Category: Excerpts

Pankaj Kapoor, MD, Liasas Foras, told dna that unaffordability is the main reason behind people choosing houses on rent. “Taking a house on rent is a better option than buying an expensive house and paying hefty EMIs,” he said. “In Kharghar, the cost of a 2BHK (1000sqft) is more than Rs1 crore. If you go for such a house, you will end up paying Rs1 lakh as EMI. But a house of the same size in the same area will be available on a monthly rental of Rs8,000-12,000. In the current property market scenario, it is better to take houses on rent.”

Kapoor said buying property is a good option if there is steady appreciation. “But now the property market is stagnant… so people will prefer to stay on rent than buy a house. Also, investors don’t want to park their money in property because of the stagnant market. They are asking developers to take the liquidity on interest. It shows the ground reality… investors are the first to understand the pulse of the market and any upcoming crisis. So, they have stopped buying the property in bulk as an investment.”

“In the rental market, developers have no role… They cannot inflate or influence the market. The rental market is transparent. Rentals have not gone up proportionately with the property market. Only those with a huge stash of black money are parking their wealth in the real estate,” Kapoor said

Kailash Patil, a property agent from Thane, said that people were only enquiring about houses. “In the past two months, I have hardly sold any flats. A couple of deals are in pipelines but the sale is still to happen,” he said.” “The property market has been gloomy for the past eight months. On the other hand, rental enquires have increased. Potential buyers say they would stay in rented houses till property rates come down.”-from DNA