The stocks of most Mumbai-based real-estate players, including Sunteck Realty, Oberoi Realty and Godrej Properties, gained 8 per cent on an average last week, helped by the the positive sentiment that emerged after the Maharashtra government announced a cut in stamp duty .

In a bid to boost the real-estate market and attract property buyers, the Maharashtra government reduced stamp duty charges on property sale to 2 per cent (from 5 per cent) from September 1 to December 31, 2020.

Stamp duty is 3 per cent from January 2021 to March 31, 2021. New bookings for developers such as Sunteck Realty had declined 46 per cent y-o-y in Q1FY21. Similarly, for Oberoi Realty new bookings were down 94 per cent y-o-y in the same period.

While there is no direct impact on developers, lower stamp duty will provide marginal relief to home buyers and could encourage home purchases. It could also bring down the unsold inventories in the market.

Realty companies such as Sunteck Realty with a strong balance sheet, quality construction, brand recognition and properties at favourable locations could attract home buyers, particularly in the affordable housing segment. With the festival season around the corner, developers may see improvement in their sales.

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