Ghaziabad development body sold 1,585 properties in FY21

GHAZIABAD: The Ghaziabad Development Authority (GDA) in the financial year 2020-21 managed to sell 1,585 properties worth Rs 541 crore — which is the highest in four years.

The sale of GDA’s properties since 2017 has been adversely impacted due to a slump in the real estate sector and all efforts to revive the situation was halted by the pandemic.

While the pandemic is still not over, data suggests that the buyer sentiment has picked up, resulting in the higher sale of properties. “At the start of 2020-21, we had 6,332 properties in our inventory, which included EWS, LIG, MIG, HIG, residential, commercial and industrial plots. By the end of the financial year, we managed to sell over 1,500 properties,” said a GDA official.

“We still have 4,747 unsold properties worth Rs 3,093 crore. But, this is the highest number of properties we have sold in four years. In a way, it has given us hope that sale is picking up,” added the official.

In the financial year 2019-20, out of the total 5,717 properties, GDA managed to sell 1,232 properties worth Rs 229 crore. In 2018-19, the authority managed to garner Rs 95 crore from the 522 properties it managed to sell. GDA’s condition in the financial year 2017-18 was worse as it could sell only 165 properties worth just Rs 83 crore.

“For a long time, deliberations were going on how to ensure the sale of properties, which was impacting its revenue. To lure consumers, we had to let go of the ‘babu’ style of functioning. We became more responsive and proactive,” said the official.

“We also announced concessions. We gave buyers the option of depositing 10% of the property amount at the time of auction and 25% after necessary paperwork and the rest in instalments. We also started holding regular auctions of properties, which is now done once every week,” said the official. Also, the duration for paying up EMI’s was extended up to seven years and more. “This had a positive impact as buyers showed a renewed interest in our properties,” added the official.

“We have been able to monetise only a fraction of our properties as 4,747 of them, worth over Rs 3,000 crore, are lying unsold. We hope that with more concessions and a proactive approach, we will be able to sell more of our properties,” said the official.