Kolkata Leads Housing Sales In Q2'FY17, New Launches Trigger Market Sentiment

For developers in Kolkata, it is time to cheer. According to a recently launched report by PropTiger DataLabs for the second quarter of the current financial year (Realty Decoded Q2'FY17) the sales in the city have witnessed a rise of 35 per cent when compared to the previous quarter. This is the highest among the nine cities that the report studies. The cities analysed in the report include Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Chennai, Gurgaon (including Bhiwadi, Dharuhera and Sohna) , Hyderabad, Kolkata, Mumbai (including Navi Mumbai and Thane) , Noida (including Greater Noida and Yamuna Expressway) , and Pune.

Not just housing sales, the City of Joy also, saw maximum new launches with an appreciation of 480 per cent when compared to the previous quarter. As many as 1,600 units were launched by Meridian Group, Aamar Bari and Aspirana Infraventure, Malabar Residency, together. Here are other four cities that topped the charts of new launches. 

One of the key reasons for this uptick in the city's real estate market is a marginal fall of two per cent in prices when compared with the same quarter last year. At the moment, average prices hover in the range of Rs 3,400-3,900 per sq ft. On an average, you can buy a 3BHK apartment in Kolkata's popular localities under Rs 65 lakh. As per the data, New Town, Howrah, Rajarhat, Salt Lake City, Madhyamgram and Kasba are the localities that have seen the most in-demand for residential real estate. Reasonable capital values, rise of prominent housing destinations such as Rajarhat and New Town and its proximity to the IT/ITes facilities of Sector V have accounted for this recent development. Metro network, too, seems to have benefitted the market.

If you have a higher budget, areas such as Alipore, Prince Anwar Shah Road and EM Bypass could be good options to invest in. These localities can yield anywhere from Rs 6,000-22,000 per month. However, a wiser way may be to look at the upcoming localities driven by jobs where the rents are lower but there is a greater prospect that capital values could grow.

What is interesting to note is the fact that unlike other cities where sales went up on account of office-market pick up, Kolkata's uptake was purely end-user driven.

So, if you were waiting for the right time to buy a house, this looks like the best one. Available at affordable rates, owing to no drastic price rises over the last 40 months, if you did come across a seemingly 'right' property, go for it.

“There are many new projects in varied stages of construction. Issues such as RERA have been picked up and this has led to many developers taking up project deliveries more seriously. Global brands are setting shops in the city and retail is going strong,” says Qarim Ansari, broker, Realty City Watch.

So, where are the young professionals heading? “Towards value for money deals and future prospects. Rajarhat is on every buyer's mind,” he adds.