Women not keen on buying new homes; 1.7% drop after stamp duty sop withdrawn Pixabay On 8 th March 2021, to celebrate International Womenâs Day, the Maharashtra Government announced a 1 percent rebate in stamp duty for women homebuyers effective from 1st April 2021. As a result of which women homebuyers constituted 6.6 percent of new home sales in the month of April 2021 paying a discounted stamp duty rate of 4 percent over their purchase. In May 2021, the share of women homebuyers across the 5,360 units registered in May 2021 dropped to 1.7 percent, according to a release by Knight Frank India. Upon assessment of sales and registration data since September 2020 â March 2021, it was observed that during the period of reduced stamp duty, new homes sales for that month in mid to premium categories, those costing Rs 1 crore and above, formed a significant part of the sales and registration. The saving on stamp duty on higher value housing units would work out significantly in favour of the buyers saving them substantial amount in hand. However, since the withdrawal of the sop on stamp duty, the equations have tilted in favour of homes costing Rs 1 crore or less, with this category taking 70 percent and 62 percent of total new sales in April 2021 and May 2021 respectively. This should be seen as a positive indication of the strength of demand from end users in this segment that continues to purchase despite no stamp duty relief.