Housing fair abuzz with visitors, small-ready flats in higher demand

The ongoing four-day housing fair that the Real Estate and Housing Association of Bangladesh started on Wednesday at the Bangabandhu International Conference Centre in the capital saw an increased number of visitors on Friday, the weekly holiday, compared to the previous two days.

Opened at 10am, the fair became full of visitors in the afternoon. People were seen strolling from one stall to another in search of their desired flats or plots from thousands of options. Many also booked flats at the fair.

Middle-aged Monir Ahmed and his wife, who have been living in Dhaka for long, came to the fair to buy a medium-sized flat. "We came here as we now want our own flat. We are looking for a ready flat in the Aftabnagar area within Tk1 crore," Monir told The Business Standard.

"Construction companies cannot be trusted much now which is why we are not interested in under-development flats," he added.

Tamannaah Haque, who was looking for a 1,100-square-foot flat in the Banasree area, said hundreds of stalls are there. "I came here to choose a flat within Tk75 lakh. I don't know if I will get my one as the offered flat prices are so high."

Meanwhile, participating developers were happy to see the crowds of visitors. They offered various discounts and gifts to attract customers.

Talking to The Business Standard, they said people this time are more interested, particularly in small-sized and ready flats.

"Although we have all types of flats, most inquiries we have had are about the small and medium-sized flats," said AKM Rafiul Islam, senior assistant general manager of Sheltech Limited.

"Also, there is a high demand for ready flats even if they are a bit costlier," he told TBS.

"Generally, small flats are 1,000-1,300 square feet in size and the medium ones are between 1300 to 1600 square feet. One of the key reasons behind the demand for these flats is their lower prices, ranging from Tk1-2.5 crore," said Afzal Hossain, executive officer of Concord Real Estate.

The prices, however, vary depending on locations and other facilities, he noted and further added people this time are looking for studio flats – also known as single-room flats – as well.

"Due to huge demand, we have developed an entire project at Khilkhet with only studio apartments. All 120 apartments there were sold within a short time. Even if the buyers show interest in the fair, we are unable to offer them such apartments," he told The Business Standard.

Rangs Properties Head of sales Akhtar Hossen echoed the same and said "we recently developed 32 studio apartments and those were sold before the completion."

Several other housing companies said they will come up with new projects of studio flats in future as they have realised the growing demand for that once again in the fair.

Real Estate and Housing Association of Bangladesh Vice President Kamal Mahmud said housing sector companies have brought all types of flats and they are comparatively cheaper this time.

"Those who want to buy flats should buy now because flats may not be available at these prices in future."

The four-day fair with 181 stalls is scheduled to end today. Visitors will be allowed to enter the fair between 10am and 2pm.