Knight Frank India (KFI) analysis of data from the Directorate of Registrations and Stamps Revenue, Government of West Bengal showed the Kolkata Metropolitan Area (KMA) recorded 3,052 residential property registrations in January 2026, a fall of 41 per cent year-on-year and down 45 per cent month-on-month. The slowdown reflected a seasonal moderation typically observed in January following the year-end surge in December. The figures covered transactions across both primary and secondary residential apartment markets and were drawn from documents registered with flat sizes captured at the time of registration.

A breakdown by size showed apartments sized between 501 and 1,000 sq ft accounted for 59 per cent of transactions in January 2026, up from 44 per cent a year earlier. Units below 500 sq ft declined to 30 per cent, indicating a shift towards mid-sized homes. Overall, homes above 500 sq ft contributed nearly 70 per cent of total registrations in the month, underscoring demand for larger living spaces.

The South Zone gained momentum with a 43 per cent share of city registrations while the North Zone held 33 per cent, together contributing around 75 per cent of the city's apartment registrations. Behala, Kasba, Sonarpur and Thakurpukur recorded large volumes and several peripheral locations catered to affordable and mid-segment products. The top 10 locations together accounted for 1,432 registrations, representing 47 per cent of the month's apartment registration volume, with Thakurpukur, Sonarpur and Behala among the highest contributors.

KFI indicated that the sequential contraction in January represented a normalisation after the year-end surge rather than a structural weakening of market fundamentals. Analysts noted that short-term factors had paused decision-making and that registrations were likely to stabilise as project pipelines gathered pace and deferred transactions were executed. The research firm expected registration activity to gradually regain momentum in the months ahead as deferred demand materialised.