Lenders join realtors for winter sales

More than a dozen lenders are taking part in a winter edition of REHAB Fair that kicked off in the capital on Tuesday, eyeing to woo home loan borrowers through different offers. 

Most of the nine banks and four non-bank financial institutions (NBFI) are offering interest rates of 10 to 11 percent, saying that they see bright prospects of home loans due to the products posing little to no risk.

Customers dreaming of becoming owners of flats or plots find the presence of the lenders at the housing fair to be very convenient.

The Real Estate and Housing Association of Bangladesh (REHAB) is organising the five-day fair at Bangabandhu International Conference Center in the city’s Sher-e-Bangla Nagar area.

Talking to The Daily Star, Jafor Syed Ahmed, senior business development officer at Standard Chartered Bank (SCB), said the bank provides home loans in five categories ranging from the need to purchase flats to carrying out renovations.

According to him, the banks are very flexible when it comes to providing home loans to customers as it poses little to no risk and instances of those being defaulted were very rare.

“Our bank gives priority to doctors and those who have a salary account with the SCB for providing home loans,” he said, adding, “Customers can avail up to 85 percent of the total value of the apartment as loan.”

Ahmed said physicians and salary account holders would get loans at a 9.99 percent interest rate while other customers at 11 percent. There is an additional loan processing fee of 0.50 percent.

The bank provides a maximum of Tk 2 crore and the repayment tenure ranges from three to 25 years, he said.

Any Bangladeshi having a stable income, such as individuals getting salaries, businesspeople and professionals including engineers, bankers, lawyers and service holders, are eligible for the home loans, he said.

IPDC Finance is offering 85 percent of the value of properties or flats alongside the registration fee as loan. People within 65 years of age can apply for the loans, which, for residential flats, come with a 20-year tenure.

Md Sirajus Saleken, head of mortgage, said they have their own lawyer and instant verification team to assess loan applications.

According to him, the IPDC recently introduced an offer through which customers can make early settlements of 20 percent of the principal amount every year and no money would be charged, including interest, on this amount.

“This new idea will reduce the burden on promising customers,” he said, adding, “We bring down processing fees for customers of reputed developers.”

The IPDC managed to grab a hold of 12 customers on the fair’s second day after developers brought them over to their stall.

Bank Asia is also offering five categories of home loans with interest rates of 10 to 12 percent, depending on the customer.

Brac Bank, IFIC Bank, Dutch-Bangla Bank, Mutual Trust Bank, Prime Bank, Eastern Bank, Delta Brac Housing Finance Corporation, IDLC Finance and LankaBangla Finance are offering nearly the same facilities for customers.

Mohammad Nazrul Islam, senior manager (sales and marketing) at the Concord Real Estate and Building Products, said they have memorandums of understanding with some lenders to provide loans instantly at low rates.

According to him, mid-range flats sized around 1,500 to 2,000 square feet were in high demand, coming at a price ranging from Tk 80 lakh to Tk 1.5 crore.He said Concord offers flats charging Tk 4,500 to Tk 35,000 per square foot depending on the location.

Md Sirajus Saleken, head of mortgage, said they have their own lawyer and instant verification team to assess loan applications.

According to him, the IPDC recently introduced an offer through which customers can make early settlements of 20 percent of the principal amount every year and no money would be charged, including interest, on this amount.

“This new idea will reduce the burden on promising customers,” he said, adding, “We bring down processing fees for customers of reputed developers.”

The IPDC managed to grab a hold of 12 customers on the fair’s second day after developers brought them over to their stall.

Bank Asia is also offering five categories of home loans with interest rates of 10 to 12 percent, depending on the customer.

Brac Bank, IFIC Bank, Dutch-Bangla Bank, Mutual Trust Bank, Prime Bank, Eastern Bank, Delta Brac Housing Finance Corporation, IDLC Finance and LankaBangla Finance are offering nearly the same facilities for customers.

Mohammad Nazrul Islam, senior manager (sales and marketing) at the Concord Real Estate and Building Products, said they have memorandums of understanding with some lenders to provide loans instantly at low rates.

According to him, mid-range flats sized around 1,500 to 2,000 square feet were in high demand, coming at a price ranging from Tk 80 lakh to Tk 1.5 crore. He said Concord offers flats charging Tk 4,500 to Tk 35,000 per square foot depending on the location.