Chairman of the REHAB Chittagong region Abdul Kauiam Chowdhury speaks at the closing ceremony of a four-day housing fair in the port city on Sunday. CHITTAGONG, Feb 12: The four-day housing fair in the port city, organised by REHAB Chittagong region, saw a record Tk 3.63 billion worth of spot orders for flats.
A huge number of visitors, the middle-income group in particular, thronged the fair in search of their dream houses, as the realtors came up with lucrative offers for the fair that ended on Sunday.
The main attractions were 10 per cent discount on the instant orders, loan facilities from the banks and financial institutions and comparatively affordable flats for limited-income group. These offers will remain valid for seven more days from today (Monday).
The organisers of the fair held under the banner of Real Estate and Housing Association of Bangladesh (REHAB), Chittagong region, said they set a target to receive orders worth Tk 5.0 billion (Tk 500 crore) from the fair this year. So, they have extended the time for the special offers and discounts for seven more days.
The closing session of the fair will take place at the fair venue on February 15.
Organisers are impressed at the turnover of the fair and enthusiasm shown by the buyers.
They observed that the sales are very good this year compared to the previous fairs. This year marks the turnaround in the real estate business.
A number of visitors told the FE on Sunday evening that the offers on purchase of flats are better and the banks will provide loans. They are responding well to the offers this year.
Some of them have already placed orders for medium-sized flats.
Many of them said they are thinking positively and after consultation with other members in the family, they would like to contact the developers and place orders after further negotiations within this week.
A visitor from Agrabad area said his monthly income is limited and he has a family of four members. He is looking for a small ready flat in the city.
He has visited different stalls in the fair to grab an opportunity of having a flat this year.
Senior Manager (sales) of Sanmar Properties Md Ayub said a greater number of middle-income and lower middle-income people have visited the fair and many of them have shown interest in buying flats.
"Considering the demands from the low-income and middle-income people, we have offered flats of 500 square feet this year. And the response is positive," he said.
Apart from the housing companies, different banks and financial institutions also took part in the fair. As the non-performing loans (NPL) of many banks have grown unusually and some incidents of loan scams took place, the banks are cautiously moving towards funding the real estate sector and individual home loans, a banker said.
Speaking at the end of the fair on Sunday, Chairman of the REHAB Chittagong region Abdul Kauiam Chowdhury urged the government to allow investment of undeclared money to boost the real estate sector.
The fair was held at the Radisson Blu Chittagong Bay View from February 8 to February 11.
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