Pune property registrations in August 2024 mostly flat even as stamp duty collections jump

While stamp duty collections increased significantly, registrations were flat in August both annually and sequentially

Property registrations in Pune for August 2024 remained largely flat, both annually and month-on-month, although stamp duty collections from registrations showed a 40 percent jump annually and a 14 percent increase over July.

Real estate analysts said that the trends indicated a continued shift in homebuyers' preferences as well as an increase in prices in the major micro-markets of the city.

According to data from Maharashtra Inspector General of Registration, accessed by Knight Frank, homes priced between Rs 50 lakh and Rs 1 crore accounted for the largest share of registrations in August.

Data showed that 13,397 registrations were inked in August, compared to 13,021 in the corresponding month in 2023, and 13,731 registrations in July 2024. July and August are typically slower months for property registrations in the market, largely owing to the monsoons.

From the registrations in August, the government collected Rs 592 crore in stamp duty, significantly higher than the Rs 492 crore for August 2023. In July 2024, the same was at Rs 521 crore.

"While there has been an increase in land transactions, property prices have also risen in Pune this year. Across all micro-markets, prices have increased by about 10 percent this year, which may also have caused stamp duty collections to increase. Homebuyers are still preferring 2 and 3 BHKs for purchases, while there has been a slight increase in the number of high-value transactions for larger homes, too," said Vineet Goyal, joint managing director of Kohinoor group, a Pune-based developer.

Observers said that the data indicates a dominance of core markets in the city, rather than the peripheries, despite some far-flung suburbs of the city being the scene of frantic business development and launch activity.

The data gathered by Knight Frank showed that the central suburbs in Pune, comprising the Pune civic area, as well as parts of the satellite city of Pimpri-Chinchwad, were responsible for 80 percent of the registrations, followed by the western markets, with southern and eastern markets far behind.

As has been the case for the market for most of the past two years since the easing of the pandemic, larger homes are cornering a bigger share of the market in Pune.

Data showed that 62 percent of all property registrations in August were 500 to 1,000 sq ft in size, while those under 500 sq ft formed just 22 percent of registrations for the month.