Tagged: Home Buyer

ATM :: Home loan overdraft accounts squeeze banks

Mayur Shetty | TNN | Updated: Jul 2, 2018, 14:40 IST | Times of India

ATM

MUMBAI: Well-heeled borrowers are parking larger amounts in their home loan overdraft account after running out of options for generating high returns. This has prompted lenders to hold back on offering this product to new customers.

The home loan overdraft facility allows the borrower to use the advance as a savings account and transfer surplus funds there. The advantage is that no interest is charged on the home loan to the extent of the extra money kept in the account.

But lenders are unhappy with more money being parked there as they lose out on interest income, while having to make all provisions required for outstanding loans. Traditionally, middle-class borrowers would use any additional funds to prepay loans, while savvy investors would avail of an overdraft facility and park surplus funds there. Kept temporarily, this surplus would be used for another investment.

Now, with both financial markets and real estate in a sluggish state, the idle funds in these overdraft accounts are rising. “If a substantial part of the loan amount is parked in the overdraft account, the bank loses money as there is no interest income but all attendant costs — commission to agents and provision costs — are there,” said a senior official with State Bank of India (SBI).

While banks are not withdrawing the product, they are putting additional conditions to apply for it. Some banks are refusing to take over loans where the customer has parked more than half the loan amount in the account. Others are not offering the loan for smaller amounts. Yet another multinational bank is charging an annual fee on the unused balance.

Sukanya Kumar, founder of RetaiLending.com, which acts as a direct selling agent for many lenders, said, “This is a strange situation where the banks have a product but they do not want to offer it to a customer. Even if they insist on a higher loan amount today, what will they do if customers park more funds in their account?”

Even otherwise, the overdraft version has traditionally never been pushed the way home loans are sold. It was initially offered by multinational banks to their wealthy borrowers to differentiate themselves from other lenders. This was soon picked up by private banks ICICI Bank and Axis Bank, and even state-owned SBI. Most of the multinational banks — including Citi, HSBC and DBS — are offering this to customers. Banks that have shifted focus to retail like IDBI Bank and IDFC Bank are also providing this product. But even as the number of banks has increased, lenders are becoming choosy.

Source: https://bit.ly/2MD9HRE

ATM :: Buyers find ways to avoid steep GST on flats being built

Nauzer Bharucha | TNN | Updated: Jul 2, 2018, 11:09 IST | Times of India

ATM

MUMBAI: Prospective flat buyers are indulging in innovative ways to circumvent paying the 12% GST levied on under-construction flats. GST on such projects is one of the main reasons that have kept purchasers away, said builders.

Some builders have found a way out for the prospective buyers. They show the booking amount as a ‘loan’ given by the buyer to its subsidiary company and once the building is ready with the mandatory occupation certificate from the BMC, the builder returns the amount to the purchaser with interest. ”

Nil GST on completed projects offers loophole

While GST on under-construction flats is a dampener on sales, some builders have found a way out. They show the booking amount as a ‘loan’ given by the buyer to its subsidiary company and once the building is ready and occupation certificate (OC) obtained, the builder returns the amount to the purchaser with interest. “The client then pays back the entire money to the construction firm,” said a builder with projects in the eastern suburbs. This does the trick because GST is not levied on completed projects with OC whereas GST rate is 12% on under-construction projects, and buyers in the affordable housing segment (homes of up to 60 sqm carpet area) pay 8% GST.

Property expert Pranay Vakil agreed that, “Some developers take funds from buyers in a different account/company and transfer it against the sale of a flat when occupation certificate is received,” but he sounded a cautionary note saying “This has a built-in danger in case the developer reneges on his commitment if the project is delayed.”

“GST is supposed to be a tax-neutral proposition, with input tax credit benefits to be passed on to homebuyers. However, lack of clarity on the amount and timelines of passing on this benefit have led to a predictable phenomenon—the quest for ways and means to avoid GST,” said Anuj Puri, chairman of Anarock Property Consultants. “In one variable, a homebuyer enters into a deal with the developer and subsequently, after receipt of the occupation certificate, the deal is cancelled and a fresh agreement is signed between the two parties. While reputed developers are steering clear of such deals because of the obvious potential legal pitfalls, a few smaller players are engaging in such practices to avoid GST and attract buyers,” said Puri.

He cautioned that many homebuyers had burnt their fingers dealing with such unethical players. “The RERA regime is strict and has penal actions, so these practices are not exactly a widespread phenomenon. Nonetheless, the governing authority has to collar such players to maintain sanity in a market that is just beginning to show the green shoots of recovery.”

Lamenting the 50% drop in sales in his under-construction luxury projects, a developer said: “Prospective buyers say they will sign a letter of intent (LoI) to block the flat so that they don’t have to pay GST They tell us they will pay after the building is complete. However, this LoI has no legal sanctity and the buyer can back out of the project without any consequences.”

But another developer with luxury tower projects in central Mumbai claimed his firm hasn’t come across this practice yet. “Our under-construction sales continue to remain strong and customers have no issue paying GST since they also get the benefit of the input credit in the pricing,” he said.

Builder Nayan Shah said customers want the builder to bear part of the 12% GST burden. “In our under-construction projects, we have started offering a box price, which is all inclusive. We bear part of the GST, about 7%, of the liability,” he said.

A homebuyer told TOI that developers were not passing on tax benefits to their customers of under-construction projects and are even delaying or denying the same despite being asked multiple times. “In our project, none of the customers have been given a taxation pass through benefit,” he said.

Sources said most purchasers are not even aware of the GST tax discount. “This is unfair for them. Most developers get away due to this lack of knowledge. This is, of course, a problem with a few developers and not all,” they said.

Source : https://bit.ly/2tXbfy5

NTH :: Home loan: Is this right time to go for it, as banks may raise rates?

IDBI Bank has already increased its one-year MCLR rate to 8,65 percent, making its loans more expensive for customers. The bank has also increased its two-year and three-year MCLR rate to 8.7 percent and 8.8 percent, respectively
By ZeeBiz WebTeam | Updated: Mon, May 14, 2018 06:12 pm | ZeeBiz WebDesk

NTH

If you are thinking of taking a home loan then you must do it as early as possible, as banks are likely to increase their interest rates in near future. IDBI Bank has already increased its one-year MCLR rate to 8,65 percent, making its loans more expensive for customers. The bank has also increased its two-year and three-year MCLR rate to 8.7 percent and 8.8 percent, respectively. This rate has been made effective from May 12. The bank has increased MCLR in the range between 0.5 bps and 0.10 bps.

This is the base rate at which banks provide loans to its customers. If banks get cheaper loans then they also lend at cheaper rates to their customers and vis-a-vis. An increase in the MCLR means, your loans will come at a higher rate, and you will have to shell out more for auto loans, home loans, personal loans or any other loans.

The country’s largest lender State Bank of India (SBI) recently increased its home loan rate for up to Rs 30 lakh from 8.35 percent to 8.65 percent. Allahabad Bank is also providing the home loan amount up to 30 lakh at 8.35 percent.

Other banks including Axis Bank and Bank of India are giving home loans up to Rs 30 lakhs at 8.4 percent, according to Bank Bazaar. For home loans between Rs 30 lakh and 75 lakh, Allahabad Bank, Dena Bank and SBI are charging 8.35 percent. These banks are also charging the same rate for loans over Rs 75 lakhs, according to the financial services company website.

ICICI Bank, however, is charging between 8.75 and 8.95 per cent for loans over Rs 75 lakh, while HDFC Bank is providing loans at 8.6 percent for the amount exceeding Rs 75 lakh. As the banks are increasing their loan rates, this is the right time to go for home loan.

Source: https://bit.ly/2wPUABq

ATM :: Got good credit score? Get cheaper home loan

Rachel Chitra | TNN | Updated: May 16, 2018, 09:51 IST | Times of India

ATM

BENGALURU : Are banks gearing up to reward you for good behaviour? After Bank of India (BoI) and Bank of Baroda (BoB) announced such measures, IDBI Bank on Tuesday said that it will reward good borrowers by giving them differential pricing on their home loan interest rates based on their Cibil scores.

According to Cibil COO Harshala Chandorkar, this could point to a larger trend of “loan interests more aligned towards a carrot-and-stick policy – where good borrowers can reap the benefits of their financial prudence and bad borrowers get weeded out or have to pay steeper rates”.

With all four credit bureaus in India – Cibil, Equifax, Experian and CRIF Highmark – looking at wider coverage and criteria, from whether you paid your electricity bill on time to whether your parents paid off for the bike they got you in college, this score could affect your loan prospects.

In the last few years, with non-banking financial companies (NBFCs) and micro-finance institutions also sending information on borrowers to credit bureaus, lenders now have a wider and more comprehensive data set to assess. This could further widen as Cibil is currently in talks with telecom regulator Trai for access to data on prepaid recharges, and other agencies for utility bill payment history.

Banking analyst Hemindra Hazari said, “The whole point of Cibil assessing a customer’s data is that at some point it should translate into benefits. Corporates are always being graded on their term loans, unsecured debt and convertibles, AAA or BB++ rating, and that gives a better picture of their credit worthiness.”

In IDBI Bank’s case, it will be offering loans at 5-15bps (1 percentage point = 100 basis points, or bps) cheaper for customers whose Cibil score is above 700. A credit score normally ranges between 300 and 900 – based on credit behaviour and repayment history. Therefore, the higher the score, the more the chances of securing a fresh loan. IDBI Bank ED Jorty Chacko said, “We are keen to provide all aspiring consumers with access to credit. But while doing so, it is important to reward those consumers who have exhibited consistent credit discipline through timely payments and responsible credit management.”

But with many customers unaware of the role credit bureaus play and whether decisions taken earlier in life can come back to haunt one, Hazari said, “I am concerned about the privacy of our data. In India, there is a very low premium on methods employed for data collection and aggregation. And also, many a time, your consent is not required before financial institutions share additional sets of information over and above what is mandated.”

Source: https://bit.ly/2Iu3GVT

NTH :: Have a CIBIL score of 760? Bank of India offers home loans at cheaper rates to customers with good credit score

Bank of India will offer preferential pricing rates to borrowers with good credit scores for home loans of Rs 30 lakh and above, the state-run lender said.
By: PTI | New Delhi | Published: May 7, 2018 7:35 PM | Financial Express

NTH

Bank of India will offer preferential pricing rates to borrowers with good credit scores for home loans of Rs 30 lakh and above, the state-run lender said. Customers with CIBIL score of 760 and above will be offered loan at the minimum home loan interest rate or the marginal cost of lending rate (MCLR) for an year, the bank said in a statement. MCLR is the minimum interest rate of a bank below which it cannot lend. Those with a score of 759 and less, the rate of interest for loans of Rs 30 lakh and above will come at MCLR plus 0.10 basis points for a year.

