Prices expected to remain stable for coming months.
Even as residential prices have softened across Mumbai, Delhi and Bangalore in the last six months, the only metro to deviate from the broader trend is Kolkata, where prices have moved up by 5-10 per cent.
Apartments in New Town, in the Rajarhat area on the fringes of Kolkata, is commanding a price tag of Rs 3500- 5000 per square feet (per sft), while in the posh Ballygunj and Alipore areas, prices are hovering in the range of Rs 12,000-17,000 per sft. In the upcoming area of the E M Bypass, developers are getting buyers to shell out between Rs 5000-8000 per sft.
"In the last six months realty prices have increased by five per cent but, but input costs have also escalated. Though a few projects have seen transactions at record highs, these were aberrations as those properties were either ready property or with better amenities," Pradeep Sureka, Managing Director, Sureka Group and President of realty body, Confederation of real estate developer's association in India (Credai's) Bengal chapter, said. Sureka is awaiting government approval for his next set of launches.
Jitendra Khaitan, CEO, Pioneer Property Management Ltd, a real estate consultancy firm, said, "Prices in the city have increased by 5-10 per cent depending on the micro markets. But sales in the premium segment are limited, so the market is not witnessing any slowdown in that segment."
But going forward, developers expect prices to remain stable as rate hikes and unsold inventories will dominate the market in coming months.
According to data relased by Liases Foras, a real estate rating and research firm, the Kolkata residential market, at present, has 15,300 unsold units of which 42 per cent inventory hails from Rajarhat and 17 per cent each from north and west Kolkata. The research has been done across 66 locations in the city and its suburbs including Hoohly and Barasat.
Pankaj Kapoor, Founder and managing director of Liases Foras, says, "The Kolkata property market is the smallest in size as compared to other metro markets and the market is sluggish at the moment. Though rest of the city has very less unsold inventories but Rajarhat dominates the chart." For the other major metros, it's been a flat market in the last six months.
Rahul Todi, Managing director of Shrachi Realty, part of the Rs 800 crore Shrachi group said, "In last six months property prices have moved up by 10-15 per cent. Sentiments are negative with the rate hikes and there is a supply side constraint, at present, but there has been no drastic fall like other cities. We expect the prices to continue to be stable for the next few months."Shrachi is going to launch its 22 lakh sft mixed-use development including residential apartments, hotel and mall in New Town by the end of this calendar year. The residential apartments will be launched at a price point of Rs 3400-3600 per sft.
Other large national players selling in Kolkata, at present, include DLF and Unitech, which are selling residential projects in Rajarhat.
