AMDAVADI WOMEN TOP

City women hold more properties than their counterparts elsewhere in the state

DILIP PATEL
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Women are stamping their name on the realty scene big time. Going by official figures, 19 per cent of the property registered in Ahmedabad in 2009 is owned by women, and that comes to a total worth of Rs 1,111 crore!
Ahmedabad has retained the top slot this year too (in 2008, women owned Rs 1,000 crore worth of property), followed by Rajkot (18 per cent of the total properties) and Surat (16 per cent).
Since the government waived the one per cent registration fee in June 2004 till January 2010, 7.94 lakh properties worth Rs 19,600 crore have been bought by women across the state! Which means that on an average, 21 per cent of the property documents registered in these six years have been in the name of women.
In 2009, one lakh property deals were transacted. Of these, 19,164 were registered in the name of women.
In Rajkot, 15,755 properties worth Rs 465 crore were womenowned of the total 85,486 registered.
In Surat, women became owners of Rs 534 crore worth of properties; a total of 71,210 properties were registered here last year.
The figures will swell, say realty experts as it is being anticipated that from the next financial year the total levy (stamp duty and registration) will be scaled down to 3.5 per cent of the property transaction. Of course, for women it will be just 2.5 per cent, deducting the waiver of 1 per cent registration fee.
Central government’s Urban Development Secretary S Ramachandran on his recent visit to the state had said that Gujarat, to keep receiving JnNURM grant, will have to adopt this measure in 2010-2011.
More than flats, commercial spaces, a majority of holdings are land parcels, says Deputy collector (stamp duty) J D Patel: “Those who deal in land, prefer buying it in the name of their wives, sisters or mothers for income tax benfit,” he says. Land broker Khodaji Thakore agrees.
“Buyers benefit more if the parcel is bought in the name of a woman. In land deals, the on-paper price is much lesser, a mere 20 per cent, of the money that actually exhanges hands. Add to that the one per cent registration fee waiver,” he says.
The trend also has highlights a social facet, that of women’s economic independence. With the rise in earning power, women are looking at realty as a security.
As Revenue Minister Anandiben Patel puts it, “There are social reasons behind this trend. Women are trusted more, the feewaiver benefits them and encourages registrations against their name. The government has forgone Rs 200 crore in six years, but has encouraged property ownership by women.”

OWNERSHIP FIGURES (2009)
Ahmedabad:
19,164 properties worth Rs 1,111 cr (19 per cent of total properties registered)
Surat:
11,723 worth Rs 534 crore (16 per cent)
Rajkot:
15,755 worth Rs 465 crore (18 per cent)
Figures sourced from the Office of Inspecor General of Registration, Gandhinagar