The real estate sector on Wednesday welcomed the RBIThe decision to keep policy rates unchanged and provide additional liquidity of Rs 10,000 crore to the National Housing Bank (NHB), but said the umbrella bank should ensure the fund is made available to developers running out of cash to complete projects.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has kept its key interest rates unchanged and has remained steadfast in its dovish stance amid concerns over rising COVID-19 infections that could derail the nascent economic recovery .

“By keeping repo rates unchanged, the RBI has maintained an accommodative stance. The RBI governor’s assurance to provide adequate credit by ensuring sufficient liquidity and the announcement of Rs 10,000 of additional cash to NHB must be transferred to real estate as the sector is struggling to find funds for projects, ”said CREDAI National President Harsh Vardhan Patodia.

Anshuman Magazine, chief executive officer of CBRE India, Southeast Asia, Middle East and Africa, said the RBI decision was made with the aim of securing economic recovery, while ensuring that inflation remains within the target for the future.

The central bank announced additional measures such as special liquidity facilities for financial institutions, including 10,000 crore rupees for the NHB, he said, adding that these measures would help revive the real estate sector.

NAREDCO Chairman Niranjan Hiranandani said, “Repo rate unchanged by RBI, which signals to maintain strong borrowing momentum. In addition, the anchoring of the real GDP forecast at 10.5% reflects that India’s economic recovery is healthy, self-sufficient and resilient. “

Sanjay Dutt, Managing Director and CEO of Tata Realty and Infrastructure Ltd, said this was the fifth time in a row that the RBI has attempted to maintain an accommodating stance and will certainly play an important role in the industry’s long-term recovery.

“Considering that real estate is the backbone of several other sectors, we urge the government to introduce measures that truly elevate the sector, such as granting industry status, allowing FDI in projects RTMI (ready to move in) and the extension of the tax advantage from affordable to medium-sized housing, ”he added.

Ashish R Puravankara, Managing Director, Puravankara Ltd, said the unchanged repo rate will be an integral part of real estate investment and allow more home buyers to enter the market easily.

Manoj Gaur, CMD, Gaurs Group praised RBI’s policy but said more action needs to be taken to revive the sector.

The real estate sector needs several measures, and we expect a push from the RBI to banks to provide loans to the sector, said Uddhav Poddar, MD, Bhumika Group.

Ram Raheja, director of S Raheja Realty, said this will continue to drive demand for housing. “Housing markets have responded well in the past to lower mortgage rates, reduced stamp duties and other discounts.”

The chief executive of Mumbai-based manufacturer Spenta Corporation, Farshid Cooper, said a cut in rates would have been good for consumers.

Among real estate advisers, Housing.com and PropTiger CEO Dhruv Agarwala said the RBI decision was as expected. He hoped lenders would take inspiration from the RBI’s decision to leave rates unchanged and continue to offer homebuyers the benefit of a historically low interest rate regime.

Anuj Puri, president of ANAROCK, said mortgage rates could remain stable.

However, he said: “The incentive period for lower fares (from 6.7%) expired on March 31. SBI has already returned to its normal rates and other banks will follow suit as well. This can have an impact on the demand for housing, particularly in Maharashtra where reductions in stamp duties coupled with the lowest mortgage rates on record have significantly boosted the demand for housing.

Savills India CEO Anurag Mathur said the RBI was keeping the repo rate unchanged despite the marginal rise in inflation in recent months. “The real estate market, especially the affordable housing segment, will continue to benefit from record interest rates. “

Samantak Das, chief economist and head of research and REIS, JLL India, said the resurgence of the pandemic and the resulting concerns about its impact on the economy and businesses demand a resilient approach.

Rajani Sinha, Chief Economist and National Director? Research, Knight Frank India, said: “The RBI has taken reassuring steps to inject additional liquidity into the housing sector through increased funding interventions to the National Housing Bank and the extension of the sector label. priority for bank financing to NBFC for home loans.

Honeyy Katiyal, founder of Investors Clinic, said this is an important step in allowing the economic recovery to remain strong.

“The RBI and in particular the MPC are to be commended for maintaining their accommodating stance for over a year now. His approach to dealing with the situation created by the pandemic and the measures taken to help revive the economy, will go down in history as one of the best, ”said Kaushal Agarwal, chairman of The Guardians Real Estate Advisory.