40,972 units were registered across the city, of which 51 per cent were registered following the announcement of the incentives. “The 2 % stamp duty rebate has worked wonders for Kolkata residential real estate sector in the second half of the year and provided momentum to the residential sales. On a year-on-year (YoY) comparison, this rise translates to a sharp 79 % increase in residential properties being registered during the 11 month period of January to November 2021,” the consultant noted.
However, considering the number of properties registered in November alone, there was a 62 per cent decline from a year earlier. “This is the first time in the past five months that property registrations have declined YoY. There was a rush to register deals by October 2021, as the stamp duty cut window was supposed to close in that period. This would explain the lull in sales in November 2021, even after the extension of stamp duty cut window,” Knight Frank India said, adding that it is also possible that buyers were not fully aware of the extension in the stamp duty cut to November since it was only announced during the Diwali break.
Nevertheless, experts are of the view that the incentives were encouraging for those involved in the state’s real estate sector. “It is a good time for the realty sector in West Bengal. As a result of the extension of the stamp duty cut window, the real estate market of the state continues to benefit,” Nitesh Kumar, Managing Director and Chief Executive of Emami Realty, said. “Despite a slowdown in residential property registrations in November 2021 due to less registration in small units under 500 square feet, the sharp increase since July 2021 is encouraging for both developers and buyers moving forward.”
