Developers see booming real estate sales in 2010

Bangladesh real estate sector has rebounded and is expected to achieve an impressive growth of 15 per cent in 2010 thanks to the government's supportive policy for helping recover the sector even amid global recession. To boost the sluggish business hit by global meltdown and political turmoil, developers have taken a move to set up a common digital market for plots and flats named as Realbazar by this year to attract the potential buyers globally. Tanvireerul Hoq Probal, president of Real Estate and Housing Association of Bangladesh, the apex body of the country's real estate developers, made the forecast immediately after a successful housing fair in New York last week. He said more than 14 thousands Bangladeshi people living in different states of the USA visited the 3-day REHAB housing fair held in New York last week. Developers sold plots and flats worth Taka 156 crore on spot and received order worth Taka 280 crore. `We did not expect such a booming business this year that has overshot our target. Last year, our sales were much lower than our target - only Taka 60 crore hit by global recession,' the REHAB president told the agency. He said that 47 developers took part in the fair this year. The REHAB president said global recession, political turmoil, higher prices of raw materials and irrational marketing activities due to absence of a common market place hit the sector during the last two years and put down its growth rate to nearly 5 per cent in 2009 from 10 per cent in 2006. During the last caretaker government, the real estate sector faced serious difficulties and suffered image problems and investors and buyers scared to buy plots or flats and kept their money in boxes, Probal said. 'But the situation has rebounded and buyers both at home and abroad are showing more interest in buying flats and plots under a democratic environment. If we can keep up this trend, the sector will attain 15 per cent growth next year,' he said. He said the present democratic government has formulated a pro- active policy for developers and a management policy friendly to buyers. Now any buyer can file case against any developer who violates contract. They should not be panicky after buying plots and flats. 'Now we need a common market place where buyers both at home and abroad will find all products in a single location. To solve the problem, the country's first real-time financial information service Dhakabiz.com has developed a digital market place for plots and flats named as RealBazar. We will soon start it', he said. The REHAB executive committee at its last meeting approved the idea of launching a digital market, Probal said. "Realbazar will be an all-time housing fair for Bangladeshi real estate products. Buyers both at home and abroad will be able to buy plots and flats in a single platform. This will push up our sales as well as our growth in 2010', he said. Based on a ground breaking software, the RealBazar will provide update information of real estate projects and facilitate online trading platform to buy or sell plots and flats online. Here buyers from anywhere will be able to buy any plots or flats without the help of middlemen," the REHAB president said.