumbai-based brokerage said that as compared to the June quarter of financial year 2010, the numbers look somewhat flat in this financial year.

For instance, the gross margins of DLF were 49% and had a growth of only 4%. Similarly, Unitech’s net profits had a growth of just 1%.

Tata Housing Won Cityspace Award

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One of the leading real estate companies of India, Tata Housing was honored by the Best developer award in the category of CSR in the recognized award ceremony called Cityscape Awards – Real Estate Asia, 2010.

According to experts, when they analyzed the commitment and positive contribution of the company in the society welfare, it would be fully justified to call it one of the best developers in the Indian real estate market.

The award ceremony was originally organized to honor the real estate companies and industry professionals who have put their heart and soul into the realty and have done significant contributions in the growth of Indian realty. A panel of experts was the judge.

The Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Tata Housing, Brotin Banerjee, said that the company has the motive of delivering to the consumer what he wants. They firmly believe in ‘what you see is what you get’. And the Cityscape award is the evident of the contributions the company has made over the years to the society.