The number of real estate projects in Maharashtra have gone down in the second half of 2022, according to data provided by the Maharashtra Real Estate Regulatory Authority (MahaRERA).
While this was due to increased scrutiny by MahaRERA related to compliance by real estate developers, the overall numbers for 2022 were robust.
At 6,437, the year saw the second highest number of registrations, a chunk of which may be attributed to the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) slashing the premium paid by developers by 50 percent in 2021, as also pent up post-pandemic demand.
What does the data show?
According to the data, a total of 40,379 projects have been registered in Maharashtra since May 2017, ever since the inception of MahaRERA. Of this, 14,871 projects were registered in 2017, 4,311 in 2018, 4,841 in 2019, 3,905 in 2020, 5,042 in 2021, 6,437 in 2022, and 972 in 2023.
In 2022, in the first half between January and June, 3,622 projects were registered, which came down to 2,815 in the second half between July and December.
Why the high number of registrations in 2017 and 2022?
When MahaRERA came into existence in May 2017, it asked all developers of ongoing real estate projects where an occupation certificate (OC) had not been issued to register the project with the MahaRERA. Owing to this, 2017 saw the highest number of registrations.
Thereafter, 2022 saw the highest number of registrations. According to experts, this was owing to the pent up demand of 2020 and 2021, when construction work was impacted due to Covid. Also, in 2021, the BMC had slashed the premium paid by developers by 50 percent, owing to which there was a rush by developers to take up redevelopment projects and registrations spiked.
Why did the registrations go down in the second half of 2022?
According to MahaRERA officials, it’s not as if the number of projects have gone down, but that registrations are now taking more time owing to increased scrutiny following the fake commencement certificate (CC) scam that broke in Kalyan near Mumbai in 2022.
Hitesh Thakkar, Vice President of the National Real Estate Development Council (NAREDCO), the apex body of real estate developers said, "The registration slowdown is not due to launches going down, but due to increased scrutiny at the end of MahaRERA since last year. It is a step taken by the authority for greater transparency in the public domain for potential homebuyers."
Nilesh Gala, a lawyer practicing at MahaRERA, said, "Besides strict scrutiny, the drop in registrations may be due to slowdown in the market."
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