mumbai at a time when the real estate industry is seen as struggling to recover from the lockdown december property sales in greater mumbai have broken a fiveyear record for the montha record 14783 sales have been registered in december so far according to latest data uploaded by the department of registration and stamps industry sources said most of these are apartment salesthese are way more than double the sales registered in december 2019 data shows 6433 sales in that month we have never seen so many sales in five years said a developer with projects in suburban mumbaiwith the state government slashing stamp duty on sale of flats from 5 to 2 starting september 1 till december 31 property transactions have shot up the states revenue has decreased though for instance although sales have been a record high the state has so far collected rs 494 crore between december 1 and 25 in december 2019 the total collection was rs 542 crore we still have a week to go till the end of the month registrations and stamp duty collection figures will further increase till december 31 said a market sourceabhishek lodha md of lodha group said revival in demand is across price points people are seeking more space this positive momentum will drive employment creation in the state and help economic recovery from covidmumbaibased property consultant ashok narang said buyers took advantage of the pandemic when builders offered low prices and grabbed these opportunities coming their waywe have seen this pentup demand cycle in the market reduction of 8 to 12 in prices compared with last year makes buyers eager to take decisions faster said narang he added that more than 85 of home buyers availed of loans as interest rates are at the lowestestimated value of 15k sold flats is 25k crorereduced stamp duty has been a big motivator for the fencesitters who were planning to buy a house in mumbai besides developers have offered good discounts and flexible payment plans to woo the customers during this time said pankaj kapoor md of liases foras a real estate rating and research firmthe average cost of a house in greater mumbai is greater than rs 2 crore which implies that people drawing a minimum salary of around rs 40 lakh per annum could only afford it these are people who may not have been adversely affected by covid 19 he saidaccording to liases foras the estimated value of the 14783 units registered during december 2020 is roughly rs 24700 crorethis has been computed from the 2 stamp duty collection amounting to 494 crore said kapoormumbai developers have claimed brisk sales of flats priced up to rs 2 crore since september when the stamp duty rate was slashed from january 1 till march 2021 the rate will be increased from 2 to 3many builders are already absorbing the stamp duty cost and not charging it to the buyers