It's right time to buy real estate: Lamudi
Now might be the right time to buy real estate in Dhaka after home prices fell 20-30 percent in the last four years because of stagnant demand, said Anne Maria Hermans, managing director of Lamudi Bangladesh.
“With four years of stagnant demand for houses, the time to buy property in Bangladesh is now,” she said.
Hermans made the observations while presenting a report titled “The State of Real Estate in Bangladesh 2017” at a programme at a hotel in Dhaka.
The once thriving real estate sector of Bangladesh has been in a very tight position since 2012. Political instability, limited bank loans, a bearish stock market, and lack of adequate gas and electricity supply were the main factors behind the moribund situation, according to the study.
The sector started making a turnaround at the beginning of 2016 when normalcy returned to the political landscape and interest rates dropped, bolstering consumer confidence.
The number of unsold flats was 10,000 in early 2016, down from 12,185 in 2014, according to the Real Estate and Housing Association of Bangladesh.
“Next exciting steps to take as well as huge possibilities for the real estate industry are the development of Dhaka East,” said Hermans.
During a recent conference of the World Bank, the importance of planned development of Dhaka East was also stressed.
According to Lamudi, currently the most popular area in Dhaka is Uttara, with the number of inquiries reaching an all-time high in 2016.
FR Khan, managing director of the Building Technology and Ideas Ltd, a noted real estate company, said only genuine, interested and skillful developers weathered the 2012 and 2014 asset price bubble.
“These genuine developers take their job seriously and don't hanker after short-term gains,” he said, adding that the real estate market will gain momentum soon.
Hermans also said the plan to build a seaport in Payra could be one of the most promising things for the real estate industry, creating a new consumer market for development and possibly a booming new city.
The study report said the rising demand for housing would continue climbing upward as people migrate from rural to urban areas.
According to the report, the government has taken steps in recent years to provide a boost to the real estate sector by reducing the withholding tax rates and increasing compensation rates for land acquired by the government to three times the original price.
There has also been a reduction in the country's home loan rate, from 14 percent to 9 percent, enhancing affordability, it said.
With a wealth of data on its website, lamudi.com.bd, part of a Germany-based online real estate platform, plans to support the sector in matching supply and demand.
“Developers can use this information to better plan new developments or strategically choose areas for future projects.”
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