Affordable but Unsold: Inventory Overhang in Private Housing Projects in Kolkata Metropolitan Area, India

Kolkata’s housing market presents a paradox: large volumes of unsold housing units coexist with acute housing shortages. This study investigates 259 privately developed housing projects with affordable housing units, benchmarking them against government-led schemes that achieved complete absorption under central and state interventions like PMAY-U and state Housing Board initiatives. Using regression analysis of unit price, price per square foot, and unit size, no significant predictors of unsold inventory were identified (p > 0.1; R² < 0.08). A field survey of 32 projects confirmed unsold housing inventory shares ranging from 3.1% to 22.2% in privately developed housing complexes in Kolkata Metropolitan Area. These findings establish that unsold inventory is concentrated in privately developed affordable housing and is not explained by conventional financial indicators. This calls for further investigation into other housing-related factors that may influence sales outcomes in the Kolkata Metropolitan Area.