Second time this year, circle rates raised in Gurugram

On Monday, for the second time this year, the state government increased the collector rates in the city.

In February, after a gap of four years, the government had revised the circle rates by 10 per cent, which remained in force till March 31.

With the new circle rates, property prices in Gurugram are set to increase between 15 to 20 per cent.

Now, in DLF-1 and Sushant Lok-1, the residential circle rate has increased from Rs 65,000 per square yard to Rs 70,000 per square yard. In DLF-2, DLF-4 and South City-1, the residential circle rate is up from Rs 65,000 per square yard to Rs 72,000 per square yard.

"Real estate sector in Gurugram has been facing a lot of pressure for the last four to five years. The only silver lining was the sale of commercial properties. Since Gurugram is the pioneer of realty revolution in the National Capital Region, the state government and builders must collaborate to sell properties in the city at reasonable rates," said Rahul Suri, a Gurugram realtor.

Circle rates are the minimum price at which the property is registered with the district revenue department when being transferred. The stamp duty levied on such properties is the major revenue source for the government.

There was a drastic drop in the collections of revenue through registration from the Gurugram circle.

Of the Rs 3,900 crore of total revenue collected by the government through registration of properties, Gurugram contributed about Rs 1,464 crore last year. This amount was less than the revenue collected in 2013-14, which was over Rs 1,900 crore. There has also been a marked slowdown in the sale of housing units.

While 2013-14 saw 55,220 units being sold, in 2016 -17, the sale transactions were down to 52,476 units. The presence of larger inventories, however, ensured that Rs 26,073 crore collected through sales of these units was higher than Rs 19, 500 crore collected in 2013-14.