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Realtors demand single-digit interest for home loans

Star Business Report
Realtors yesterday urged the government to provide home loans at a single-digit interest rate as the sector has recently witnessed a drastic slump in sales due to an abnormal rise in the prices of construction materials.
The prices of construction materials have shot up by Tk 547 per square feet compared to last year, said the leaders of Real Estate and Housing Association of Bangladesh at a press conference at the National Press Club in Bangladesh.
They said the sales of apartment went down by 42 percent in January compared to the same month last year as the sector is facing a number of problems.
The problems include an abnormal rise in land price, increase in tax and registration costs, electricity and gas crises, debacle in the stockmarket and the recent liquidity crisis in the banking sector.
“The fate of the developers who invested crores of taka has fallen into uncertainty due to the present downtrend in the economy,” said Sayed Nazrul Biddut, vice president of the association.
It has become hard for many realtors to continue their existing projects, he said.
"We fear many projects and companies will be collapsed if the present trend continues,” said Biddut.
Mohammad Akter Biswas, organising secretary of the association, said: “The collapse of the sector will badly impact the economy and distabilise the society.”
If the real estate sector faces a major jolt, production of at least 267 types of items in different small, medium and big industries associated with real estate will be hampered, he added.
The leaders of the association called upon the government to reintroduce a refinance scheme for the low- and mid-income people.
They demanded that the amount of the refinance scheme be raised to Tk 1,000 crore from Tk 300 crore before and the interest rate should be 9 percent.
The leaders also said the suppliers of construction materials are increasing the prices abnormally through creating a syndicate in absence of a market monitoring system.
They urged the government to monitor the prices of construction materials regularly.
Murad Iqbal Chowdhury, general secretary of the association, also spoke.