Confederation of Real Estate Developers’ Association of India (Credai) today said governments need to be more efficient to accelerate growth in the housing sector.
“Today, real estate sector is the largest generator of economic activity contributing 6.3 per cent to GDP and has the ability to drive the economy to a double-digit growth. But in order to accelerate growth in the housing sector, it is necessary that governments at all levels work efficiently,” Credai chairman Lalit Kumar Jain told reporters here.
He said the biggest hurdle in the growth of the sector was delayed clearances and approvals.
“A large number of projects are stuck for want of approvals and clearances. To add to the woes of developers, construction and labour costs have gone up significantly. However, if these approvals come on time, it will help reduce the total cost of projects by almost 40 per cent,” Jain said, adding, “there is a need to focus on single window clearance.”
Due to delay in approvals, developers are not launching new projects, which in turn is resulting in inadequate supply of housing stock.
In the last 9 months (January-September), new launches have declined by almost 40 per cent, Jain said.
“On the consumer front, rising interest rates and inflation were forcing buyers to differ their property buying decision. Though the inventory level is significant, but the prices are not likely to come down unless the inflation and interest rates soften,” he added.