Registration of residential sales agreements in December 2022 increased by 7% against the previous month. Also, in the 18 months since the introduction of the stamp duty rebate by the state government in July 2021, registration figures have increased by 61% against the figure clocked in the 18 months prior to that.
However, the registrations in December 2022 was lower by 17% against December 2021. Homes of less than 500 sqft took the biggest hit with registrations down 33% in a year. Developers said the decline was on two counts: hike in home loan interest rates and the government announcing an extension of the stamp duty rate cut, which meant the urgency had waned.
According to real estate consultancy firm Knight Frank, Kolkata Metropolitan Area witnessed registrations of 3,274 sales in December 2022. While it was more than November 2022 — when 3,047 residential sales agreements were registered — it was considerably lower than the count in December 2021, when 3,968 agreements were registered.
Since the initial stamp duty cut announcement in July 2021, more than 76,000 residential properties have been registered in the city in the period July 2021-December 2022. In the previous 18 months, 47,317 units had been registered.
Apartments in the size range of 501-1,000 sqft accounted for half of the total registrations in December 2022. The share of bigger unit sizes of more than 1,001 sqft was 29%. Smaller units of up to 500 sqft comprised 21% share of the total.
Knight Frank India chairman and managing director Shishir Baijal said: “A further extension of the stamp duty incentive will bring relief to prospective buyers as home loans have become expensive compared to the past year and a half.”
Knight Frank India senior director (east) Abhijit Das said, “Stamp duty rebate has helped the developers in sustaining homebuying demand. This measure will continue to enthuse homebuyers as loan rates climb northwards. The government’s continued support in this context will go a long way in sustaining and developing the housing market momentum.” The state government had last month extended the incentive to March 31, 2023.