The West Bengal government has decided to levy stamp duty at reduced rates until the end of March the year.
The third extension comes on the back of the outbreak of Omicron across the country leading to temporary lockdown across states. The 2-percentage-point reduction in stamp duty and 10% relaxation in circle rate, intended to boost demand for residential real estate, was supposed to last until January 2021.
“The financial relief will help several projects and consumers will be largely benefitted. So far above Rs 75,000 crores worth registrations happened in West Bengal contributing huge revenue to the exchequer. This will further enable the discounts in registration costs, making it a win-win for all, We are optimistic that the real estate players will announce more sops and freebies for the consumers and more units will be sold. , said Sushil Mohta, chairman, Merlin Group.
The Kolkata residential property market has sustained its growth momentum as homebuyers continued to purchase properties on the back of record-low interest rates and good deals offered by real estate developers. According to Knight Frank, residential property registrations in Greater Kolkata in the 12 months of 2021 stood at 44,940 units, recording a growth of 64% compared to the previous year, with 56% of these units registered since the introduction of the stamp duty cut in July 2021, mentioned registration data.
After a brief lull in November 2021 due to festivals, there has been a significant recovery in housing registrations as per December 2021 statistics.The last month of 2021 recorded a 248% month-on-month growth in the number of residential sales deeds registered. “Kolkata’s real estate market witnessed a healthy increase in property registrations in December 2021, after the reduced volume in November 2021. The mammoth 248% MoM growth over the previous month came largely due to the fact that extension about the stamp duty cut window became widely known amongst homebuyers,” said Shishir Baijal, Chairman and Managing Director.
The registration data is for residential sales documents registered and included transactions in both the primary and the secondary market.