Real estate experts say the demonetisation will discourage use of unaccounted cash in the real estate sector and give it more credibility. “The effects will be far-reaching and will shake up the sector,” said Anuj Puri, chairman and country head, JLL India, an investment management firm. “Stricter measures against black money have for long been required to help bring about greater transparency, give the Indian real estate sector more credibility and make it more attractive for foreign investors. Black money deals are more common in the unorganised market, but this practice has, in fact, been on the decrease with greater awareness on the part of buyers.”
Anshul Jain, managing director India, Cushman & Wakefield, said: “The primary market, which is largely driven by large developers, is unlikely to be deeply affected as most large developers do not deal in cash.”
In secondary markets, though there will be a dip in prices for assets sold or bought in the short term, it will not be surprising to see prices going up as sellers come to terms with the fact that capital gains tax has to be paid on monies, said Sachin Sandhir, global managing director-emerging business, Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors. “Sellers are likely to factor that liability into the sale price,” he said.
