Knight Frank, India's top real estate consultancy, reported that 31,026 apartments have been registered in Kolkata Metropolitan Area (KMA) since the beginning of calendar year 2023. Out of the total registrations in 2023, 14% occurred in September this year, marking a 21% increase compared to August 2023. However, on a year-on-year (YoY) basis, the registrations have dipped by 25% when compared with September 2022. In October 2023, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) decided to keep the repo rate unchanged for the fourth time in this fiscal year. This development coupled with extension of the stamp duty benefit just before the festive period will help channel demand in Kolkata’s residential real estate market in the coming months.
The data encompasses transactions in both primary (fresh sale) and secondary (re-sale) markets for residential apartments throughout all periods.
Abhijit Das, Senior Director – East, Knight Frank India, said, “The year-on-year decrease can be attributed to the base effect from the previous year, which saw significant growth in registrations due to increased strong consumer sentiment encouraged by the continuation of the stamp duty rebate. The recent extension of the stamp duty reduction by the West Bengal government is expected to maintain the positive trend in property purchases and registrations in the state, especially now that interest rates have stabilised. Given its cumulative impact over several previous quarters, this is likely to continue boosting sales growth in the coming quarters.”
In September 2023, apartments ranging from 501 to 1,000 sq ft constituted 56% of the total registrations compared to 46% during the year ago period. The share of smaller unit sizes, up to 500 sq ft shrunk from 24% in September 2022 to 17% in September 2023. Despite, the repo rate pause, the share of apartments in this size category has declined over the past one year. Units sized above 1,000 sq ft comprised 27% share in the total registrations. In September 2022, this unit size category comprised 30% share.
During September 2023, the North Zone topped the micro-market registration list with a 37% share of Kolkata’s total apartment registrations. A year ago, the North Zone accounted for 46% of the total registrations. During both periods, the North Zone garnered the maximum number of registrations, despite the moderation in share in September 2023. However, the share of South Zone has increased from 20% in September 2022 to 34% of total registrations in September 2023. The share of Rajarhat Central and West Zones remained largely at par in both the periods.
