Housing construction cost in India have escalated by 20-25 percent over the past 45 days, owing to surging input costs of steel and cement, and so builders will be forced to increase property prices by 10-15 percent next month, the Confederation of Real Estate Developers’ Association of India (CREDAI) said on Tuesday, March 29.
CREDAI has sought government intervention through a reduction in the Goods and Service tax (GST) on building raw materials and lower taxes on registering properties with local government authorities.
It said that, though it is not advising its members to stop work on ongoing projects, if input prices like steel continue to rise it will have no option but to call for a halt in housing construction and defer raw material purchases by builders.
CREDAI said that construction costs have gone up by INR 500 ($7) per square feet over the past 45 days, pushing up prices particularly of construction of affordable housing projects.