The Prepayment Predicament

A Noida-based couple entered India’s real estate bubble in 2013. They invested in a housing project by a reputed builder in Neemrana, hoping that the Rajasthan government’s Special Economic Zone (SEZ) in the area, where a lot of Japanese enterprises were expected to set up shop, would help them earn handsome returns. Two years later, the couple bought another house in Noida’s Sector 46, this time for residential purposes. The couple took home loans for both the properties and their total equated monthly instalments (EMIs) came to Rs 60,000. Little did they know then that this sum, which they were able to afford with their two jobs, will start feeling like a liability only five years later. As the Covid pandemic took roots in 2020, it shook lives and livelihoods across the country. As uncertainty grew, even those with steady jobs started rethinking their finances. Ruby...