One basis points is 100th of a percentage point. Bank of India said borrowers availing home loans of over Rs 30 lakh will be benefited from the reduced rate of interest. A consumer’s CIBIL score is a three-digit numeric summary of the credit information report (CIR) — summarising the past credit behaviour and repayment history — and ranges from 300 to 900.

The higher the score, the better are the chances of loan approval. Most banks check a consumer’s CIBIL score and report before approving a loan. “Consumers with a good credit discipline should be rewarded, as it helps propagate the importance and need to maintain a good financial history. Our preferential pricing model aims to reward high-scoring home-loan aspirants with competitive ROI, thereby helping them making their dream home a reality,” Bank of India said in a statement.

Credit information company TransUnion CIBIL’s Head of Direct to Consumers Interactive Hrushikesh Mehta said: “Bank of India’s CIBIL score-based incentive helps further highlight the need to monitor and build a positive credit profile through good credit habits.”

Source: https://bit.ly/2jES8Eg

ATM :: 7 home loan repayment options to choose from

By Sunil Dhawan | ET Online | Updated: May 05, 2018, 12.32 PM IST | Economic Times

ATM

Buying that dream home can be rather tedious process that involves a lot of research and running around.

First of all you will have to visit several builders across various locations around the city to zero in on a house you want to buy. After that comes the time to finance the purchase of your house, for which you will most probably borrow a portion of the total cost from a lender like a bank or a home finance company.

However, scouting for a home loan is generally not a well thought-out process and most of us will typically consider the home loan interest rate, processing fees, and the documentary trail that will get us the required financing with minimum effort. There is one more important factor you should consider while taking a home loan and that is the type of loan. There are different options that come with various repayment options.

Other than the plain vanilla home loan scheme, here are a few other repayment options you can consider.

I. Home loan with delayed start of EMI payments
Banks like the State Bank of India (SBI) offer this option to its home loan borrowers where the payment of equated monthly instalments (EMIs) begins at a later date. SBI’s Flexipay home loan comes with an option to go for a moratorium period (time during the loan term when the borrower is not required to make any repayment) of anywhere between 36 months and 60 months during which the borrower need not pay any EMI but only the pre-EMI interest is to be paid. Once the moratorium period ends, the EMI begins and will be increased during the subsequent years at a pre- agreed rate.

Compared to a normal home loan, in this loan one can also get a higher loan amount of up to 20 percent. This kind of loan is available only to salaried and working professionals aged between 21 years and 45 years.

Watch outs: Although initially the burden is lower, servicing an increasing EMI in the later years, especially during middle age or nearing retirement, requires a highly secure job along with decent annual increments. Therefore, you should carefully opt for such a repayment option only if there’s a need as the major portion of the EMI in the initial years represents the interest.

II. Home loan by linking idle savings in bank account
Few home loan offers such as SBI Maxgain, ICICI Bank’s home loan ‘Overdraft Facility’ and IDBI Bank’s ‘Home Loan Interest Saver’ allows you to link your home loan account with your current account that is opened along with. The interest liability of your home loan comes down to the extent of surplus funds parked in the current account. You will be allowed to withdraw or deposit funds from the current account as and when required. The interest rate on the home loan will be calculated on the outstanding balance of loan minus balance in the current account.

For example, on a Rs 50 lakh loan at 8.5 percent interest rate for 20 years, with a monthly take home income of say Rs 1.5 lakh, the total interest outgo for a plain vanilla loan is about Rs 54,13,875. Whereas, for a loan linked to your bank account, it will be about Rs 52,61,242, translating into a savings of about Rs 1.53 lakh during the tenure of the loan.

Watch outs: Although the interest burden gets reduced considerably, banks will ask you to pay that extra interest rate for such loans, which translates into higher EMIs.

III. Home loan with increasing EMIs
If one is looking for a home loan in which the EMI keeps increasing after the initial few years, then you can consider something like the Housing Development Finance Corporation’s (HDFC) Step Up Repayment Facility (SURF) or ICICI Bank’s Step Up Home Loans.

In such loans, you can avail a higher loan amount and pay lower EMIs in the initial years. Subsequently, the repayment is accelerated proportionately with the assumed increase in your income. There is no moratorium period in this loan and the actual EMI begins from the first day. Paying increasing EMI helps in reducing the interest burden as the loan gets closed earlier.

Watch outs: The repayment schedule is linked to the expected growth in one’s income. If the salary increase falters in the years ahead, the repayment may become difficult.

IV. Home loan with decreasing EMIs
HDFC’s Flexible Loan Installments Plan (FLIP) is one such plan in which the loan is structured in a way that the EMI is higher during the initial years and subsequently decreases in the later years.

Watch outs: Interest portion in EMI is as it is higher in the initial years. Higher EMI means more interest outgo in the initial years. Have a prepayment plan ready to clear the loan as early as possible once the EMI starts decreasing.

V. Home loan with lump sum payment in under-construction property
If you purchase an under construction property, you are generally required to service only the interest on the loan amount drawn till the final disbursement and pay the EMIs thereafter. In case you wish to start principal repayment immediately, you can opt to start paying EMIs on the cumulative amounts disbursed. The amount paid will be first adjusted for interest and the balance will go towards principal repayment. HDFC’s Tranche Based EMI plan is one such offering.

For example, on a Rs 50 lakh loan, if the EMI is xx, by starting to pay the EMI, the total outstanding will stand reduced to about Rs 36 lakh by the time the property gets completed after 36 months. The new EMI will be lower than what you had paid over previous 36 months.

Watch outs: There is no tax benefit on principal paid during the construction period. However, interest paid gets the tax benefit post occupancy of the home.

VI. Home loan with longer repayment tenure
ICICI Bank’s home loan product called ‘Extraa Home Loans’ allows borrowers to enhance their loan eligibility amount up to 20 per cent and also provide an option to extend the repayment period up to 67 years of age (as against normal retirement age) and are for loans up to Rs 75 lakh.

These are the three variants of ‘Extraa’.

a) For middle aged, salaried customers: This variant is suitable for salaried borrowers up to 48 years of age. While in a regular home loan, the borrowers will get a repayment schedule till their age of retirement, with this facility they can extend their loan tenure till 65 years of age.

b) For young, salaried customers: The salaried borrowers up to 37 years of age are eligible to avail a 30 year home loan with repayment tenure till 67 years of age.

c) Self-employed or freelancers : There are many self-employed customers who earn higher income in some months of the year, given the seasonality of the business they are in. This variant will take the borrower’s higher seasonal income into account while sanctioning those loans.

Watch outs: The enhancement of loan limit and the extension of age come at a cost. The bank will charge a fee of 1-2 per cent of total loan amount as the loan guarantee is provided by India Mortgage Guarantee Corporation (IMGC). The risk of enhanced limit and of increasing the tenure essentially is taken over by IMGC.

VII. Home loan with waiver of EMI
Axis Bank offers a repayment option called ‘Fast Forward Home Loans’ where 12 EMIs can be waived off if all other instalments have been paid regularly. Here. six months EMIs are waived on completion of 10 years, and another 6 months on completion of 15 years from the first disbursement. The interest rate is the same as that for a normal loan but the loan tenure has to be 20 years in this scheme. The minimum loan amount is fixed at Rs 30 lakh.

The bank also offers ‘Shubh Aarambh Home Loan’ with a maximum loan amount of Rs 30 lakh, in which 12 EMIs are waived off at no extra cost on regular payment of EMIs – 4 EMIs waived off at the end of the 4th, 8th and 12th year. The interest rate is the same as normal loan but the loan tenure has to be 20 years in this loan scheme.

Watch outs: Keep a tab on any specific conditions and the processing fee and see if it’s in line with other lenders. Keep a prepayment plan ready and try to finish the loan as early as possible.

Nature of home loans
Effective from April 1, 2016, all loans including home loans are linked to a bank’s marginal cost-based lending rate (MCLR). Someone looking to get a home loan should keep in mind that MCLR is only one part of the story. As a home loan borrower, there are three other important factors you need to evaluate when choosing a bank to take the loan from – interest rate on the loan, the markup, and the reset period.

What you should do
It’s better to opt for a plain-vanilla home loan as they don’t come with any strings attached. However, if you are facing a specific financial situation that may require a different approach, then you could consider any of the above variants. Sit with your banker, discuss your financial position, make a reasonable forecast of income over the next few years and decide on the loan type. Don’t forget to look at the total interest burden over the loan tenure. Whichever loan you finally decide on, make sure you have a plan to repay the entire outstanding amount as early as possible. After all, a home with 100 per cent of your own equity is a place you can call your own.

Source: https://bit.ly/2wjnSId

ATM :: Credit score high, but loan rejected? Here are 6 possible reasons

A high credit score certainly boosts the chances of your loan approval. However, if you fail to qualify on other parameters, even your high credit score will not help.
Published: March 14, 2018 4:37 PM | Financial Express

ATM

A high credit score certainly boosts the chances of your loan approval. However, it doesn’t guarantee it. Credit score is just one of many parameters used for credit approval by lenders. If you fail to qualify on other parameters, even your high credit score will not help. Here are the some of the most common reason why loan applications are rejected despite a good credit score:

1. Minimum income eligibility: Most lending products have minimum income criteria for loan applicants. Lenders may also set varying income eligibility criteria depending on your location, i.e. metro, urban, semi-urban and rural areas. As this is often the first filter that lenders apply for processing loan applications, those who fail to meet this criterion are usually rejected outright, even without the consideration of other eligibility factors, such as credit score and EMI affordability. As this criterion may vary across lenders, visit online lending marketplaces to find out the loan options available to you basis your monthly income.

2. Age: Most lenders cap the age of loan applicants at 60 years. This is because monthly incomes usually dip after retirement, which increases of the risk of default. Some credit products may also cap the age by which the repayment has to be completed. For example, most lenders require the borrowers to complete their home loan and loan against property repayment before they turn 70. Those who fail to meet these requirements may have their loan applications rejected. If you too are approaching your retirement age, improve the chances of loan approval by making your spouse or employed children your co-applicants.

3. Frequent job changes: Nowadays it is quite common to frequently change jobs for better career prospects and higher income. However, frequent job changes is considered as a sign of an unstable career and hence, job hoppers are regarded as less creditworthy, especially for longer tenured loans like home loans and loan against property. If you too are planning to avail a longer tenured loan, avoid job changes for some time.

