Kolkata only big city to see jump in home sales

City sees 32% surge in absorption of homes at 4,079 units; prices also move up marginally

Kolkata is the country's only major property market to have seen an increase in housing units' sales in the September quarter of the current calendar year, says a new study.

It had a 32 per cent jump at 4,079 units as compared to 3,092 in the same quarter (Q3) of last year, according to data collated by PropEquity, a realty research agency.

It was also one of the exceptions where prices escalated in the quarter, the average per sq ft moving from Rs 3,767 in Q3 of 2014 to Rs 3,834 this year. However, new supply of housing units in Q3 fell 53 per cent in Kolkata in Q3 of 2015.

The Mumbai Metropolitan Region and National Capital Region, the country’s two biggest property markets, saw a drop of 11 per cent and 7.5 per cent in sale of home units in Q3. Home prices fell five per cent in MMR and six per cent in NCR over a year before.

Bengaluru, a market which did well in the past couple of years, saw a 23 per cent decline in home sales and a three per cent fall in prices.

"Most developers are building affordable homes and the market mostly has end-users", said Sanjay Dutt, managing djrector at Cushman & Wakefield.

While the property market in Mumbai, says Sunil Rohokale, managing director of ASK Investment Advisors, has been marred by affordability issues, supply in Delhi far outstrips the demand. "In Mumbai, no apartment is for less than Rs 2 crore," he says.