New Delhi, May 24 (IANS): The overall housing sales share of the top eight listed realty players has surged amid the pandemic.

As per latest Anarock data, out of the total sales of around 93,140 units in the first nine months of FY2021 across the top seven cities, the top eight listed players' share stood at 22 per cent while non-listed leading players' share was 18 per cent. Non-branded developers accounted for a 60 per cent share.

In contrast, of the total 2.03 lakh units sold in top seven cities in FY2017, the share of these top eight listed players was the lowest at about 6 per cent while that of non-listed leading players stood at 11 per cent and others (non-branded) had a whopping 83 per cent share.

The increased share of these top eight listed players over the years provides a clear roadmap of home buyers' evolving preferences.

The top eight listed developers considered are Brigade Enterprises, Godrej Properties, Kolte-Patil, Mahindra Lifespaces, Oberoi Realty, Prestige Estates, Puravankara, and Sobha.

The top listed players together sold as much as 21.23 million square feet area in the first three quarters of financial year 2021 despite the first wave of COVID-19, rising by 2 per cent against the corresponding period in FY2020, when 20.88 million square feet were sold.

Among the listed players, Godrej Properties sold the maximum in terms of area (around 6.64 million square feet) in this period, followed by Bengaluru-based Prestige Estates with around 5.04 million square feet space.

Anuj Puri, Chairman of Anarock Property Consultants said: "After the roll-out of structural policies including RERA and GST, organized and branded players' dominance has risen exponentially. Homebuyer demand has tilted towards branded products. Both listed and leading developers have been catering to this new demand with projects for the affordable and mid-income segments, rather than playing only to the luxury homes gallery."

This demand-supply equilibrium has helped keep sales momentum going during the pandemic, when housing demand rose significantly, he said.

"The top eight listed players' sales share increased to 22 per cent from April to December 2020 - a major increase from 6 per cent in FY 2017. Even non-listed leading developers have ramped up their share from 11 per cent in FY 2017 to 18 per cent now. It is a major and ongoing realignment in residential real estate demand and supply," Puri said.