GUWAHATI, June 30 � The prices of residential properties in the city remained almost stagnant in 2013-14.
As per the National Housing Bank (NHB), a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), residential property prices in Guwahati in the January-March quarter of this year registered only a marginal growth of 0.65 per cent compared to the same quarter of the previous year.
The house price index, with a base year of 2007, of Guwahati stood at 154 in January-March 2013-14 fiscal as against 153 in the same quarter of 2012-13 financial year, as per the NHB.
Quarter-on-quarter, prices slumped by as much as 3.75 per cent in the fourth quarter of last fiscal compared to the third quarter, when the index had stood at 160.
It is also noteworthy that on a quarterly basis, residential property prices in Guwahati in the last fiscal slumped by 3.92 per cent in April-June, before going up by 1.36 per cent in July-September and then showing a steep rise of 7.4 per cent in October-December, when the jump in prices in the city was the second highest among all cities across India.
The index covered 26 major cities and has taken into account the price trends for residential properties in different locations and zones in each city.
Within the city, the West zone comprising localities like Adabari, Bharalumukh, Bhootnath, Kamakhya and Maligaon saw residential prices deep by 9.9 per cent on an annual basis.
Similarly, the central zone with localities like Ambari, Baruari, Chenikuthi, Fancy Bazar, Kharghuli, Latasil, Pan Bazar and Uzan Bazar witnessed a fall in prices by 6.4 per cent, while the east zone comprising Bamunimaidan and Chandmari saw a decline of 16.2 per cent.
However, in Lokhra zone consisting of Basistha, Jalukbari and Lalganesh, prices of residential properties went up by 5.5 per cent in January-March this year as against the corresponding period of last year.
Prices were also up by 14 per cent in Dispur zone which includes localities like Beltola, Dispur, Hatigaon, Hengrabari, Jaya Nagar and Six Mile, while it was up by 14.6 per cent in south zone comprising areas like Bhangagarh, Lachit Nagar, Rehabari, Silpukhuri and Ulubari.
Overall, across the country, 13 cities showed a rising trend in residential property prices on an annual basis in Q4 of 2013-14, while in another 13 cities the trend was of decline.
The NHB is an apex financial institution for housing and was set up by an Act of Parliament in 1987 to operate as a principal agency to promote housing finance institutions both at local and regional levels and to provide financial and other support incidental to such institutions.
It registers, regulates and supervises housing finance companies, keeps surveillance, coordinates with other regulators.
