KMA records about 1 lakh apartment registrations

The incentive in the form of stamp duty rebate announced by the Mamata Banerjee government in July 2021 has been providing stimulus to the real estate sector with one lakh apartment registrations already completed in Kolkata Metropolitan Area (KMA).

About 102,743 apartments were registered in the KMA area since July 2021 with Thakurpukur, Sonarpur and Rajarhat emerging as the top three locations. The study by Directorate of Registrations and Stamps Revenue, Bengal government and Knight Frank India Research has noted that after three consecutive months of uptick in volume between May and July, August 2023 witnessed an 11 per cent month-on-month (MoM) decline in volume. On a year-on-year (YoY) basis too, August 2023 represents a 42 per cent decline over August 2022, with 3605 registrations. In August 2022, the number of registrations was 6238.

During August 2023, the South Zone dominated the micro-market with an impressive 59 per cent share of Kolkata’s total apartment registrations. In August 2022, the South Zone accounted for only 32 per cent of the total registrations. However, the share of North Zone has declined from 40 per cent in August 2022 to 10 per cent of total registrations in August 2023.

As this zone is populated with affordable housing projects, moderation in its share was witnessed due to the demand in this category in the past one year.

In August 2023, the share of Central and Rajarhat zones increased to seven and 6 per cent respectively. Both these zones have apartment options in the mid-segment and high-end segments for homebuyers where stable demand has prevailed so far.

In August 2023, apartments ranging from 501 to 1,000 sq ft constituted 48 per cent of the total registrations compared to 49 per cent during the year ago period. The share of smaller unit sizes, up to 500 sq ft, comprised 27 per cent in August 2023 while it commanded a 25 per cent share in August 2022.

The stamp duty now stands at 4 per cent and 3 per cent in urban and rural areas for properties up to Rs 1 crore and 5 per cent and 4 per cent for properties above that ceiling, respectively. Earlier, the stamp duty was six per cent and four per cent in urban and rural areas respectively. It was reduced by two per cent for both.