"There is a 75 basis point reduction in the interest rates on home loans. This will drive demand. The bank would focus more on home loans between Rs 10 lakh and 15 lakh as it would definitely help profitability," said RS Reddy, CMD, Andhra Bank.

According to Renu Challu, MD, State Bank of Hyderabad, the recent reduction of capital requirement for home loans by the RBI would also facilitate aggressive lending by banks. "Definitely, there will be a big push. SBH will also push home loans below Rs 20 lakh and 25 lakh aggressively. It is a priority sector for us," Challu said.

Meanwhile, many other banks have also identified housing loans as a priority.

"To regain the momentum, there should be a little effort from the builders' lobby as well. They had taken the prices to unaffordable levels which should be brought down," Reddy said.

There is a talk of some builders offering special discounts and bringing down the prices to push the demand up, Reddy added.

The builders, on their part, are happy with renewed interest of banks in housing loans. "The coming down of home loan rates will be beneficial for the end-users in buying properties at a better price. The developers will also be benefited as it will reduce lending cost," said a spokesperson of real estate major DLF.

According to RBI data, the loan growth in the housing sector decelerated slightly in the second quarter of the current fiscal year. They grew at about 14 per cent (Rs 32,792 crore) up to August 31, 2008 compared with Rs 34,333 crore in the year-ago period.