NHB expands Residex's ambit to 50 cities

The regulator of housing finance companies, National Housing Bank (NHB), has widened the scope of its housing price index NHB Residex to 50 cities across the country from 26 cities earlier. It will now have two indices based on data from lenders and market price data for under-construction properties collected through survey, the regulator said in a statement. He continued that the housing price index HPI @ Assessment Prices will be based on banks and lenders data for 50 cities, while HPI @ Market Prices for under construction properties will cover 47 cities. Both the indices are using 2012-13 as base year. NHB Residex is planning to cover more cities across India and the scope will also be widened to include Land Price Index (LPI) and Building Materials Prices Indices (BMPI), and Housing Rental Index (HRI). The index was launched in July 2007 by National Housing Bank to track the movement in prices of residential properties in 26 cities with 2007 as base year. NHB has partnered with Liases Foras Real Estate Rating & Research for automating processes and providing data analytic for these indices.