Mkt share of top 15 developers doubled in last 5 yrs: Godrej Properties CEO

Gaurav Pandey said this budget has been quite exciting for not just real estate, but for the economy in general. He welcomed the 25 basis points reduction in repo rate by the Reserve Bank of India

Realty firm Godrej Properties Ltd CEO Gaurav Pandey on Tuesday highlighted that the market share of the top 15 developers has doubled in the last five years to nearly 20 per cent and expects further demand consolidation towards big branded builders in the coming years.

Addressing a FICCI real estate conference here, he said the housing sector is not an easy sector to operate in.

"At a very pan-India level, we are also noticing one more trend that corporate developers and top 15 developers are increasing market share. So, in the last five years, the market share has doubled for them and currently stands at about 19 per cent.

"I think this will increase, especially three years from today, when maybe the market might slow down because demand aggregation happens whenever there's some sort of market slowdown," Pandey said.

He highlighted that the last calendar year was very exciting for the residential segment of the Indian real estate sector.

"In 2024, the residential real estate in India did about 1 billion square feet of demand, which is the highest ever till now. So, I think 1 billion square feet is something which I had never imagined when I started my career in the residential sector. And to see that happening in the primary market alone is quite astounding," Pandey said.

In value terms, he said this is like close to about Rs 8.5 lakh crore of sales. About 75 per cent of this is largely in the top five cities of India, which is essentially Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR), Delhi-NCR, Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Pune.

Pandey said this budget has been quite exciting for not just real estate, but for the economy in general.

"The entire element of the tax cut the government has done, I think it's very, very radical. This will definitely give a huge boost to consumption demand. And from consumption demand, you will have a trickle-down impact on many more sectors. And residential is finally a beneficiary because if people feel more confident about their jobs and economies, then they take a 20-year loan to buy a property," he said.

Pandey welcomed the 25 basis points reduction in repo rate by the Reserve Bank of India.

"If the inflation is in check, we could be in for a good surprise. There's a good probability between 50 basis points and about 75 basis points; we could see further cuts. And if that happens, try and imagine what it does to the private capex cycle, not necessarily just home loans," he said.

Raj Menda, Chairman of the Supervisory Board at RMZ Corporation, said the Indian office market is on a strong growth trajectory, set for a robust 2025 following record-breaking demand in recent years.

Further, he said, "2024 was a milestone year, marking unprecedented absorption levels and a shift towards an occupier-driven market. This momentum is expected to continue, with gross leasing projected at 65-70 million sq.ft. in 2025.