4. Guarantor of other loan: Whenever you become a guarantor to someone else’s loan, you become equally liable for its repayment. Hence, during fresh loan application, lenders will reduce your loan eligibility by the amount of outstanding loan guaranteed. This might lead to the rejection of your loan application. As banks do not allow changes in guarantor(s) unless requested by the borrower himself, ask the primary applicant of the loan to find another guarantor as your replacement.

5. High FOIR: Fixed obligation to income ratio (FOIR) is the proportion of your total income which goes out as EMIs (including the EMI for the new loan application) and other repayment obligations like house rent, insurance premiums, etc. As lenders prefer to lend to those with FOIR of 40-50% or lower, those exceeding it may have their loan application rejected. Hence, those with higher FOIR should prepay their existing loans in whole or part to increase their loan eligibility. Alternatively, opt for lower EMI for the new loan if that contains your FOIR within 40-50%.

6. Job and employer’s profile: Many lenders also consider your job description and/or your employer’s profile while processing your loan application. Lenders prefer government employees and those working with top corporates and MNCs the most due to their higher job certainty, whereas those working with lesser-known or financially-strained companies are less preferred. Employees with hazardous job profile have lower loan approval chances. Consider loans from NBFCs if banks reject your loan application due to your job or employer’s profile.

(By Naveen Kukreja, CEO & Co-founder, Paisabazaar.com)

Source: https://goo.gl/ZaicHf

NTH :: In a first, Citi launches T-bill rate linked home loan

PTI | March 5, 2018 | India Today

NTH

Mumbai, Mar 5 (PTI) Even as rivals continue to be reluctant about adopting external benchmarks for setting lending rates, American lender Citi today launched the countrys first market benchmark rate-linked lending product.

The bank has introduced a home loan product that will be linked to the rate of treasury bills, which is used by government for its short-term borrowings.

The lender, which already has similar external benchmark-linked products in other markets like the US and Singapore, said it does not see any impact on net interest margin (NIM), a key determinant of profitability, because of the launch of the product where a borrowers rates will be reviewed every three months.

Frustrated at poor transmission of its policy moves into lending rates for borrowers, the Reserve Bank had last October mooted the idea of moving to a market-linked benchmark and suggested three such instruments, including the T-bills rate, the rate for certificate of deposits and its own repo rate to determine the interest rate.

Bankers, led by their lobby grouping Indian Banks Association, had opposed such a move, claiming that the existing marginal cost of funding based lending rates is working well and also pointed out that deposits are not linked to any market benchmark.

Citis country business manager for global consumer banking Shinjini Kumar, said a shift to a market benchmark like the T-bill is transparent, simple and will also help with better transmission.

Loans will be sold at a fixed spread above the T-bill rate which will be maintained throughout the loan tenure, she said, adding there will be quarterly readjustments for the borrower.

There will be a range of spread above the T-bill rate which the bank will follow, its head of secured lending Rohit Ranjan said, adding the average spread will be 2 percentage points. Existing customers will also be able to move to the new product without any refinancing costs, he added.

The banks country treasurer Badrinivas NC sought to downplay concerns surrounding customers being exposed to T- bill rate volatilities, which may happen due to external events like the taper tantrum in 2013 and hinted that the rates also reflect the policy decisions at a particular point of time which get captured through the quarterly resets.

He said the bank has a diversified liability profile, including a high 60 per cent composition on the low-cost current and savings account deposits and also other retail term deposits, which will make it possible for it to offer such a product.

The bank feels the RBI will be on a long pause and may go for a hike in rates only if there is a surge in inflation, he said.

In a few cases, especially concerning top corporates, the bank has been benchmarking rates against market benchmarks but those were deals done on a one-on-one basis, and this is the first time that any lender is going to the market with such an offering, Kumar said.

The bank had a gross home loan book of Rs 9,000 crore, while the overall India book stood at Rs 57,000 crore as of December 2017. Even as rivals struggle with dud assets, its NPAs on the mortgage lending is a healthy 0.05 per cent, the bank said.

Commenting on the recent changes in priority sector lending (PSL) requirements for foreign banks, Kumar said Citi is already compliant on PSL requirements, including the sub- categories and in some cases it uses priority sector lending certificates.

The bank will be resorting to use of digital technologies and tying up with partners to comply with the new requirements, she said. PTI AA BEN BEN SDM

Source: https://goo.gl/fMCc2X

 

NTH :: SBI raises interest rates on bank FD and home loans: What should you do?

After a few hikes in marginal cost based funding rate (MCLR) by some banks in past two months, banks first raised the rates on bulk deposits.
Nikhil Walavalkar | Mar 01, 2018 01:13 PM IST | Source: Moneycontrol.com

NTH

The largest public sector bank in India – State Bank of India – has decided to increase the interest rate payable on retail deposits, followed by an increase in MCLR (marginal cost of funds-based lending rate) – the rate charged on loans – by up to 20 basis points. As the largest lender revises its interest rates, should you be worried with your financial plan?

Before getting into corrective measures and means to exploit the rate action, you should spend a minute understanding why rates have gone up.

“Towards the end of the financial year the liquidity in the market has gone down. The banks are keen to raise money. The rates are hiked as a lagged response to the rising bond yields,” said Mahendra Kumar Jajoo, head – fixed income, Mirae Asset Management.

For the uninitiated, the benchmark 10-year bond yield has moved up to 7.78 percent from a low of of 6.18 percent on December 7, 2016.

Banks typically take time to raise their fixed deposit rates. After a few hikes in MCLR by some banks in past two months, banks first raised the rates on bulk deposits. Now interest rates on retail fixed deposits are being hiked. This is a sign of relief for most fixed deposit investors who were forced to consider investing in the volatile stock markets through mutual funds.

Though the interest rate hike on fixed deposits is good news for conservative investors, one should not expect fireworks in the form of aggressive rate hikes in near future.

“As of now the liquidity tightening is the cause behind the fixed deposit rate hikes. RBI has maintained its neutral stance on the monetary issues. This may change to hawkish over next six months,” said Joydeep Sen, founder of wiseinvestor.in, a Mumbai-based wealth management firm.

Though the interest rates are set to go up and others are expected to follow SBI, the process of rate hikes will be gradual. “Bank fixed deposit investors may see higher rates over next six to twelve months. You can consider opting for six months to one year fixed deposits and rolling it over at higher rates when they mature,” Sen advised.

Rising interest rates, however, ring alarm bells for both bond fund investors and borrowers. The increase in yield suppresses the prices of bonds and thereby hurts investors in bond funds as net asset values of the bond funds go down. Recent spike in bond yields have taken a heavy toll on bond funds. Long term gilt funds lost 2.1 percent over past three months, on an average.

The prevalent bond yields are a result of the market discounting RBI’s hawkish stance one year down the line, according to experts. Although opinions are divided on the extent of a further surge in yields, there seems to be a consensus when it comes to volatility in the bond market.

If you are not comfortable with the volatility, you should stay away from long-term bond funds and income funds that invest in longer-term paper.

“Short term bond funds are good investment option at this juncture as they invest in bonds maturing in two to three years, where the yields are attractive,” said Jajoo. If you are comfortable with some amount of volatility and expect a sideways move in yields, you may consider investing in income funds and dynamic bond funds.

While fixed income investors see a mixed bag in the rising interest rate regime, borrowers, especially those on floating rate liabilities, are expected to see tough times ahead. The banking sector is undergoing a situation of extreme pressure on margins due to an increase in non-performing assets like never before.

The rise in yields and fixed deposit rates will ensure that banks will be forced to raise their MCLR. This will result in an increase in the floating rate for home loan borrowers. For example, if you have a Rs 50 lakh home loan for 15 years and the rate is hiked to 8.45 percent from 8.25 percent, then the EMI changes to Rs 49,090 from Rs 48,507, an increase of Rs 583. You may ascertain the possible impact on you using EMI calculator.

“Other banks will definitely follow the MCLR hike action of SBI. The rates on home loans may be hiked by the end of this month or in early April,” said Sukanya Kumar, founder of RetailLending.com.

Banks may postpone their rate hikes to attract home loan volumes and close the financial year with good numbers. But home loan borrowers should be prepared to pay higher EMIs in the near future.

Rates will be revised depending on the MCLR time frame. For example, if your home loan is linked to 6-month MCLR, you can expect rates to change after six months from the last reset. The 6-month MCLR prevalent at that time will be applicable to your home loan at the time of reset.

If interest rates continue their journey northward, cash flows do change for you. Account for them well in advance to ensure that you do not get caught off guard.

Source: https://goo.gl/RbU7Gt

NTH :: Affordable home-loans next threat to banks:Moody’s-ICRA report

PTI | Updated: Jan 9, 2018, 16:01 IST | Times of India

NTH

MUMBAI: Even as a lot of thrust is being given to the affordable housing segment, a report has flagged concerns about the growing delinquencies in this segment, which are expected to continue in 2018.

Competitive pressures and larger exposure to the self-employed are the prime reasons for the build-up of stress in the segment, a joint report by Moody’s and its domestic affiliate Icra said today.

“While asset quality is expected to remain stable in the traditional housing segment, delinquencies could further build up in the affordable segment in the calendar year of 2018,” Icra’s structured finances head Vibhor Mittal said.

In a note on asset backed securities (ABS) co-written with its parent Moody’s, the report said gross-nonperforming assets in the affordable housing segment have inched up to 1.8 per cent as of September 2017.

The average cum 90+ days past due level for affordable housing was nearly seven times the level observed for traditional housing loan pools, it said.

Going into the reasons for the higher stress in the low ticket size loans, Mittal said, “this would be driven by factors like intensifying competition– resulting in some easing in lending standards — and a higher share of lending to the self-employed segment.”

It can be noted that the Modi government is targeting to ensure that there is a house for all by 2022 and has provided a lot of incentives for the affordable housing segment, including making it as a priority sector lending for banks and huge interest subvention and direct cash subsidy.

However, housing loans continue to be seen as the best performing retail loan asset class in the country, demonstrating low and stable delinquencies over the years, in 2018, it said.

This is possible because of the underlying collateral, which is self-occupied residential property, absence of steep correction in property prices and moderate loan to value ratios, the report said.

Moody’s said the impact of demonetisation and the implementation of the goods and services tax (GST) will lead to higher delinquencies in ABS for loans against property (LAP) to small and medium enterprises.

“Introduction of a GST in July 2017 and demonetization have placed stress on the SME sector,” Icra’s assistant vice- president Dipanshu Rustagi said.

