Kolkata, earlier known as Calcutta, is the capital of West Bengal and the third largest metropolitan city of India. Kolkata holds a significant place in the history of India as it was the erstwhile national capital during the British rule. It is a vibrant city popularly known as the ’City of Joy’. The city of Kolkata is a potpourri of old and new. Kolkata was considered to be one of the cheapest Indian cities but its real estate scenario has gone for a complete makeover. It has been showing a marked improvement across all sectors of its realty industry i.e. residential, commercial and retail. It has long shed off the image of being a lazy city and is emerging as an effervescent city. Kolkata real estate is on a progressive track as large scale developments have been taking place in the city. With a multitude of multinational companies entering the city, a sudden increase in the number of potential property developers can be seen. They aim at maintaining global standard of living even by spending extra money and by employing additional resources. Kolkata property market is buzzing with activity as it welcomes new construction and re-developments. The new suburban hot-spots for real estate include Hugli, South Dum Dum, South Suburban City, etc. It serves as a nodal point for north-east region of the country and hence is a key spot of all retail and commercial activities. Kolkata may have become habitual of facing ups and downs in its real estate industry. First, withdrawal of Tata’s Nano project and then recession attempted to stagger the growing real estate of Kolkata. 1. With the entry of Tata Motors’ Nano project, property in Kolkata was on an all time high but after their unceremonious exit from the city, it was expected to fall. Nevertheless, it kept booming while maintaining the price and rental hikes. 2. The global downturn of the Indian economy caused ripples among the realty builders who were discouraged from further developments. Since the investors’ interest also declined, Kolkata real estate became almost stagnant. But, in the current scenario, real estate segment of Kolkata has supposedly started recovering. In the annual property fair, Realty Expo 2009 conducted in the city, record footfalls, enquiries and residential spot bookings were made. Authorities confirmed the news by adding that the number of spot bookings had nearly doubled and an unprecedented degree of footfalls with a 20% jump against the last edition was seen. This was totally unexpected due to the negative market sentiment apparent for more than a year and has thus, encouraged property developers to accomplish significant incremental business in the coming months. There have been considerable cost cuts during recession in real estate of Kolkata. The shrink in property prices by 5-20% across the city and the offering of promotional schemes like EMI waiver created excitement among the prospective consumers. So, some doubt if this keen interest in Kolkata investment avenues is due to the price correction or is it the recent spate of home loan rate cuts? Most in the industry believe that the combination of both the factors propelled end users to visit the fair. Property experts feel that builders have become much more flexible and consumer-centric in the recent times. The focus is on affordable housing which has actually been the flavor of season across the country. It is, thus, concluded that signs of sluggishness from Kolkata real estate, be it residential, commercial or retail have almost disappeared. Property prices in prime locations will continue to witness an upward trend, making it the right time to explore investment options in Kolkata realty.
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