The sales of residential property appear to be gaining momentum in Calcutta, with big brands cornering a larger share of the pie in a market where launches continue to remain tepid.

Brokerages, developers and people associated with the trade say bookings and transactions have picked up from January for established players, rivalling the situation before Covid-19 sent the economy to deep freeze.

Consumer preference towards big brands having the right expertise to deliver good projects in a time bound manner is also leading towards consolidation in the marketplace.

“There has been a pick-up in demand from October onwards. Well-known builders are getting good traction,” Harsh Vardhan Neotia, chairman of Ambuja Realty, said.

Neotia has recently launched an affordable housing project at Maheshtala on the southern fringes of the city. The owner of the land, Highland Group, entered into a development management contract with Ambuja to develop two 10-acre land parcels each, signalling consolidation in the industry.

Sushil Mohta, chairman of Merlin Projects, concurred that reputable developers are getting traction. “Weak hands are slowly exiting the market. With a realty regulator in place and strict monitoring by the banks, delivering a large project on time requires a bandwidth which many would not have,” Mohta argued.

Merlin is working on multiple projects, some of which will be launched later this year.

Consumers’ preference to buy into projects nearing completion is encouraging the shift towards big branded players. “Buyers are not willing to book a project which would be delivered in 3-4 years unless they are sure about the credentials of the developer,” Neotia observed.

This would mean that many developers would have to complete the project first to entice buyers, entailing large scale mobilisation of funds. Previously during the boom period, they had the luxury to build using advances from the buyers.

This in turn is impacting fresh supply in the market. “Launches have really come down because builders are really focusing on completing ongoing projects rather than taking up new ones. Since supply has become tight, old inventories are getting sold, which is a good thing,” Jitendra Khaitan, chairman of Pioneer Property Management, said. He has projected better tidings for the industry in a year.

Numbers shared by brokerage firm NK Realtors showed a gradual rise in bookings from August onwards with January being the busiest. “Our performance has so far been better compared with the months leading up to the lockdown. Bookings are happening in all projects, top grade or otherwise. This is a sign of buoyancy,” Biplab Kumar, vice-president of NK Realtors, noted.

While the Calcutta market is on a comeback trail, other cities have bounced back sharply. Sidhha, which has multiple projects in Mumbai and in Calcutta, says pick up is the slowest here compared with other cities.

“Even though we are selling 20 per cent more than pre-Covid levels, it is not yet comparable to other cities like Mumbai. I expect demand coming back stronger post election as many buyers are holding back decisions,” Sanjay Jain, managing director of Siddha, said. It has a portfolio of 3,000 units under construction in six projects across four locations in Calcutta.

With home loan rates at a historic low and prices yet to bottom out, consumers have realised that it could be the opportune time to buy a home, Jain added.