Property deals in the commercial capital of Kerala beat recession blues to cross the one-lakh-mark between April 2011 and January this year.
The pace of transactions has picked up this financial year compared to the previous year. Official records available with The Hindu show that 1,03,248 documents were registered across 25 offices of the sub-registrars in the district by the end of January. The total number of registrations between April 2010 and March 2011 were 1,02,356.
Kothamangalam, the bustling gateway to the High Ranges, emerged as the most sought-after destination for investments going by the number of registrations in the district.
During 2010-11, 7,645 documents were registered at the Kothamangalam sub-registrar's office. Transactions this fiscal have gone up with the authorities approving 7,069 deals between April, 2011 and January this year.
Puthencruz beat Ernakulam's record as one of the most popular investment spots in the district during the current year.
The Puthencruz sub-registrar's office saw 6,687 deals between April 2011 and January 2012. Ernakulam slipped from the second position in 2010-11 to the fifth in the number of transactions in 2011-12. Only 5,831 deals were struck this year compared to 6,346 transactions last year. Perumbavoor, a fast-growing town, seems to be attracting a lot of attraction in the realty sector.
The sub-registrar's office in the town recorded 6,457 deals between April, 2011 and January 12. Demand for property in Perumbavoor has recorded a steady growth in the last two years. In 2010-11, 5,666 documents were registered in the Perumbavoor office.
The number of property registrations in other areas in Ernakulam district between April, 2011 and January 2012 were: Muvattupuzha, 6,329; North Paravur, 5524; Alangad, 5438; Chengamanad 4,910; Kochi 4,889; and Edappally, 4,335.
Income from stamp duty and registration fee too have shown the increase in tandem with the number of registrations. Stamp duty realised during 2010-11 stood at Rs. 335.81 crore. This went up to Rs. 374.22 crore between April and January during the current financial year. Similarly, registration fee realised during 2010-11 was Rs. 109.80 crore. This went up to Rs. 125.82 crore till the end of January this year.
Meanwhile, the Department of Registration has served 2,427 notices on undervaluation of property between April 2010 and October 2011. The deficit in stamp duty on this count is Rs. 4.21 crore and the deficit in registration fee is Rs. 1.29 crore. A total of 21 cases have been settled on these notices during the period and nearly Rs. two lakh realised from the settlements.
