2017 will be a great year for home buyers. Here’s why

The last year was tough to home buyer aspirants. However, thanks to a proactive government and the court, home buyers have been able to make some crazy deal on big investments. From making real estate transparent to a quick delivery assurance from builders, the investor driven market has made sure even middle class can afford to buy good housing projects in the metro cities.

However apart from these, there are a few other factors that did the needful.

Demonetization
Of course the biggest draw was demonetisation. The inventory of unsold and unfinished housing projects pending since a year or two would make the prices go further down.

While primary market will stay unaffected, the demonetization will bring a cheer in the unorganized sector.

As it is, affordability in residential sector is at a five-year high as income growth over the past five years (10 to 12 per cent per annum) has outpaced property price inflation (-10 to 10 per cent), leading to a demand-led recovery.

Benami Transactions (Prohibition) Amendment Act, 2016
This tough law designed to curb black money has a provision for up-to-seven-year imprisonment for people with unaccounted land will get in trouble. The amendment allows the government to confiscate properties or assets held in fictitious or another person's name to evade tax and hide unaccounted wealth. According to The Economic Times, The act will cover movable, immovable, tangible and intangible properties and also include any right or interest in such property.

Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act, 2016
The law will bring transparency in real estate transactions, reduce litigation and speed up delivery. It may take some time to impact the market as all states, barring Gujarat and Uttar Pradesh, have missed the October 31 deadline to notify the rules and operationalise the Act.