NHB plans half-yearly house price index
India's housing finance regulator is planning to release a house price index for five cities every six months in a survey which will expand to more cities over time, the regulator, the National Housing Bank (NHB), said.
India has little nationwide official data on prices in its booming housing market, and they are not reflected in its most widely watched measure of inflation, the wholesale price index. NHB, which is a subsidiary of the Reserve Bank of India, said in a statement property prices in Bangalore had appreciated by nearly 29 percent a year between 2001 and 2005, 19.1 percent in Delhi, 15.5 percent in Mumbai, 14.5 percent in Kolkata and 15.7 percent in Bhopal.
The present "Residex" index covers the five cities but will be extended to 35 cities by 2008. The survey would eventually cover 63 Indian cities, with an all-India index planned once the sample size had widened. NHB also is planning indices for house rentals, land prices, housing development and affordability in coming years. "Housing price index would be a useful tool in compilation of various economic indicators of growth, output, inflation, financial health, etc," NHB said. Real estate prices in India have surged in recent years, driven by a fast-expanding economy that has boosted incomes and spurred demand for shopping malls, houses and offices.
Policy makers expect foreign investment of more than $3 billion into property in the fiscal year to March 2008, as real estate firms tap the capital market. Leading property developer DLF recently raised 91.88 billion rupees ($2.3 billion) in the country's biggest ever share offer, while rival Unitech plans to raise 20-30 billion rupees in debt to fund its new projects.
Source: in.today
Date: 12/07/07
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