With home loan interest rates below 7 per cent, an impression has gained ground that this is the best time to buy a house. Track2Realty takes a closer look at the economic fundamentals that suggest the interest rates are one of the sales catalysts and there are many variables to consider.
While there is no cap on the number of properties for which an NRI can take home loans for, repayment capacity must always be factored in. Over-leveraging is never a good idea and regardless of what viewpoint a bank takes, NRIs must do their own repayment capacity calculations.
Track2Realty-Agencies: RBI has asked banks to link the disbursal of home loans to stages of construction to protect the interests of buyers and contain the fallout of “innovative” housing financing schemes.
The State Bank of India has finally put an end to its most innovative and wildly successful home loan scheme from May due to concerns raised by and under pressure from the Reserve Bank of India.
Home is the most integral part of an individual, who since his birth and childhood, dreams to have a living space of his own in India. Once in a lifetime investment requires loan to accomplish it, and that is how the home loans comes into the scheme of things.
A record low household savings, double digit unemployment, and rising inflation, has added to the harsh reality of Indian home buyers’ high Debt to Income (DTI) ratio. The Covid induced financial hardships have indeed wreaked havoc with many of the Indian home buyers. Despite of the advantages of lower interest rates, their DTI ratio has suddenly shot up beyond what could be termed as manageable level.
In the financial sector, housing finance is relatively a new concept as the government took interest in the last two decades to diminish the housing problem in India. However, the participation of banks and financial institutions in the housing credit sector has swelled and the sector itself has evolved over the years, fuelled also by the concurrent evolution in government regulations in the sector and real estate industry as a whole.
In the late 2010, buyers were largely in the age groups of 35-45 years and 45-55 years, but the share of homebuyers in the 25-35 years age group was minimal. However, improved tax benefits motivated more working youths in this age bracket to opt for home loans. Millennials predominantly favoured paying EMIs for buying a home over the ‘dead’ expense of rentals.
The hopes of middle class homebuyers have dashed and they blame the Finance Minister for presenting an election-oriented budget. Many even question the direction of the government where the focus has suddenly shifted towards the rural and farm sector in the last full budget presented by this government.
ASSOCHAM has urged the Government, National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) and the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India to treat homebuyers in real estate projects at par, if not above banks in the pecking order, by providing a separate carve-out for those stuck in the incomplete construction, and any legal hurdle should be immediately removed, by a Presidential Ordinance, if need be.