Property prices in the state, especially in capital Bhubaneswar, may witness a correction within a year because of rapid building construction which is expected to surpass the demand.
"Within one year, there will be additional 40,000 houses in and around Bhubaneswar, which I feel, will be above the demand. And with supply surpassing the demand, the prices may fall" , said DS Triapthy, president of Orissa chapter of the Confederation of Real Estate Developers' Association of India (CREDAI).
He said, the prices of office and residential properties in the capital city has gone up by 10 per cent in past six months, mainly because of rising demand and increasing costs of raw materials.
"In terms of rate of growth of property prices, Bhubaneswar is way above all major cities of the country. So I feel prices should correct, particularly in the backdrop of higher supplies”, said Tripathy.
Many metro cities in India have over utilised their real estate potentials and are in a saturation mode. But Bhubaneswar is yet to touch that phase though a limited period price stagnation may continue for some time, he said.
On affordable housing in the state, the CREDAI official said the existing policies are a barrier in this regard. He urged the government to cut down municipal taxes and registration fees to make the houses cheaper.
"On one hand, the government tells us to provide affordable house but at the same time it has increased taxes and registration fees. We have no choice but to pass it on to the consumers. If the government really wants to provide cheaper houses, it should reduce the taxes and form a policy to bring in transparency in the trade," Tripathy said.
He appealed all the other real estate developers of the state to join CREDAI, which will help reduce their cost of production by providing latest technology and by ordering raw materials in bulk quantity.
The Orissa chapter of CREADAI currently has 37 members, out of 100 plus real estate developers active in the state.
