Much before demonetisation, there was a sudden spurt in real estate transactions this year in May, June and August as compared to the previous year in Karnataka, show statistics provided by the Department of Stamps and Registration.
Statistics also reveal that registration of properties and other documents nosedived in November, which can be attributed to demonetisation.
Details provided by sources in the Department of Stamps and Registration show that in April, only 40,000 properties were registered, 8,000 less than what it was in April 2015.
However, it increased in May, June and August exponentially only to slide drastically in September. These months were crucial as the Centre brought in the Income Declaration Scheme on June 1 with a warning by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his radio talk ‘Mann Ki Baat’ on June 26 that those hiding their undisclosed income will pay a heavy price if they do not take benefit of IDS. September 30 was the last date of IDS. After 48 days, Modi announced demonetisation of currency notes of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 denominations as a measure to flush out black money and counterfeit currency.
Transactions
In October, registration of properties was again on the higher side. However, by November, transactions dipped drastically across Karnataka.
“Last year, in November, total conveyance of properties was 45,000 sales but this year, it is 35,000,” said a source.
Sources feared that the downward trend in conveyance of properties would continue for at least two to three months.
“We are expecting a negative trend until the monetary situation normalises. At present, the realty market seems to be quite volatile due to demonetisation,” said a source.
Besides property registration, overall registration has also reduced compared to the previous year.
Last year, 1.35 lakh documents were registered in November which has reduced to 1.15 this year in the corresponding month.