Instan tip

The fortnight’s burning question.

Q Do you expect real estate prices to crash by the end of the current financial year?

A Yes. Renu Sud Karnad, Joint Managing Director, HDFC
Yes. Prices will go down further. The impact of the global meltdown can be minimised only by second generation financial sector reforms. India needs the reforms recommended by the Percy Mistry and Raghuram Rajan Committees.

Maybe. Anuj Puri, Country Head & Chairman,
Jones Lang LaSalle Meghraj
Today, India’s property market boom has definitely frayed at the edges. There has been a slowdown in transactions in all sectors. Going forward, interest rates and negative cash flows will certainly put downward pressure on property prices.

No. D.P. Srivastava, Director, Omaxe
A further crash looks unrealistic at this point of time. In the last two years, the prices of raw land have gone up manifold. So, the projects started by real estate developers on those lands give them little leeway to slash prices. Even if some developer is willing to cut prices further, others won’t let it happen as the cascading effect of such a drop could be severe.

—Manu Kaushik