Maharashtra To Keep Ready Reckoner Rates Unchanged In FY19

With property rates in Maharashtra going southward, the state government today decided to keep the ready reckoner rates unchanged across the state for the financial year 2018-19.

“Taking into consideration the slowdown in the real estate sector, there will be no hike in the ready recknor rates for the year 2018-19. The 2017-18 rates will continue to be applicable this year across the state,” said Anil Kawade, inspector general of registration in Maharashtra said in a circular.

Ready reckoner rates are market values of properties determined by the government for a particular area for payment of stamp duty. These rates are published annually and impact the total cost of property. Factors that determine RR rates include stamp duty registrations, sales data, local surveys, visits to property exhibitions, and major transactions conducted in the year.

An unchanged rate could mean homebuyers will not have to shell out more in stamp duty or registration fees. It's a “fair response to stable residential prices across the cities of Maharashtra,” Ashutosh Limaye, head research, JLL India told BloombergQuint. “It helps to keep the stamp duty and property tax outflows in check for buyers and premium FSI purchase rate in check for developers,” he added.

Traditionally, the state government had increased the RR rates to match the gap between the increasing market prices and the ready recknor rates. For FY18, the government had increased the RR rate for Mumbai region by 4 percent while keeping the rates steady for the Mumbai Metropolitan region.

For FY18, the amount collected for the department of registration and stamps has been Rs 25,121 as crore as against Rs 20,306 crore, as per the inspector general of registration Maharashtra website.

For the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation, property department is the highest revenue generator. For FY19, it is expecting a revenue of Rs 5,206 crore, according to information on its website.