The government's recent stimulus package and the Reserve Bank of India's (RBI) interest rate cuts have once again raised hopes that buying a house would become feasible. But while banks have complied and brought down their home loan rates, the response from developers, in the form of price cuts, has not been forthcoming.
According to Asha Lata, a Delhi resident, who presently lives in a rented flat and plans to buy one soon, "After the announcement of the two stimulus packages by the government, I thought it would become easier to buy a flat in the National Capital Region (NCR). Several builders have announced price cuts in newspaper advertisements. But when I went to the booking office of Gardenia Square in Indrapuram, I found that they were asking for additional amounts for finishing the flats and for parking space. Together these charges amounted to an additional Rs 6 lakh over and above the advertised rate of Rs 32 lakh." Like Asha Lata, thousands of potential buyers across the country are discovering that the price cuts being announced by developers are mere fiction.
There are two reasons why despite lower home loan rates, the housing market has failed to revive. One, due to the slowing economy, buyers are not sure about their cash flows, and hence don't want to take on the burden of a home loan. And two, property prices have not fallen sufficiently to buy a flat.
BANKS KEEN...
To a large extent, bankers are ready to do what they can to ameliorate the pains of buyers in the real estate sector. T.S. Narayanasami, CMD of Bank of India and chairman of Indian Banks Association, explains that they are set to support the real estate sector as per the directives of the RBI to relax provisioning requirements. "We are more considerate when clients from this segment come over for a roll-over of their credit lines," he says.
However, he adds: "We have expressed our view to the government that the home loan package is yet to take off primarily due to high property prices."
Saturday, January 10, 2009
John is the hottest: Bipasha Basu
Bipasha Basu is quite pleased with John Abraham's success in 'Dostana' and says that the label of the 'sexiest' Asian man for him pleases her even more.
'There has to be one person who's the sexiest every year. In 2007, Eastern Eye voted me the sexiest. In 2008, it's John. If they didn't vote him the sexiest they'd look really foolish. I mean John is the hottest. No one is going to look hotter than him for a long time. And I'm not saying that because I'm in a relationship with him,' Bipasha told IANS.
Asked how she felt about John flaunting his well-toned body in 'Dostana', Bipasha said: 'Ranbir Kapoor showed his bum in 'Saawariya'. How come no one raised any eyebrows? It was not so drastic with John.
'He has a fantastic body. If a woman on a beach is appreciated, why not a man on the beach? If you are comfortable with your body and you can carry it off with grace like John did, why not? I'm proud of what John has achieved. I've been with him from the time we shot 'Aetbaar' and 'Jism'. We started dating while shooting for 'Aetbaar'.'
Bipasha, who turned 30 Wednesday, said she was really proud of her bikini shot in 'Dhoom 2'.
'At no point did I look cheesy. There was no heaving thrusting. It was just a healthy shot of a woman on the beach. Incidentally, I came out of the water in 'Jism' wearing a thick white dress. Such was the impact that people think I wore a bikini.'
Bipasha said she was pretty happy with her achievements last year.
'It's been a fantastic year for me, both personally and professionally. Family is great. Boyfriend is great. Everything is fine. I couldn't have asked for anything more.
'I'm actually surprised the year went so well. I even got time to watch my niece and nephew grow. Yes, I've spent one more beautiful year productively.'
Told that she needs to have children of her own, Bipasha said: 'No, no I don't have the patience for kids. I can't bear to have my seven-year-old nephew around for more than two hours. He's a talkative brat.
'My one-year-old niece is an item number. She dances superbly to the worst songs. So, yes, another actress coming up in my family. And she's the first light-eyed fair-skinned Basu girl in the family.'
The actress is currently shooting for Rahul Dholakia's hard-hitting drama 'Lamhaa'.
'There has to be one person who's the sexiest every year. In 2007, Eastern Eye voted me the sexiest. In 2008, it's John. If they didn't vote him the sexiest they'd look really foolish. I mean John is the hottest. No one is going to look hotter than him for a long time. And I'm not saying that because I'm in a relationship with him,' Bipasha told IANS.
Asked how she felt about John flaunting his well-toned body in 'Dostana', Bipasha said: 'Ranbir Kapoor showed his bum in 'Saawariya'. How come no one raised any eyebrows? It was not so drastic with John.
'He has a fantastic body. If a woman on a beach is appreciated, why not a man on the beach? If you are comfortable with your body and you can carry it off with grace like John did, why not? I'm proud of what John has achieved. I've been with him from the time we shot 'Aetbaar' and 'Jism'. We started dating while shooting for 'Aetbaar'.'
Bipasha, who turned 30 Wednesday, said she was really proud of her bikini shot in 'Dhoom 2'.
'At no point did I look cheesy. There was no heaving thrusting. It was just a healthy shot of a woman on the beach. Incidentally, I came out of the water in 'Jism' wearing a thick white dress. Such was the impact that people think I wore a bikini.'
Bipasha said she was pretty happy with her achievements last year.
'It's been a fantastic year for me, both personally and professionally. Family is great. Boyfriend is great. Everything is fine. I couldn't have asked for anything more.
'I'm actually surprised the year went so well. I even got time to watch my niece and nephew grow. Yes, I've spent one more beautiful year productively.'
Told that she needs to have children of her own, Bipasha said: 'No, no I don't have the patience for kids. I can't bear to have my seven-year-old nephew around for more than two hours. He's a talkative brat.
'My one-year-old niece is an item number. She dances superbly to the worst songs. So, yes, another actress coming up in my family. And she's the first light-eyed fair-skinned Basu girl in the family.'
The actress is currently shooting for Rahul Dholakia's hard-hitting drama 'Lamhaa'.
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