The report also said auto ABS-backed by commercial vehicles loans will remain stable on the back of healthy domestic economic growth.

Icra said the microlending segment is on a “road to resurgence” after the note-ban setback with an increase in repayment rates to 94 per cent in September from the low of 87 per cent seen during December 2016 during the peak of the note-ban move.

Source:

ATM :: When home loan tax deductions can get revoked

There are lock-in periods that need to be observed in case you have claimed deduction against repayment of home loan
Ashwini Kumar Sharma | Last Published: Mon, Jan 08 2018. 08 20 AM IST | LiveMint.com

ATM

There are various income tax sections under which you can claim deductions for expenses and investment incurred by you during the relevant financial years. Such deductions help you to bring down the taxable income for the respective fiscal and consequently reduce your tax liability.

However, in many cases, a lock-in period is specified—under the section of the Act as well as the instrument against which you may have claimed a deduction. If you fail to observe the lock-in period, the deductions that you availed can be revoked.

Let’s read more about the lock-in periods that need to be observed in case you have claimed deduction against repayment of home loan principal amount.

The deduction on home loan

If you take home loan for purchase or construction of a house, the capital repayment and interest paid on the home loan qualify for deduction under separate income tax sections. While principal repayment qualifies for deduction under section 80C of the Income-tax Act, 1961 and has an overall limit of Rs1.5 lakh a year, the interest payment on home loan qualifies for deduction under section 24(b) of the Act, with an overall limit of Rs2 lakh a year. There is an additional deduction of Rs50,000 for interest payment on home loans under section 80EE for the first-time homebuyers.

Lock-in period

While there is no lock-in period for deduction claimed against interest payment on home loan under section 24(b) or 80EE, the section 80C(5) (relating to repayment of principal) of the Act stipulates that if you sell your house within 5 years from purchase or date of possession, the deduction claimed on principal repayment during previous years gets revoked. In this case, all the deductions claimed for home loan principal repayment under section 80C during the previous years too have to be clubbed together and added to income of the year of sale, and be taxed accordingly.

Let us assume you had bought a house in May 2014 with a home loan, and had claimed about Rs4 lakh under section 80C over the last 3 financial years—FY2014-15 to FY2016-17. If you sell the house now, the entire Rs4 lakh claimed earlier as deduction under section 80C will get added to your income for FY2017-18 and you will have to pay tax on the total income as per the income tax slab applicable to you.

Apart from home loan principal amount, the stamp duty and registration fee paid for registration of property also qualify for deduction under section 80C in the year of purchase. If you had claimed stamp duty and registration fee as deduction, you need to observe the 5-year lock-in in these cases too.

If the property is sold before 5 years, the deductions claimed against stamp duty and registration fee will get revoked and get added to the income of the year of sale and tax accordingly.

So, before you decide to sell your house, keep the lock-in criteria in mind. Else, your tax liability may increase considerably in the year of sale.

Source: https://goo.gl/9fHJsS

ATM :: 5 rules to keep in mind after your loan is sanctioned

Jan 08, 2018 04:27 PM IST | MoneyControl.com

ATM

The following article is an initiative of BankBazaar.com and is intended to create awareness among the readers

Applying for a loan can be nerve-racking, with a number of formalities expected to be completed. Most of us think that our job is done once the loan is sanctioned, but this is not the case. The real story, in most cases, begins once the loan is disbursed, for this is when we encounter problems with the repayment.

So if you are someone who has recently applied for a loan, (be it a home loan, a personal loan, car loan, medical loan, or any other loan), you should consider these 5 rules to ensure that you get the most out of the money.

1. Never miss your EMI – Taking a loan is a huge financial responsibility. Banks sanction loans for a specific time period (the tenure), charging interest rates on the amount loaned. The borrowed money is expected to be repaid within the given time, with the entire sum and the interest component split into EMIs. Paying the EMI on a monthly basis is not merely a requisite with regards to the legalities, it also helps in building a good credit score.

A missed payment is reflected on the credit report, which could make it difficult to get a loan sanctioned in the future. Missing successive payments could result in lenders blacklisting one, which could ultimately lead to the borrower being labelled a defaulter.

A borrower should ensure that he/she has sufficient funds to repay the loan on time. In certain cases, banks can charge a fine for late payment, which can be a considerable sum in case of high loan amounts (for example a home loan).

2. Never use your savings to repay the loan – Most of us invest in certain saving schemes like PPF, fixed deposits, mutual funds, etc. These funds are ideally designed to help us during emergencies. Utilising them to repay a loan is an absolute NO-NO. Similarly, digging into your retirement fund to meet your EMI obligations should be avoided at all costs, for this can have a huge impact on your future, where you might find it hard to have a regular source of income.

3. Take an insurance cover for the loan amount – Certain loans can be of extremely high values. This is especially true in the case of home loans, where the loan amount is typically in excess of Rs.10 lakh. This can be a significant sum for most people, with it taking years to repay it. Given the unpredictability surrounding life, one should always take an insurance policy which covers the loan liability in case of the borrower’s death. A number of life insurance policies come with this option, wherein the outstanding loan amount (in case the insured passes away) is paid by the insurer. This can limit the financial strain on the family members of the borrower. One could also consider taking an insurance policy in case of other loans, if the repayment amount is significant.

4. Avoid taking additional loans while a current loan is active – Banks and NBFCs often come up with attractive offers to promote borrowing. A number of us can often give in to the lure of extra money, applying for additional loans even when we don’t need them. This should be avoided at all costs, for any additional loan increases the financial burden when it comes to repayment. Also, applying for multiple unsecured loans like personal loan or travel loan while already paying EMIs can come across as sketchy, in addition to having an impact on the credit score. Banks would be wary of offering loans in the future in such instances. If one truly is in the need of additional financial resources, he/she should first close an existing loan before taking a new one.

5. Make prepayments when you have extra money – There are a number of times when we come across additional income. Returns from investments, a bonus from the office, an increase in your salary, etc. can be used to prepay a loan. This can help one save money on the interest payable, in addition to offering peace of mind, knowing that one’s liability is reduced.

A loan, when used effectively can help us out during financial emergencies, but being frivolous once it is sanctioned could lead us towards additional turmoil.

Source: https://goo.gl/enBVeJ

NTH :: SBI extends home loan processing fee waiver to March-end, cuts base rate by 30 bps

PTI | Published Date: Jan 02, 2018 07:52 am | FirstPost.com

NTH

Mumbai: In a major boost to homebuyers, the country’s largest lender State Bank of India has extended the processing fee waiver till March-end and also reduced the base rate by a sharp 30 basis points to 8.65 percent.

The reduction in base rate, effective from Monday, is going to bring relief for nearly 80 lakh customers of the bank whose loans are still linked to the base rate and not the marginal cost of funds-based lending rates (MCLR).

Flushed with excess liquidity, SBI had announced processing fee waiver for auto and home loans late August. In fact, since last fiscal, and especially after the November 2016 note-ban, all the banks have been saddled with excess liquidity amidst continuing degrowth in industrial credit.

For the first time in over two years, credit uptake by corporates entered the positive terrain but with a paltry 1 percent growth in November this year. “We’ve decided to extend the ongoing waiver on home loan processing fees till March 31, 2018 for new customers and others looking to switch their existing loans to us,” SBI said in a statement on Monday.

Managing director for retail and digital banking P K Gupta said that with stability returning to the realty space after the implementation of the Real Estate Act (Rera), he sees lots of demand for home loans going ahead. “With most states having the realty regulator Rera now, stability has returned to the market in terms of project approvals. The teething troubles of the initial Rera months are behind the market. So, we foresee lots of demand for home loans. So, we think this is the right time to continue with that waiver to enable people for buy homes,” Gupta said in a concall.

The bank revised down the base rate to 8.65 percent for existing customers from 8.95 percent, while the BPLR (benchmark prime lending rate) is down from 13.70 percent to 13.40 percent.

The bank, however, did not change the marginal cost of funds-based lending rate (MCLR). The one-year MCLR of the bank stands at 7.95 percent.

“We had done the rate review in the last week of December, and based on whatever deposits rates we had, our base rate was brought down by 30 basis points to 8.65 percent now,” Gupta said.

The move is going to give nearly 80 lakh customers of SBI who were on the old lending rate regimes and have not moved to MCLR. Banks review MCLR on a monthly basis, while the base rate revision happens once a quarter.

“The MCLR was reduced earlier also as the gap between MCLR and base rate had become quite wide. This reduction will help in reducing that gap,” he said.

Due to weak transmission of policy rate by banks under the base rate system, the Reserve Bank had introduced the MCLR from 1 April, 2016.

With the banks not fully passing on the rate cuts that the central bank has done in the past two years, the regulator is not happy even with the base rate regime and has mooted an external benchmark to better reflect market realities and speedier transmission.

Gupta said the current revision of base rate will ensure transmission of the policy rate cuts in the recent past.

Source: https://goo.gl/cQ2sV2

Interviews :: Home prices, loan rates unlikely to fall in 2018; time to buy: Harshil Mehta

Several cities under the Smart Cities initiative hold a distinct advantage and can be safe bets for ‘smart’ real estate investments, say Mehta.
Sarbajeet Sen | Retrived on 1st Jan 2018 | MoneyControl.com

The real estate sector has seen some major changes in 2017 including ushering in of RERA. It also had to bear the impact of demonetisation, which slowed down sales. In an interview to Moneycontrol, Harshil Mehta, Joint MD & CEO, DHFL, tells how he sees property prices and home loan rates moving in the New Year.

Year 2017 saw the Real Estate Regulation Act (RERA) coming into play. How has the new Act impacted the real estate market?

RERA is a well-timed effort by the government and a good step towards accomplishment of ‘Housing for All by 2022’ and other housing and housing-development related initiatives. Several states have implemented RERA and has positively impacted buyer sentiments as a result of the mandatory disclosures of project details and strict adherence to project deliverables such as the area, legality, amenities and the quality. It has also ushered a more transparent ecosystem for developers and housing finance companies. DHFL has also undertaken a drive to assist developers in various states to help them understand the regulatory implications of RERA and become RERA compliant.

How do you see home prices moving in 2018, especially in the affordable segment?

We do not foresee any reduction in prices in the affordable housing segment because of the increasing demand and the limited supply to meet this demand. To attract buyers and maintain sales volume, developers are launching attractive offers and other benefits to encourage customers to fulfill their aspiration of owning their dream home.

Home loan rates have come down substantially. Do you think there is a likelihood of further lowering of rates by lenders?

