Real estate sector suffers setback

The latest phase of political violence and non-stop blockade has badly affected the real estate sector. The sector has already incurred loss of around Tk. 792 crore in 22 days and apartment sales have dropped to the lowest point this month, said at a press conference organised by REHAB.

Many construction works are on hold as the realtors cannot transport raw materials to construction sites due to blockade. Delay in construction causes rise in overhead cost and apartments get pricier. Amid this uncertainty, investment is also going down in this field. Many realtors cannot even realise the installment money from customers.

As a whole, the sector has been going through a slump in sales in the last couple of years. The high interest rate of home loan and exorbitant rise in apartment prices between 2011 and 2012 are major reasons behind this slump. The current political stalemate is only exacerbating the situation and pushing this sector to the edge.

The real estate sector contributes 7% to our GDP. It creates one lakh direct and 35 lakh indirect employments as 200 linkage industries are affiliated with it. The government should seriously consider realtors' demand for arrangement of low-cost housing loans and loan rescheduling facility to revamp it. And the two major political parties should restrain from hurting the economy further and find peaceful way out of the current impasse.