Highest-ever home sales makes 2022 a happy old year in Kolkata | Kolkata News – Times of India

Kolkata News

KOLKATA: The city has registered a new record in annual home sales this year, surpassing the previous high of 2014 on the back of a booming economy. With 21,220 units sold in 2022, it is an increase of nearly 27% over the previous peak of 16,740 units.
The phenomenon – of this year besting the 2014 peak – has been noticed throughout the country: the top seven cities, Kolkata included, together clocked sales of 3.7 lakh units, up from 3.4 lakh units of 2014.
According to data compiled by real estate consultancy firm Anarock, home sales in Kolkata in 2022 saw a jump of 62% over 2021, when 13,077 units were sold, higher than the all-India average of a 54% rise over the previous year.
The strong sales happened despite the 10% increase in property prices over the past couple of years. In October-December 2022, the price of homes increased 4% over the corresponding period last year. In addition, home loans have become dearer due to a rise in interest rates by almost 2.5%.
What helped was the 2% stamp duty rebate the state offered all year, said analysts. That incentive is due to end on December 31, raising concerns about a slump in sales in a market that’s more price-sensitive than in other major cities. The high sales of residential properties in Kolkata throughout 2022 has led to a decline in inventory, said analysts.
While the inventory, including homes under construction in 2014-end, post the boom, was 38,320 units, it is now 36,880 units. What probably also contributed to the new inventory was the low addition in new inventory last year. Kolkata also witnessed a 17% surge in new launches during the year, up from 13,746 units launched in 2021 to 16,088 units.
In 2014, when the housing industry was booming, 34,220 units had been added during the year. Confederation of Real Estate Developers Association of India (Bengal chapter) president Siddharth Pansari said while the growth between 2004 and 2014 (except a bump in 2008-09 because of the global recession) had been driven by a booming economy, the latest record had been fuelled by a “prioritisation” of homes sales following the Covid experience.
Looking forward, Pansari said while demand would remain, sales could witness a slight slowdown because of the rise in home loan interest rate. “This year, the home loan interest has increased from 6.4% to 8.9%, with another 0.3% increase due. Salaries haven’t gone up by 40%.
So there will be some home aspirants who will postpone their purchase. But we still expect good sales during the year,” he said. “Year 2022 has been phenomenal for residential real estate despite all headwinds including rising property prices, interest rate hikes and all geopolitical tensions,” said Anarock group chairman Anuj Puri.
“In the new year, we anticipate the current sales momentum in the housing sector to continue in the first quarter. However, various risks loom large around the residential segment,” he added.

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