Owing to the last few monetary policies, home loan rates have stabilised and we do not foresee any further reduction.

So, for those waiting to buy property, do you think this is a good time?

Yes, it is a good time for the buyer.

What is the loan bracket that you are seeing the largest offtake?

We have been seeing a steady offtake in the affordable housing segment that ranges from Rs 15-30 lakhs. The affordable category has received a strong boost led by the government’s various incentives and efforts to stimulate the industry. All these efforts have started to show visible impact on the ground. Benefits from the recent Credit-Linked Subsidy Scheme (CLSS) under PMAY and lower interest rates have further given a boost to the consumer’s loan eligibility.

What is the home price segment DHFL is targeting?

Since inception, DHFL has always targeted the affordable housing finance segment catering to the low and middle income in the semi urban and Tier-2 and Tier-3 towns. This has remained unchanged for the last 33 years. As we mentioned earlier, we are witnessing strong uptake in the affordable finance segment driven by the incentives and conducive industry dynamics particularly from Tier 2 and 3 towns and cities which are emerging as India’s new growth engines.

Is government’s push for affordable housing having a bearing on loan offtake?

The Indian housing finance industry and, in particular, the affordable housing segment, is witnessing one of the most exciting times. Over the last few months, the Government has been taking several significant, growth-oriented steps to develop demand as well as generate greater supply through impacting policy frameworks towards greater financial inclusion. Granting infrastructure status to the real estate industry, announcing the extended CLSS to include MIG 1 & 2 and most recent announcement on RERA, are some commendable efforts to stimulate demand of affordable housing. These customer friendly measures and efforts have definitely given a strong fillip to loan offtake.

What are the market and sub-markets where you are seeing a high demand for home loan?

Affordable Housing has clearly been a central growth agenda for the Government. Initiatives such as ‘Housing for All by 2020’, PMAY, CLSS, home loan rate cuts and housing regulations such as RERA has considerably sparked interest for affordable housing options across the consumer pyramid. Most of the first-time home buyers fund their property purchase through home loans. As a result, there has been a surge in home loan demand across India specifically the Tier-2 and Tier-3 markets.

What according to you are the best emerging real estate investment destinations across the country?

Post the launch of the Smart Cities Mission in 2015, the Government shortlisted cities from all regions of India having high economic and industrial potential. Smart cities will become catalysts in improving the quality of life and give a major fillip to the real estate in urban locations. Considering the upcoming infrastructure projects and other growth drivers, several cities under the Smart Cities initiative hold a distinct advantage and can be safe bets for ‘smart’ real estate investments.

What more, according to you, needs to be done to boost the housing sector?

For all the benefits to make real impact, customer centricity is becoming key. Financial institutions and HFCs need to focus on making the entire experience of home purchase more seamless and customer friendly. Companies need to think how we can address their financial needs across their whole financial life cycle through customised products.

To further boost the affordable housing sector, external commercial borrowings (ECB) should be extended to housing finance companies to enable onward lending to developers in the segment. Also, single-window clearances is another step towards increasing development in the affordable segment and ensuring timely delivery.

Source: https://goo.gl/S2NiV6

Interviews :: Home loans slowdown driven by RERA will reverse in 8 months: ICICI Bank honcho Ravi Narayanan

Interview: Ravi Narayanan, senior general manager and head – retail secured assets, ICICI Bank.
By: Shritama Bose | Updated: November 28, 2017 12:20 PM | Financial Express

The home-loan market seems to have slowed down, first because of some postponement of demand with demonetisation, and then with the implementation of RERA. Where do you see things going from here?
The supply in the system had anyway started reducing in the last two years. Between September 2016 and September 2017, supply has dropped by over 10-12% in residential real estate in the top 40-45 cities. Till a year back, the inventory overhang used to be about 18-20 quarters in the industry. Along with supply, absorption of units was also coming down because of various reasons, one of which could be demonetisation. People expected a price correction. With RERA coming in, my estimate is that the supplies will go down still further because the act has put in various guardrails as to how the builder must manage the finances available for the project. This augurs well because inventory overhang should not be so much. The second outcome of RERA will be a rise in customer confidence. So once this whole dust settles, we will see pick-ups rising. So there will be a decrease in inventory and an increase in sales and that should be good for the industry.

Won’t that also cause asset prices to rise?
It will follow a pattern. There is an oversupply right now. If the demand-and-supply gap comes down drastically, then the prices will go up. In the next six to eight months, a lot of consolidation might happen in projects underway, which may not be amenable for prices to go up. Prices will remain, more or less, at the same level or there may be some fall in prices. Also, in the last six-seven years, real estate has seen a slight downturn. Typically, the industry follows an eight-to nine-year cycle. So in my opinion, 2018 will again see a rise in sales.

A development that followed demonetisation was the expansion of the credit-linked subsidy scheme (CLSS) for housing. Are you seeing supply and offtake picking up in that category?
Over 60% of new home launches in the industry in the first half of FY18 had ticket sizes under Rs 25 lakh. Because of this scheme under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana, a lot of projects have started coming up in this category. Builders are also entitled to certain benefits if a part of their projects are of sizes below a certain threshold.

So is the phenomenon of builders allocating more space to smaller units a countrywide one?
This is happening primarily in Mumbai and Pune. Some of it is happening in Chennai and Bangalore. But, it is not happening across the country as yet. That’s partly because you have to keep operating costs and land cost under control to be in affordable housing. It is a very price-sensitive market. However, given the focus on this sector from this government, there’s bound to be more players flocking to it.

In mortgages, banks have continuously been losing market share to housing finance companies (HFCs). Have they actually weaned away bank customers for their growth?
No, because the mortgage industry is really big. The mortgage book of the country is now at Rs 15 lakh crore; over the next few years, at a CAGR (compound annual growth rate) of 20%, it should go up to Rs 50 lakh crore. When the pie is so large, everyone will have a share. It’s just a question of how each player orients themselves. Today, most banks are focused on the metros, while HFCs are operating in the peripheries (of cities). So we are not meeting each other much. But very soon, it will all become one playground. Banks venturing into the peripheries will be much faster because we anyway have branches.

NTH :: Will 2018 be a good time to invest in real estate?

From the past few quarters, the real estate markets in India have been going through a phase of massive change.
Kanika Gupta Shori | Retrived on 1st Dec 2017 | Moneycontrol.com

NTH

How do you time your entry in any investment channel — whether it is equities or real estate? Is it the juncture when the markets are booming and everyone is joining the fray? Does that make for a sound investment decision? Probably, not!

Most retail investors and homebuyers make this mistake. They buy when the prices are peaking. Naturally the returns are not as expected. Am I right?

Well, I am citing the basic principle of investing here. If you are on board, I would further explain why 2018 should be the year you should enter the real estate market.

From the past few quarters, the real estate market in India has been going through a phase of massive change. The regulatory reforms implemented through frameworks defined under the Real Estate Regulatory Act (RERA), and Goods & Services Tax (GST) to an extent, have led the sector in a certain direction.

It is mandatory for all the real estate projects to be in compliance with the provisions of RERA, which attempts to make sure that projects are delivered in time and the money paid by buyers for certain projects is not squandered for other purposes.

In short, RERA protects consumers’ interests. It will be impossible for fly-by-night operators to be in the market and only the most-committed players will be able to navigate the roadmap. This will benefit both buyers and sellers, in the long term.

It is a buyers’ market

The combination of excess supply, high prices and low consumption has translated into huge inventories across the country. The consumption side has also been impacted by demonetization. Clearly, it is a buyers’ market for now – and for the next few quarters. But not for long!

With RERA in place, developers are now focusing on completing their existing projects. The new home launches, across top eight cities in India, have gone down by more than 75 percent in the third quarter of the current fiscal, as per industry research reports. The overall number of project launches has gone down by more than 40 percent in the first nine months of the current calendar year. These trends imply that the supply side will gradually find some equilibrium with demand, and prices will subsequently start picking up pace.

However, in the present environment, there is a situation of excess supply and property buyers are in a better position to negotiate, and grab a great deal.

As per industry reports, the National Capital Region (NCR) and Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR) have around 2 lakh and 1.8 lakh unsold units respectively.

Home loan interest rates are at all-time low

The excess liquidity in the banking system have led the RBI rejig the key lending rates. Resultantly, the home loan interest rates that were recorded at around 9.5 percent a year in 2016 have now been floating in the range between 8.3-8.4 percent.

That makes for considerable savings in the EMI costs; enabling people to avail of low-cost home finance, and become a home owner. It is expected that the home loan rates will remain low for the next several quarters and may even come down further.

Considering the average annual rental yields at 5-6 percent, there is not much difference between the costs of rent and owning a home.

Steady revival of interest from global investor fraternity

The implementation of overarching regulatory mechanisms has instilled a much higher level of confidence in the global investor fraternity. The real estate sector is projected to receive Private Equity (PE) investments to the tune of US$4 billion during this fiscal year, as per industry reports.

Not just the PE funds from the US, Canada and Singapore are interested in infusing capital in the sector, but countries such as Japan, China, Qatar, Hong Kong and the Netherlands are also poised to invest in the sector.

At the same time, global sovereign wealth funds—that are otherwise known for their risk-averse, conservative approach—have been increasing their exposure to the market and it proves that the sector is headed in the right direction.

As for property buyers, it is a sign of revival on the cards.

In overall, the current environment presents an opportunity to buy property and make the best out of the coming year.

(The author is COO of Square Yards)

Source: https://goo.gl/4Vgxoe

NTH :: Home loan growth down, shows RBI data

Growth in mortgages in the banking sector slipped to 11.4% year-on-year (y-o-y) in October from 12.8% in September, data released by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Thursday showed.
By: FE Bureau | Mumbai | Published: December 1, 2017 4:51 AM | Financial Express

NTH

Growth in mortgages in the banking sector slipped to 11.4% year-on-year (y-o-y) in October from 12.8% in September, data released by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Thursday showed. Home-loan outstandings at banks had grown 16.6% y-o-y in October 2016. The total outstanding on mortgages in the banking system stood at Rs 9.03 lakh crore as on October 27 this year. Retail loans as a category grew 16% y-o-y in October, a shade slower than 17% in October 2016. Outstanding retail loans as on October 27 stood at Rs 17.45 lakh crore. Loans to individuals had been clocking growth figures in the mid-to-late teens since May 2015, before signs of a slowdown began to surface in November 2016.

