Vijayawada: With many big real estate companies coming to Amaravati to launch new ventures in the new Capital city, bankers have begun putting in efforts to attract customers to extend housing loans. Hoardings of the new real estate ventures have come up in large numbers in the city. Post demonetisation, they have reduced the interest rates but there has been no growth in the number of people taking house loans. There is not much difference between the numbers of this year, compared to that of the last, said the bank officials.
It is the middle-class people who take loans to buy houses. Sensing a slump in the market, they are waiting for the prices of the properties to reduce. However, the builders are not ready to reduce the prices. Instead, they are expecting a boom in the real estate sector. In such a situation, there are not many transactions being registered in the real estate market. M.A.S.V.S.Murthy, assistant general manager, home loan marketing, SBI, said: “Home loans are taken by the middle-class people. They do not take decisions about buying houses immediately. They expect a drop in the price of the properties. Builders must think about it, reduce their profit percentage and come forward to bring vigour in the real estate market. We have reduced the interest rates,” he said.
K. Niranjan, a builder, said that, “We invested heavily on the land. Our prices will be based on the money we had paid for the land. We cannot reduce it. We are already the victims with our investments getting blocked.” P. Sambasivarao, a private employee, plans to buy a flat taking house loan but is worried about the EMIs. He says: “Construction of many apartments has been stalled as there are no sales. Despite that, they are not ready to reduce the price. At the present rate, we have to pay an instalment of more than Rs 20,000 per month and that is heavy for me.” Builders are not ready to reduce the price but bankers are ready to release the cash as loans. The middle-class men are not comfortable with the heavy interest rates.
