Kolkata: Best quarter for realty in six years

KOLKATA: The residential apartment market in the city rode a six-year high in January-March 2022 with sale of 5,990 units, a 124% jump over the first quarter last year when 2,680 units were sold.
Realtors and developers said the strong showing was due to a host of reasons, including low home-loan rates, attractive offers by developers by way of discounts, incentive by the state through a reduced stamp duty rate and rising middle-class income slabs.The minimal impact of the third Covid wave in the first quarter of 2022 also played a part in the city’s real estate market reporting such robust figures.
In terms of housing sales, Kolkata was second only to Hyderabad in the overall yearly growth seen in sales across the top seven cities. With the state extending the stamp duty cut and circle rate revision till September 30, 2022, the industry expects the strong showing to continue. Housing launches in the city witnessed an annual rise of 116% from 1,810 units in Q1 2021 to 3,900 units in Q1 2022.
Anarock group chairman Anuj Puri said while the Kolkata market had performed exceptionally well, other markets had also witnessed a bull run. “The unrelenting appetite for home ownership amid the pandemic has coupled with a growing certainty of impending price rises to speed up housing sales velocity,” said Puri.
Confederation of Real Estate Developers’ Association of India president (West Bengal) Sushil Mohta said the people realising the worth of owning a home during the pandemic had also played its part.
“There were many fence sitters who are now making a purchase because people now understand the value and security of owning a home. Also, with prices set to increase owing to input costs, those who may have waited a little longer have quickly made the purchase to avoid a higher payout,” he said.
The sales have also helped developers reduce inventory of unsold stock by 21% from 50,540 units in Q1 2017 to nearly 39,920 units by the end of Q1 2022.