In September, outstandings on credit cards grew the most, at 37.7%, among all categories of loans to individuals. Vehicle loans grew 7.4%, significantly slower than 23.5% in September 2016, while consumer-durable loans dropped 9.4%, as compared to a year-ago growth figure of 20.3%. Credit to industry contracted on a y-o-y basis for the thirteenth straight month in October, falling 0.2% y-o-y to Rs 26 lakh crore. In October 2016, the corresponding figure stood at Rs 26.05 lakh crore, 1.7% lower than the October 2015 level.

Industrial credit has been falling almost consistently since August 2016, with September 2016 being the only month of positive growth ever since. Credit deployment in industry fell 13.5% y-o-y in the medium industry segment. However, loans to large industry and micro-and-small industry recorded positive growth, rising 0.2% and 1.2%, respectively, over the year-ago period. Bank credit to industry has been muted for the past couple of years as lenders turned cautious amid worsening asset quality and well-rated corporates chose to raise money from the bond market.

Loan growth has been suffering partly due to capital-starved public sector banks. Analysts expect the recapitalisation of state-owned banks to fuel credit growth in the months ahead. In a recent note, Kotak Institutional Equities wrote that lenders like Bank of Baroda, Canara Bank and Union Bank of India should see loan growth improving. “Loan growth for PSU banks is also partly supported by loan buy-outs from NBFCs and private banks. Retail cycle continues to hold up well, prompting many banks to pursue this segment more aggressively,” Kotak said. Trends in the corporate loan growth appear anaemic, according to the brokerage, with few signs of a turn in the capex cycle.

Source: https://goo.gl/jbmLdS

ATM :: 5 smart ways to get the best deal on home loan

Updated: Nov 03, 2017 | 11:07 IST | ET Now Digital

ATM

Good news for State Bank of India (SBI) customers and for those willing to take a home loan in the near future. SBI, the country’s top lender by assets, has made its home loans cheaper. The bank has reduced home loan interest rates by 5 basis points to 8.30 per cent per annum. With this reduction, SBI’s offering in the home loan segment has become the lowest in the market, as the bank claims.

The new rates are effective November 01.

The effective interest rate for all eligible salaried people will be 8.30 per cent per annum for loans up to Rs 30 lakh. Rates have been reduced by 5 bps point in all the brackets. Over and above of 8.30 per cent rate, an eligible home loan customer can also avail an interest subsidy of Rs 2.67 lakh under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana scheme.

At present, for a new customer there’s now the possibility of taking bigger loans or incurring lower interest costs in making their dream home purchase a reality.

Before you finalise the loan ask these five key questions to get a good deal on your home loan

1. Negotiate rate of interest
Lenders mostly define the interest rate in a minimum and maximum range, the actual rate charged depends on your eligibility criterion. As a borrower you have the ability to negotiate a better interest rate.

Financial advisers say you can do this not just by comparing your loan options, but also by improving your eligibility by adding a co-borrower and combining the co-borrower’s income with your own.

2. Buy a home loan only after comparing
Before you zero in on a loan, compare between the different loan products available in the market.

Look at the equated monthly installments (EMIs), the interest rates, the processing fee and other related charges to choose the perfect loan. These days home loans offered online, you can always explore with a few clicks.

Look at the base rate, the margin offered, what is the maximum tenure offered, and how is the eligibility calculated and most importantly whether a property similar to yours has been funded by this lender earlier.

3. Fixed rate or floating?
Home loans can be extended either on fixed or on floating rates. If a home loan is taken on fixed rate then the interest rate will not change during the entire loan period and the borrower continues to pay the same EMI throughout the loan term.

All new floating rate bank loans today are linked to the MCLR, whose interest rate automatically resets at fixed intervals. This is beneficial for customers since interest rates have been trending downwards of late.

If the interest is expected to fall then opt for a floating rate and if it is expected to rise then opt for a fixed rate loan.

One can pre-close the loan ahead of its original tenure. If you are on a floating interest rate, no charge will be applicable. If you are on a fixed rate, there may a charge applicable.

4. Understand your borrowing capacity
People often decide to pay high EMIs thinking the loan load would come down with time due to annual increases in their income. However, their incomes may or may not rise with time. Therefore, they must borrow to the limit where paying EMIs would not stretch their finances.

5. Additional costs
When you take a home loan remember that interest is not the only cost you have to bear; there are certain additional costs too.

Every time you apply for a loan with a bank or non-banking financial institution, you are charged a percentage of your loan amount as processing fee. The amount may vary from 0.5 per cent to 1 per cent of your loan amount.

Legal fees are charged by banks or NBFCs to ascertain the legal status of any property. Usually, legal fees are applicable for home loans or loan against property.

Depending on your loan type, you may be charged an amount for prepayment of your loan. If you do not repay your loan EMIs on time, you will be charged a late payment fee. The late payment fee will depend on your lending bank or NBFC and the type of loan.

Source: https://goo.gl/Gd2mUR

NTH :: Seven people get Rs. 34.65-lakh home loan with fake documents in Mumbai

The police are interrogating bank employees to find out how the loan was approved despite forged documents.
Farhan Shaikh | MUMBAI | Updated: Nov 10, 2017 18:29 IST | Hindustan Times

NTH

The Santacruz police are investigating a cheating case where seven people allegedly conned Bombay Mercantile Bank to the tune of Rs. 34.65 lakh. The police registered the case after bank employee, Abuzar Rizvi, 53, lodged a complaint against seven people for fraud.

The accused allegedly forged documents to get a loan worth Rs. 34.65 lakh cleared for two flats in Malad. Senior inspector at Santacruz police station, Shantanu Pawar said, “The accused applied for a loan for two flats in Vijay Properties’ Pride Building a couple of months ago.” To find out how the loan was approved despite forged documents, the police are interrogating bank employees who were involved in the process.

The illegal nature of the documents was noticed at the Santacruz (West) branch of the bank, following which the bank officials alerted the Santacruz police station. The case was registered on Thursday under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) for criminal conspiracy, cheating, and forgery. The police have booked the loan applicant along with six others, including the middlemen involved in the forgery.

Bank officials at the Santacruz branch were not available for comment.

Source: https://goo.gl/Sis9UT

ATM :: Here is the impact of Goods and Services Tax on home loan customers

By ZeeBiz WebTeam | Mumbai | Updated: Tue, Nov 14, 2017 04:48 pm

ATM

If you are willing to get a home loan in the future, it is extremely important to understand the impact of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) that came into effect on 1 July 2017 in India. GST is a unified indirect tax levied on the consumption, sale and fabrication of all types of goods and services at the domestic level. It is the India’s largest tax reform since independence.

The GST Council has been formed to administer the system. The four tax brackets have been fixed at 5%, 12%, 18% and 28% for various types of commodities and services. The new tax system has a direct impact on home loan seekers and the entire real estate industry in India. Let’s discuss.

Real estate before GST

Property builders and house buyers had to remit multiple central and state levies such as stamp duty, Value-added Tax (VAT), registration tax and service tax. The imposition of these taxes was based on the locality and construction phase of properties. For instance, the buyers of under-construction properties were required to pay the whole gamut of levies. Conversely, registration charges and stamp duty were imposed on the sale of ready-to-move-in properties. Paying several types of taxes was the biggest challenge faced by the stakeholders of the real estate industry. The complicated tax system has led to the disparity in property rates across the nation.

Real estate after GST

The Indian real estate sector comes under the purview of GST, which excludes ready-to-move-in properties and residential schemes sponsored under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY). Under-construction properties are taxed at 18% that will be applicable only to 2/3 of the value of the property. The remaining cost of the property is considered the value of the land. Excluding stamp duty and registration charges, the actual tax rate will be 12%. Realtors or property developers can benefit from input tax credits, which ought to be transmitted to customers.

GST impact on home loans

When a home loan is obtained, interest is paid on the principal amount. The interest remitted on the principal amount is considered the cost of the loan. Besides, the loan borrower pays property valuation charges, advocate charges and processing fee. The home loan service was taxed at 15% under the previous tax regime. Currently, it is taxed at 18% and thus, the loan will be expensive by 3%. GST is not applicable to prepayment fee for an MCLR-linked mortgage, but prepayment fee for a fixed rate mortgage is taxed 18% instead of 15%. The borrower is taxed at 18% on any charges recouped by lenders.

Home market

The Indian real estate segment has been experiencing significant transformations recently. The new Real Estate Regulation Act (RERA) has addressed the problem of non-transparency. In India, as far as the residential segment is concerned, the implementation of GST is undeniably an affirmative sentiment booster among potential customers. The system may not be helpful in diminishing the prices of properties in the short-term. The simplicity of the system will benefit all the industry stakeholders including property developers and buyers.

GST advantages for property developers

GST has turned out to be a better option from the stance of property developers who had to pay multiple taxes under the previous tax regime. Currently, they are taxed under the unified tax system. As far as building materials are concerned, the new tax system brings no major changes. Let’s consider a few building materials. Under the previous tax system, pillars and iron rods were taxed at 20% that has been reduced to 18% currently. Cement is currently taxed at the highest rate of 28%, which is more than the previous rate. The tax rate on fly ash bricks and sand-lime bricks has been reduced to 5% from 6%. These marginal variations can make a big difference.

Bottom line

Affordable housing schemes have been kept outside the purview of GST. Needless to say, the unified tax system has been a much-needed reform. Industry experts and tax practitioners in the country have accepted the system that impacts the real estate industry as well. Home loans will be marginally expensive as discussed earlier. The current tax regime has brought transparency and simplicity in the housing loan services and real estate sectors. It is likely to be a boon for all industry participants.

(This article was authoured by Bank Bazaar.)

Source: https://goo.gl/hScyZZ

NTH :: Now, BoB claims to offer the cheapest home loan

Our Bureau | MUMBAI | NOVEMBER 8 | Hindu Business Line

NTH

The clamour to be the cheapest home loan provider is getting louder. A week after SBI said it is charging the lowest interest rate on home loans following a 5-basis-point (bps) cut in its marginal cost of funds based- lending rate (MCLR), Bank of Baroda (BoB) has joined the bandwagon.

On Wednesday, BoB said it is offering the cheapest home loan rate (at its MCLR of 8.3 per cent) for ‘best rated’ customers across different categories, irrespective of the loan amount. The tenure is up to 30 years for all categories — salaried and self-employed.

‘Best rated customers’ are those with a credit score of 760 and above. For customers with a credit score below that, BoB, based on risk rating, charges a mark-up of up to 100 bps over its MCLR.

