Credai hears FM, asks builders to slash prices for unsold houses

Looks like India’s realtors body wants builders to adhere to finance minister P Chidambaram’s plea to sell unsold housing units at cheaper prices.

Leading realtors’ body Confederation of Real Estate Developers’ Association of India (CREDAI) has asked its members to seriously consider selling off maximum inventories at discounted prices.

“The developer community is willing to consider the suggestions made by the Finance Minister P Chidambaram to unlock the value of the unsold stock. We have asked our

members across the country to seriously consider the proposal to sell (the unsold stock) in maximum numbers,” Credai national president Lalit Kumar Jain said in a statement.

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[caption id=“attachment_544157” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  The developer community is willing to consider the suggestions made by the Finance Minister P Chidambaram to unlock the value of the unsold stock. Reuters[/caption]

The governing council of Credai had met at Kochi over the weekend where it was decided to consider the suggestion to sell maximum number of housing units by reducing the prices to the extent possible, it said.

Earlier, the developers’ apex body had refused to offload the inventories at discounted rates saying that realtors would not be able to reduce the prices as they have invested heavily in the projects.

Meanwhile, Credai has also appealed to the finance ministry to look into the suggestions made by it to revive the real estate industry to rejuvenate the economy slow down, Jain said.

“We are happy at the positive manner in which the ministry has mooted proposals to help the developer community. We are confident that it will also positively respond to the various constructing suggestions made by us,” he said.

Credai has made certain suggestions including single window system of clearances to speed up the process, asking banks to reduce rates of interest for projects and buyers as well and create a congenial atmosphere to encourage affordable and mass housing, the release said.

Besides, the realtors’ body has also suggested declaring housing sector as infrastructure or industry, provide certain tax exemptions, setting up of a comprehensive realty regulator and to provide special incentives for skill development, among others.

PTI