There has been a robust increase in apartment registration in Kolkata Metropolitan Area (KMA) due to the stamp duty cut announced by the West Bengal Government. The further six-month extension of the stamp duty rebate announced in West Bengal’s recent budget is expected to further benefit all stakeholders, including homebuyers, developers and the Government.
According to Knight Frank India data, the KMA witnessed the registration of 4,178 residential sales agreements in January 2023, which was also the highest compared to the registrations witnessed in the first month of the calendar year in the past four years. Most registrations (47%) were seen for apartments in the size range of 47-92 sq m (501-1000 sq ft). Bigger size units of more than 1001 sq ft accounted for 29% of registrations in January 2023.
Since the initial stamp duty cut announcement in July 2021, more than 80,000 residential properties have been registered in the city in the period July 2021 – January 2023, Knight Frank India said in a statement recently.
The West Bengal Government is providing a 2% stamp duty rebate to homebuyers. In the recent state budget, the stamp duty cut was extended for the sixth time. According to Abhijit Das, Senior Director – East, Knight Frank India, the extension of the 2% rebate on stamp duty will further boost buyers’ confidence and help in future sales volume. Amid repo rate hikes and increasing home loan rates, the stamp duty cut has come as a good relief for homebuyers in Kolkata.
Shishir Baijal, Chairman and Managing Director, Knight Frank India, said that the sixth extension of the 2% stamp duty rebate was one of the key highlights of the West Bengal state budget for 2023-24. “This announcement to provide further relief to homebuyers for the next six months has come at a vital time when consecutive repo rate hikes have only made home loans expensive,” he said.
The North Zone led the micro-market tally with the highest 36% registration of apartments in January 2023. There was a 72% increase in the number of sales deeds registered in this micro market on a YoY basis, Knight Frank India said.
The South Zone of KMA recorded the second-highest share of 34% in the registrations in January while Rajarhat also noticed its share grow from 7% of total apartment registrations in January 2022 to 9% in the current period.
