Kol clocks highest home sales and launches in 7 yrs
Times of India | 5 July 2024
Kolkata: Kolkata’s primary residential market continued to witness strong homebuying demand in the first half of 2024, with sales as well as launches clocking an eight-year high.
During Jan-June this year, 9,130 residential units were sold in the market, recording a healthy 25% year-on-year (YoY) growth in sales volume. Last year, 7,324 units had been sold in the first six months.The sales were even higher than 8,109 units clocked in the first half of 2017. Only 2016 had a better show with sales of 10,339 units.
The high sales also encouraged developers to launch 10,829 units in the first six months of this year, a 60% YoY growth and the highest in seven years. It bettered the first half of 2017 when developers launched 9,764 units.
Real estate consultancy firm Knight Frank India said the sales growth momentum was aided by the stamp duty rebate and new launches across price segments. The mid segment ticket size category of Rs 50 lakh to Rs 1 crore witnessed an expansion in sales volume during the first half of the year.
The share of affordable homes priced under Rs 50 lakh has shrunk from 49% in the first half of 2023 to 45% in H1 2024. This is largely due to the impact of repo rate hikes impacting homebuyers in this category more than other categories. The stamp duty rebate was discontinued by state govt from this month.
Share of mid-category projects priced Rs 50 lakh to Rs 1 crore increased from 34% in H1 2023 to 37% in H1 2024, while those priced over Rs 1 crore inched up from 17% to 18% during the period. In terms of micro-market split, south (37%), north (26%) and Rajarhat (21%) remained the most popular. Locations in the northern micro-market fared better than others, and this micro-market’s share expanded from 17% in H1 2023 to 26% at the end of this review period.
As the sales trajectory for residential projects has been on an upswing, average residential prices rose by 6% YoY in H1 2024. The launch of new projects at higher prices than before contributed to this price rise at a city level.