Bangalore: The realty index of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) is showing signs of recovery after it emerged as one of the best performers last week. The index has gained by 12.26 percent compared to the previous week at 4,132.13 points. The index continued to perform well even this week after it finished as the top gainer on Monday, by gaining five percent. The upsurge in realty shares was seen after the government announced policies to boost housing development in the country. Recently, government lowered interest rates on loans for affordable housing, extended a tax holiday given to industrial parks, and lifted the tax burden off road repair costs, adding to the four existing stimulus packages in its effort to propel economic growth to 8-9 percent by the end of 2010. Finance minister Pranab Mukherjee also announced that home loans of up to 10 lakh for properties with a market value not exceeding double that amount will now come with a one percent subsidy on the interest that commercial banks charge. These measures are likely to keep real estate and banking shares active in the coming weeks. Among the major realty stocks, Sobha Developers has surged by 20.27 percent compared to a week ago. Unitech was up 11.21 percent, Housing Development and Infrastructure (HDIL) up by 14.29 percent and DLF went up by 8.76 percent over its last week's closing price. The current market capitalization of the realty index is 1,31,490 crore.