A three-day housing fair organised by REHAB concluded here in the port city on Saturday making a business of Tk 200 crore, with the organisers and participants expecting an additional Tk 100 crore from the intended customers.

"Amid the global financial crisis and immediate after assuming power by a political government, this amount of business is quite satisfactory and a good signal for this sector," said Real Estate and Housing Association of Bangladesh (REHAB) President Tanveerul Haque Probal at the concluding * ceremony yesterday.

"Although the fair was of " a short span, around 13,000 visitors came to the exposition in three days,” he said.

A total of 69 firms, includ ing three financial institutions, from the capital and Chittagong took part in the fair with their plots, ready and under construction projects of apartments.

Visitors said the prices of fiats and plots are yet to come down since the prices of the construction materials are on the decline.

However REHAB president said among the construction materials only the prices of rods declined, but the prices of lands are on an upward trend that pushed the prices to that stage.

"The prices are now stable and almost near to the prices in the previous fair,” he said.

Sanmar Properties Ltd, a real estate firm in

Chittagong, participated in the fair with 16 apartments and two commercial buildings in the port city.

Sizes of its apartments ranged from 940 square feet (sft) to 3.025 sft and cost Tk 3,200 to Tk 7,000 per sft dependingon location.

Sales Executive of the company Mohammad Ayub said they sold six flats and two shops at the fair and the turnover was satisfactory.

“We offered LCD television, laptop, air-conditioner and refrigerator on booking of the fiats, while those who paid the total amount against flats in cash also got Tk 1 lakh discount,” Ayub said.

Amin Mohammad Lands Development Company sold four flats of its two projects in the city's Nasirabad area.

"Demand for flats in Chittagong is very high and we have achieved 80 percent of our target at the fair," said Mohammad Shamim Miah, assistant manager (Marketing) of the company.

Building Technology and Ideas Ltd Assistant Manager (Sales and Marketing) Naziul Islam Shamim said they were quite happy with the turnout.

"We came to the fair with 26 ready projects in the capital and four projects in Chittagong. Two flats in Dhaka and six flats in the port city were sold at the fair. Sizes of our flats in Chittagong range from 1,100 to 1,400 sft with the price tags of Tk 3,500 to Tk 5,500 per sft," Shamim said.

"After comparing the prices of flats and other

related facilities given by the companies I will select the company for buying a flat," said an intended buyer, Mohammad Saiful Islam, a businessman of the city's Agrabad area.

He said: "This is a great opportunity for the buyers from Chittagong to select a suitable location and price from a wide range of offers under one roof at a very short time."

Saiful also stressed keeping the prices affordable for the middle-income people and proper monitoring by the government so that the general people are not cheated.

The participants said main buyers of the plots and flats were expatriates, doctorsand businessmen.