“The lowest rate of interest currently offered by other public sector banks is applicable only to a small category of customers such as salaried women seeking a loan of less than ₹30 lakh. However, a male entrepreneur with pristine credit rating seeking a home loan of more than ₹75 lakh may end up paying a rate of interest of 8.5 per cent and above at other banks,” BoB claimed in a statement.

Last week, SBI said that following a 5 bps reduction in its MCLR, its home loan rate is the lowest in the market. One bps equals one-hundredth of a percentage point.

(This article was published on November 8, 2017)

Source: https://goo.gl/1GSA7a

NTH :: State Bank of India cuts lending rates, first time in 10 months

By Sangita Mehta | ET Bureau | Updated: Oct 31, 2017, 07.48 PM IST | Economic Times

NTH

MUMBAI: Country’s largest bank, State Bank of India (SBI), announced a 5 basis point cut in its benchmark lending rates across maturity, which first cut after 10 months.

The bank has pegged its benchmark rate to 7.95% for a term of one year with effect from November 1 against 8% year charged earlier. Most banks sharply reduced marginal cost of lending rates (MCLR) in January 2017, post demonetisation exercise after they saw huge inflow of deposits.

The reduction in the lending rates also comes within weeks of Rajnish Kumar, taking charge at the helm for a term of three years. The bank will now pegged MCLR to 7.70% for overnight borrowing and 8.10% for three years. Other largest banks like ICICI Bank and HDFC Bank too may announce a token cut in the lending rates.

The new rates will immediately benefit the new borrowers. However, the existing customers may have to wait for a while since under the MCLR system the interest rates charged to the customers is locked for a fixed term.

For home loans, the interest rates are fixed for a term of one year and thus the existing borrower will benefit at the end of the lock-in period.
For salaried women borrower seeking loan of less than Rs 30 lakhs, the bank will now charge 8.30% and for loans between Rs 30 lakhs and Rs 75 lakhs it will charge 8.40%.

For non-salaried women borrower seeking loan less than Rs 30 lakhs the bank will now charge 8.40% and for loans between Rs 30 lakhs and Rs 75 lakhs it will charge 8.50%. For all other borrowers, the bank charges 5 basis points more above the rates charged to women borrower.

The reduction in rates comes at a time when the Reserve Bank of India is revising the formula of pricing the loans. An RBI committee headed by Dr Janak Raj has suggested that interest rate on loans be pegged to external benchmark rates arrived at by market trading rather than leaving it at the discretion of each bank which appear to be coming up with some formula that would defy the best rates for most customers.

While announcing the monetary policy in October 4, the RBI had said, “Arbitrariness in calculating the base rate and MCLR and spreads charged over them has undermined the integrity of the interest rate setting process. The base rate and MCLR regime is also not in sync with global practices on pricing of bank loans.”

Source: https://goo.gl/U5FNdj

 

 

ATM :: 5 things NRI buyers must know about home loan

Shaveta Dua and Sonam Lalhotra | Magicbricks | Oct 16, 2017, 14:14 IST

ATM

An NRI or a non-resident Indian can easily take a loan from any of the lenders in India for buying a property in the country. Magicbricks tells you how you can avail of a home loan without physically being present in India.

Pre-requisites
1) A resident Indian as a co-applicant or a co-borrower or a co-owner of the property should be a part of the application that is to be submitted
2) The minimum age of the borrower should be 24 years
3) The borrower needs to submit last three months’ salary slips and bank statement of the salaried account to the lender

Procedure
1)There are a lot of online platforms available wherein you submit an online application with all the details
2) Such platforms help shortlist the right lender. They also give an option of uploading all the requisite documents online and then manage the entire process on your behalf
3) You will have to issue a power of attorney in the name of your co-applicant, maybe your family member or whoever is going to be the joint owner of your property or co-applicant to the loan in India
4) Additionally, you’ll have to go to the Indian embassy in your country and take the power of attorney format from the lender to whom you’re applying. There is a definitive format which has to be signed in favor of your Indian co-applicant in the application, after which the Indian Embassy will put a seal of approval on it

Switching banks: If you wish to transfer your home loan from one bank to another in the wake of lower interest rates, first check if there is a switching cost with the lender from whom he has taken the loan. If there is no cost of switching then there could be other costs involved such as fee which the new lender will charge. Stamp duty may also be applicable if you are creating a mortgage deed in favour of the new lender.

Be flexible: Taking a loan on fluctuating rate of interest is recommended because fixed rate of interest is generally 50 – 100 basis points more than the flexible rate of interest. They also attract a foreclosure charge whenever you want to switch. Thirdly, the Indian market rates may go down. If you are going to take 9.4 per cent floating rate right now, it is quite likely that in the next 12 months you might be at 8.75 per cent. Instead, if you go for a 10 per cent fixed rate of interest, you will be stuck at 10 per cent even if the market comes down to 8.5 or 8.75 per cent

Pre-payment: If you wish to make a pre-payment then you should tot up the numbers diligently. How much interest cost is getting saved by reduction in tenure? If you feel that is more as compared to the tax benefit which you would have availed by investing this money somewhere else, then you should go for it

What you must know
1) For a salaried customer, the maximum tenure possible is 30 years. For a self-employed person, it is 20 years
2) First get a loan approval for yourself and then decide on the value of the property you want to buy. Your savings should give you enough financial buffer
3) The age of the property does not matter much. If the property is well-maintained and the residual age of the property is at least 12 years, then the bank will definitely fund it
4) The home loan interest rates remain the same for Indian residents as well as NRIs
5) As in the case of Indian residents, if a female is the joint owner of a property, a five basis points reduction in the rate of interest is available under home loan
6) Two NRIs can also opt for a joint home loan in India but only if they are blood relatives and they stay in the same house

Source: https://goo.gl/UKoj4d

ATM :: 5 reasons why this festive season is the right time to buy property

Deepak Singh | Magicbricks | Updated: Oct 17, 2017, 15:25 IST

ATM

If you have been protracting your decision to buy a house then this festive season is the right time to loosen your purse strings. Although the festive season is considered an auspicious time to buy new things, including real estate, here’s a list of five reasons why prospective home buyers should buy a property now.

Unsold inventory
Post the real estate slowdown, most developers had been waiting for the re-emergence of positivity back into the market. Buyers’ renewed enthusiasm in the real estate has brought cheers for developers who are now trying to liquidate their existing inventory and recover costs. To make the most of this development, builders are offering a number of discounts and freebies to attract end-users.

Low property prices
Property prices have decreased in the last couple of years. Although prices have remained stagnant for a while now, this is the ideal time to indulge in a hard bargain with the seller to extract the best deal for yourself.

Discounts and freebies galore
Developers are trying to encash the market sentiment and attract buyers by offering them freebies to make the deal look attractive. Munish Mishra, Sales Head, Wave City, says, “There is no better time than the festive season to avail attractive offers. We have tied-up with LG to offer various products such as AC, refrigerator, LED TV, washing machine, oven, etc. to our customers.” But a word of caution, don’t fall for the freebies instantly. Judicially analyse the freebies and try to monetise them as well. You may ask your builder to give you the value of the freebies as discount on the property and if the offered price is reasonable then go ahead and accept the offer. If festive offers from developers include important amenities such as free car parking, then go for them but make sure to bargain hard on the final property price.

Lower home loan rates
Lowering of repo rate by the Reserve Bank of India has led to a decline in the home loan interest rates. In September 2017, banks were providing home loans at an interest rate of 8.35% which is attracting home buyers. Renu S Karnad, Managing Director, HDFC, says “low interest rates help buyers in reducing their borrowed costs. Interest rate is one of the important factors that a home buyer looks at while buying a home. Lower interest rates not only helps in reducing the borrowing costs but also improves their loan eligibility.” She further added, “CLSS under PMAY for interest subsidy of 6.5% for EWS and LIG categories and the extension of the scheme for MIG category (interest subsidy of 4% on Rs 9 lakh loan and 3% on Rs 12 lakh loan) by another 15 months till March 2019 is in itself much more than a festive offer.”

RERA-compliant projects
A RERA-compliant project means that the developer can’t take you for a ride anymore. Policies like RERA and GST have instilled a sense of compliance in developers and thus, they are most likely to fulfil their promises now. Sanjay Shenoy, Joint Managing Director, Legacy Global Projects, also expects such policies to bring cheer to the market. He says, “We expect a marked upswing as buyers are now more confident that their interests are being taken care of, with a strong policy in place.” Adding that there are attractive options for buyers this festive season, he explains, “There is a plethora of attractive options for a home buyer today. Differed payment schemes, EMI free investment options and other flexible payment options which reduce the cash flow burden of clients continue to be a big hit.”

Source: https://goo.gl/YH249K

NTH :: No homes, no EMIs! Can Jaypee home buyers seek legal recourse?

By Vandana Ramnani | Sep 14, 2017 03:54 PM IST | Source: Moneycontrol.com
Jaypee home buyers want interim relief from court that they should be allowed to stop paying EMIs until flats are delivered to them as they have no hope yet

NTH

More than 100 homebuyers, who have invested their hard-earned money in Jaypee projects, are planning to move court to grant them interim relief to allow them to stop paying their equated monthly instalments (EMIs) until completed residential units are delivered to them.

“Why should we pay EMI for a non-existent property? What is the monetary relief we are getting from the September 11 SC order? We are not asking for suspension of EMIs – we are only asking for deferment of our EMIs until the insolvency resolution professional (IRP) comes up with a resolution plan and preferably possession of the flat is given to us without any interest or penalty to ensure that we are not charged or penalised for the delay in paying EMIs,” says Shilpa Vij, a buyer who bought a house under the subvention scheme in 2011and started paying EMI in 2013 in the hope of getting her house in 2014.

“We want an interim relief. EMIs and monthly rents are draining us and there is no hope yet that we will get a flat,” she says.

Ramakant Rai, Trilegal, who is advising Jaypee home buyers, says that buyers have two options – one, they can write to RBI or the National Housing Bank concerning their problems and two they can file a writ petition either in the High Court or the Supreme Court concerning the issue.

“Many buyers have already sent complaints to RBI and NHB. RBI can act on the basis of these complaints. Also, in case the issue is raised through a writ petition before the Supreme Court, the SC on grounds of equity to protect the interests of home buyers can issue directions to RBI, NHB or directly to banks to allow them to hold EMIs until units are fully developed,” he says.

Homebuyers have alleged that banks did not do their due diligence and disbursed loans even when project approvals were not in place and that banks had given pre-approved loans for the project.

