With both property prices and interest rates falling sharply, does it make sense to buy a house now?.
In the last two months, things have changed quite sharply for the potential homebuyers. For one, developers have started officially started announcing price reductions. And even banks, mainly in the public sector, have started cutting rates aggressively. For instance, the country’s largest bank, State Bank of India (SBI) has reduced its home loan rates to 8 per cent for one year. This can be availed up to April 30. Before announcing the scheme, State Bank of India’s (SBI’s) rates ranged between 8.5 per cent and 11 per cent, depending on the loan amounts and profile of the customer. Other public sector banks (PSBs) are already offering special rates under a scheme announced in December. The interest rate on home loans up to Rs 5 lakh is fixed at 8.5 per cent and for those between Rs 5 lakh and Rs 20 lakh at 9.25 per cent, along with free insurance. Even the private sector banks have responded, but not so aggressively. The biggest home loan lender, HDFC, too has started giving discounts
