Maharashtra Stamp Duty Shocker Anuj Puri, Chairman – ANAROCK Property Consultants

On the real estate market, upward revisions of any kind can doubtlessly hurt. Let’s take the Maharashtra government’s proposal to levy a surcharge of 1% on stamp duty, effectively raising it to 6% from the existing 5%. Such news, especially at a time when the state’s major markets are beginning to show some green shoots of revival with sales and new supply numbers rising, come as a shock.

This is a significant increase in the cost of real estate purchase which will hamper consumer sentiment – especially in the affordable housing segment. On the one hand, the Government has rolled out multiple sops to boost affordable housing – and on the other, it is increasing the cost of properties. One can only hope that at least affordable housing is saved from this surcharge. This is real and painful, and the impact is very hard to mitigate.