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The second wave of Covid-19 and resultant lockdowns has affected the real estate sector in the country, but the sale of new homes has gained momentum in the country's financial capital, Mumbai.

According to data from Knight Frank India, around 29 per cent of total registrations in May 2021 were new sales made during the month, compared to 7 per cent in April 2021.

Out of the total new sales in May 2021, 62 per cent were in sub Rs 1 crore category.

Around 71 per cent of the registered properties were from sales concluded in the period December 2020 to April 2021 period that got registered in month of May.

Despite a MoM drop of 47 per cent in registrations in May 2021, the new units sold during the month has grown by 119 per cent MoM from 710 units in April 2021 to 1,554 units in May 2021.

"This implies that in spite of the current lockdown restrictions, the market has started picking up. However, the numbers are nowhere close 6,270 units registered during May 2019. A strong demand stimulant is therefore required to further propel sales to regain pre-Covid levels," the report said.

The real estate consultancy in a report, however, noted that Mumbai BMC region (Churchgate to Dahisar and Colaba to Mulund) recorded property registrations of 5,360 units in May 2021, registering a decline of 47 per cent month-on-month (MoM) compared to April 2021 and down 15 per cent compared to 6,270 units registered in May 2019.

However, the registrations in May 2021 were up 25 times higher compared to May 2020 as the lockdown restrictions are less stringent this year.

The Maharashtra government in December 2020 had given a leeway of four months to homebuyers to register a property after the payment of stamp duty in order to prevent crowding of registration offices. This ensured that homebuyers who had purchased residences and paid stamp duty on or before March 31, 2021, have maximum window of four months till July 31, 2021, from the respective date of payment of stamp duty for registering their apartment.

Before this leeway was permitted, for over 95 per cent of registrations in the recent years, the difference between date of payment of stamp duty and date of registration was less than 10 days and for less than 2 per cent of the registrations, the difference was over 30 days.