Second Covid-19 wave: Home registrations in Mumbai decline 47% in May

71% of the registered properties were from sales concluded in the December 2020-April 2021 period

Due to the impact of the second wave of Covid-19 and the Maharashtra government's decision to discontinue the stamp duty waiver on property registrations, there has been a sharp decline in property sales in May in Mumbai.

According to a Knight Frank report, Mumbai recorded property registrations of 5,360 units in May, registering a significant decline of 47 per cent Month-on-Month compared to April and down 15 per cent compared to 6,270 units registered in May last year. However, the registrations in May this year were up 25 times higher compared to last year as the lockdown restrictions are less stringent this year. In value terms, Mumbai saw a decline in property sale transactions from 16,250 crore to Rs 7,246 crore, points out the latest IGR Maharashtra data.

While 29 per cent of registrations during the month were from new residential sales concluded in the month, 71 per cent of the registered properties were from sales concluded in the December 2020-April 2021 period that got registered in May. Of the total new sales last month, 62 per cent properties were in below Rs 1 crore category.

“We are still far from pre-COVID levels of May 2019 or the levels witnessed during the 7 months of lower stamp duty window. While the overall sales volumes are marred due to the lockdown conditions in Mumbai, the heartening fact is that sales in April and May have been substantially higher in the sub – Rs 1 crore category, which is traditionally understood to be price and value sensitive,” said Shishir Baijal, Chairman & Managing Director, Knight Frank India.

“To ensure that this demand, and indeed demands in other category, are further encouraged, the government should reconsider providing demand stimulants at the appropriate time,” he added.

According to data from IGR Maharashtra, the stamp duty collection in MMR for the month of May was Rs 417 crore as compared to Rs 725 crore in April. It was Rs 250 crore for Mumbai last month, as compared to Rs 492 crore in April.

The state saw a 50 per cent dip in property sales after the Maharashtra government restored stamp duty back to 5 per cent in Mumbai and 6 per cent in the rest of Maharashtra, from April 2021. “We have already seen a positive impact of the stamp duty booster which significantly stimulated housing demand in the city in the previous quarters. We urge the government to reconsider and trim it down for another year, until March 2022,” said Ashok Mohanani, President, Naredco Maharashtra.