“We have filed RTIs with the Noida Authority and received a response from them that approvals were sanctioned only in 2012 whereas projects have been sold since 2008. The requisite permissions were not in place at the time of the project launch. There was lack of due diligence on the part of banks as they had disbursed loans even when plans were not in place,” says Pramod Rawat, a buyer.

S K Suri, a home buyer, who has filed RTIs with the authorities for information regarding dates of applications made by the developer and final approval of plans, says that he has been given copies of approval letters for seven Jaypee projects, details of the builder filing an application for approval and the date of the authority granting approval.

“Most of the approvals were received only after 2011 whereas most bookings/loan disbursements started way back in 2008,” he says, adding it took him nearly four months to get a response to his RTIs and several rounds to the authority’s office. One response is still awaited.

Most homebuyers have decided against not paying their monthly EMIs for fear that their CIBIL score and future credit history may get impacted. But legal experts say that in case the court intervenes in this matter, it can direct CIBIL to not touch their scores. “Also, buyers are not asking for a refund, they are only asking not to pay EMIs until they get possession of the flats which has been delayed by almost five to eight years,” they say.

Legal experts also say that the September 11 SC order puts a moratorium on all cases against Jaypee. ‘All suits and proceeding instituted against JIL shall in terms of Section 14(1)(a) remain stayed as we have directed the IRP to remain in Management,’ says the order. “Homebuyers can argue that this is a uni-dimensional order as homebuyers cannot file cases against the builder in other courts such as NCDRC or RERA. It should also protect home buyers and allow them to stop paying EMIs and banks should not proceed against buyers until the time homes are delivered,” they say.

“The only possible way that home buyers have recourse to the bank is if the deal has been brokered by the bank’s real estate arm or if the bank has disbursed the full amount rather than construction-linked progress payment. Even in such cases they should issue a notice to the bank first claiming damages before taking any precipitate action such as stopping pre- EMI interest payment,” says CA Harsh Roongta, a fee only investment adviser.

Source: https://goo.gl/iWVUjo

ATM :: 7 Points to Keep in Mind When Pre-Closing Your Home Loan

When Pre-Closing your Home Loan it is better to keep these 7 Points to keep hassles at bay and gain complete peace of mind
Contributor Content | Updated:August 24, 2017, 9:16 AM IST | News 18

ATM

We Indians are as much eager to pay off our Home Loans as we are to take it when buying their home. The countdown to finish the Home Loan starts as soon as the lock-in period is over. Be it arranging money from one’s own savings, provident fund, getting something from inheritance, the first thought for any such amount is to put it in pre-payments so that the home-loan can be pre-closed as soon as possible.

However, when Pre-Closing your Home Loan it is better to keep these below mentioned 7 Points to keep hassles at bay and gain complete peace of mind:

1. Original Documents and Post-Dated Checks

At the time of obtaining a home loan, you must have submitted some property papers in the bank like the sale deed, mother deed, etc. in Original, so once you have paid off the debt, you need to take back all those Original documents from the bank. The Bank personnel don’t entertain customers later, therefore it’s important to check all the documents on the spot, check they’re in proper shape and no important doc is missing. Same goes for your post-dated checks, if you are pre-closing your home loan in all probability your bank will have extra post-dated checks. Therefore, do not forget to collect them at the time of pre-closure.

2. CIBIL (Credit Information Bureau India Ltd.) score

A High CIBIL Score shows your credit worthiness and that you’re a good borrower, thus helping you obtain subsequent loans. The bank or the lender has a casual approach towards updating your CIBIL score however, take it as your responsibility and make sure that while pre-closing your home loan, the bank or lender informs the CIBIL authorities and updates your CIBIL score.

3. No Objection Certificate (NOC)

NOC is an important certificate that states that is a clearance note from your bank that your property is debt-free and the bank or the lender has no interest in your property. Before you obtain the certificate you can instruct the bank to include a debt-free property clause in the NOC. Additionally, when you obtain the certificate check that it specifically mentions your name, address, home loan account number, date of loan closure, etc.

4. Get a Home Loan Statement

Once you’ve paid the pre-closure amount and made your property debt-free, it is crucial for you to get a home loan statement which is a proof of all the payments made by you with details of dates and amounts.

5. Lien

Many banks register a lien on the property of the borrower in the Registrar’s office and thus it is legally binding and deters the borrower from selling that property. Once you have paid off the loan, ask the bank to get the lien removed from your property. The removal of lien from the records takes up to 10 days.

6. Encumbrance Certificate

Encumbrance certificate is a legal document that reflects all the monetary transactions pertaining to the property and once the loan has been paid off, the same must reflect on the encumbrance certificate. Once the prepayment of the loan is done and the removal of lien (if any), then you need to get yourself a new encumbrance certificate issued from the Registrar’s office.

7. Legal Clearance Certificate

In case you intend to sell the house, getting a Legal Clearance certificate from a lawyer will only increase your credibility along with accelerating the procedure.
Once you have all the above documents in your possession, it is all the more important to get a separate folder and keep these documents safely in it.

Source: https://goo.gl/iXjN7y

NTH :: Banks should link home loan rates to repo rate: RBI appointed committee

By Saloni Shukla – ET Bureau | Updated: Aug 25, 2017, 12.05 PM IST | Economic Times

NTH

MUMBAI: A Reserve Bank of India appointed committee on Household Finance has suggested that banks link their home loan rates to the RBI’s repo rate, the rate at which it lends to banks, instead of the Marginal Cost of Funds based Lending Rate (MCLR), which the banks follow now.

“Banks should quote loans to customers using the RBI repo rate rather than based on their own MCLR rates,” the committee report chaired by Dr Tarun Ramadorai, Professor of Financial Economics, Imperial College Business School, London, suggests. “To facilitate ease of comparison for prospective borrowers at the point of purchase, every floating-rate home loan should be quoted to prospective borrowers in the form of a market-wide standardised rate + spread as opposed to MCLR + spread.”

While these recommendations need not be accepted by the regulator, it comes when the RBI had hinted it was unhappy with the rate transmission under the MCLR regime. In the past three years the central bank has reduced the policy rate by 200 basis points, but the weighted average lending rates have fallen by 145 basis points. A basis point is 0.01 percentage point.

“The experience with the marginal cost of funds based lending rate or MCLR system introduced in April 2016 for improving monetary transmission has not been entirely satisfactory even though it has been an advance over the earlier base rate system,” Viral Acharya, deputy governor RBI had said on August 2. “We have constituted an internal study group across several clusters to study various aspects of the MCLR system and to explore whether linking of the bank lending rates could be made direct to market determined benchmarks going forward. The group will submit the report by September 24th 2017.”

The committee has also recommended that all banks use the same reset period of one month for loans. Under the current system, floating rate loans have a fixation period of roughly one year. The report argues that the current system impedes monetary transmission mechanism and does not allow borrowers to immediately benefit from interest rate drops.

“If the bank decides to link home loans to the one-year MCLR, it should pass through any changes in the one-year MCLR rate to borrowers every month,” the report says. “And if the bank decides to link home loans to the six-month MCLR, it should pass through any changes in the six-month MCLR rate to borrowers every month.

Source : https://goo.gl/kBksEU

NTH :: RBI makes home loans above Rs 75 lakh cheaper

Mayur Shetty | TNN | Updated: Jun 7, 2017, 03:10 PM IST | Times of India

NTH

MUMBAI: In a move that will encourage banks to lend more for housing in large cities and make high value home loans cheaper, the Reserve Bank of India reduced the risk weightage on home loans above Rs 75 lakh to 50% from 75% earlier.

“Considering the importance of the housing sector and given its forward and backward linkages to the economy, it has been decided as a countercyclical measure, to reduce the risk weight on certain categories. It has also been decided to reduce the standard asset provisioning on such loans,” RBI said in its monetary policy.

In its monetary policy review the RBI retained the repo rate at 6.25% and the reverse repo rate at 6%. The marginal standing facility (MSF) – an emergency funding facility continue to remain at 6.5% as also the cash reserve ratio of 4%.

In another move that will ease liquidity in the banking system by close to Rs 50,000 crore, Reserve Bank of India has reduced the statutory liquidity ratio (SLR) – the prescription for minimum holding of government securities. As against investing 20.5% of their deposits in gilts, banks will now have to invest only 20% with effect from June 24, 2017. RBI said that the reduction was aimed at allowing banks to comply with the international norms on liquidity coverage that come into effect from January 2019.

It was widely expected that the central bank would keep rates on hold. However, economists believed that RBI would ease its stance from `neutral’ to `accommodative’ to send a message that easy money conditions would prevail. The central bank however continued to maintain a neutral stance on the ground that easing of prices might be temporary. It also pointed out that fuel prices have been hiked since the inflation numbers were published and prices might rise further.

Source: https://goo.gl/6c974Q

NTH :: Availing government’s home loan subsidy

India Infoline News Service | Mumbai | July 30, 2017 11:44 IST
The National Housing Bank and Housing and Urban Development Corporation (HUDCO), which are the nodal agencies for the subsidy scheme, are implementing the scheme through various banks and housing finance institutions.

NTH

The Government of India launched a home loan subsidy scheme for urban dwellers in August 2016. The National Housing Bank and Housing and Urban Development Corporation (HUDCO), which are the nodal agencies for the subsidy scheme, are implementing the scheme through various banks and housing finance institutions.

The scheme offers a subsidy of 6.5% on the interest on home loan, subject to or a maximum amount of Rs 2.20 lakh, depending on the rate of interest. Hence, if the rate of interest on the home loan is, say, 8.5%, the actual rate of interest payable by the borrower is just 2.5% (8.5% less 6.5%).

The scheme can be availed by persons belonging to economically weaker section (EWS) whose annual household income is less than Rs 3 lakh and by those belonging to lower income group (LIG) whose annual income is between Rs 3 lakh and Rs 6 lakh. The maximum age limit for the scheme is 70 years. Also, the maximum loan amount eligible for subsidy is Rs 6 lakh and the maximum tenure of loan is 15 years. The maximum size of the house should not exceed 30 sq. metres (carpet) for EWS applicants and 60 sq. metres for persons belonging to LIG. The loan can be availed for the purpose of buying under-construction or ready-to-occupy home from a builder or for self-construction of a new house or extension of an existing house.

To be eligible, the borrower should not have any home in his/her own name or in the name of his/her family members.

Disclaimer: The contents herein is specifically prepared by ‘Dalal Street Investment Journal’, and is for your information & personal consumption only. India Infoline Limited or Dalal Street Investment Journal do not guarantee the accuracy, correctness, completeness or reliability of information contained herein and shall not be held responsible.

Source: https://goo.gl/qhdx85