HDFC disburses Rs 2,800-cr low-cost loans under Central scheme

Mortgage major HDFC has disbursed Rs 2,800 crore loans to 14,290 home-buyers under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojna (Urban) so far, which entails a Central subsidy of Rs 302 crore.

The Modi government had launched the housing for all by 2022 in June 2015 and the disbursement is from that period.

While the lender has provided home loans worth Rs 1,728 crore under PMAW's credit-linked subsidy scheme (CLSS) to the economically weaker section (EWS) customers and low- income group (LIG), it has disbursed loans worth Rs 1,067 crore to 3,526 customers from the middle income group (MIG), it said in report today.

The EWS comprises people with an annual household income up to Rs 3 lakh, while LIG include those with income greater that Rs 3 lakh and up to Rs 6 lakh.

Government launched its flagship PMAY(U) scheme on June 25, 2015 to provide housing for all by 2022. Since then, it has taken several steps such as inclusion of the MIG category under CLSS, increasing the loan tenure to 20 years, extending the MIG scheme till March 2019, increasing in the carpet area of houses under the CLSS for MIG, etc, to increase the scope of PMAY.

It also announced in the Budget 2018 that about 31 lakh homes are to be built in urban areas in FY19, and 51 lakh in rural areas.

"This has renewed the interest of homebuyers in the real estate sector and allowed first-time home-buyers to avail more benefits to own a house," said Renu Sud Karnad, managing director at HDFC.

HDFC ltd home loan had disbursed 39 per cent of home loans in volume terms and 20 per cent in value terms to customers from the EWS and LIG segment during the nine months to December 2017, said the report.

The lender on an average has been approving 8,000 loans on a monthly basis to the EWS and LIG segments, with monthly average approvals at about Rs 1,300 crore, it added.

In value terms, home loans to the EWS and LIG segments grew 32 per cent and 39 per cent, respectively, during the April-December 2017 period.

The average home loan to the EWS and LIG segment stood at Rs 10.24 lakh and Rs 17.38 lakh, respectively.

Till date 4,452 towns have been notified as statutory towns under the housing for all mission and properties located in these towns are eligible for subsidy, according to the report.

Magicbricks & SBI to launch Big Bang Home Carnival 2018

India's No.1 Home Loan Bank & MAGICBRICKS jointly comes up with Big Bang Home Carnival. 62 developers have come on board to showcase 97 projects while SBI is offering a host of loan deals in SBI and RERA Approved Projects.

The housing festival will showcase nearly 16,000 units, across 22 Indian cities and will culminate on March 9. 62 developers have come on board to showcase 97 projects while SBI is offering a host of loan deals in SBI and RERA Approved Projects.

Get more details on SBI Home Loans

State Bank of India offering home loans at Zero processing Fee with an attractive interest rates and additional 20% loan for the young generation having age upto 45 years. The customers can get home loans pre-approved even before they decide the property to be purchased. To improve customer home loan journey SBI offer fast processing and door step document collection facilities.

Under the Big Bang Home Carnival, many developers are also offering a host of exciting deals to customers ranging from international holidays, free car parking and club membership, cash discount up to Rs.350 per sqft, GST free registration, free modular kitchen and etc. Besides, SBI is also offering pre-approved home loans, flexi home loan (with 20% additional loan) and zero processing fees in SBI approved properties.

Shimla’s First Snowfall of the Year Will Take Your Breath Away

Residents and travellers alike were amazed by the beauty of the blanket of snow, which cloaked the town in a picturesque vision of beauty. As news spread, people gathered to enjoy the first snowfall of the year. Here are some photographs shared on Instagram, capturing visions of Shimla’s snowcapped mountains and valleys!

The tourist season in Shimla (taxi for shimla from delhi) and some other places, which got a boost after the first snowfall of the year last week, providing little relief to the hotel industry, lasted for just four days.

The occupancy in hotels again witnessed a slump today as the week-end tourism boom ended and the occupancy dropped by 70 to 80 per cent. The hotel industry is now pinning hopes on the predictions of rain and snow in mid and high hills on January 29 and 30.

“With Shimla witnessing the moderate snowfall on January 23 and Republic Day on Friday, extending the weekend, there was a heavy footfall of tourists and hotels were packed to their capacity,” said president, Tourism Industry Stakeholders Association, Shimla, MK Seth, adding that, “We are hoping that the predictions of the Meteorological Department will come true and the tourist rush will increase again.”

However, locals had a harrowing time commuting in and around the city as roads were chocked due to heavy vehicular rush. Long queues were seen near Kufri on the suburbs of Shimla while major parkings that have come up on the Cart Road again proved to be major traffic bottlenecks.

The worst hit were the people crossing the lift as multiple parkings have come up in the vicinity and crossing the stretch is nothing less than a nightmare. Planners did not visualise the peril of having single entry and exit route at the parkings and vehicles waiting for entry into the parking led to a long queue of vehicles, causing traffic jams.