Increase In Demand For Home Loans, Say Banks

Price-shy home buyers are back to the threshold of banks with the reduction in interest rates, coupled with rationalisation of home prices. Several banks said their home loan disbursals have increased towards the end of financial year 2009. Housing Development Finance Corporation (HDFC) saw its loan disbursals during the first three months of 2009 go up by 17.5% to Rs 12,439 crore. Other home financers such as LIC Housing Finance, Axis Bank, Union Bank of India have also seen bulging home loan portfolios in the last two months of FY09 and growth continues after that as well.