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Housing fair sees huge crowd but low sales

Star Business Report
The number of spot bookings has dropped by more than 40 percent at the four-day REHAB Summer Fair 2012 compared to that in a similar event last year, said organisers of the showyesterday.
They blamed the lacklustre performance on the current poor economic situation in the country and a dearth of gas and electricity supplies to commercial and residential units.
"We received a good number of
visitors every day, but the number of bookings was not up to our expectations. It seems the purchasing capacity of people slipped of late,” said an executive of Amin Mohammad Foundation.
“The recent inflation has left many people facing an acute financial crisis, a major reason for not having interest in buying plots or flats,” he said.
Other participants said the spiralling prices of land and construction materials make apartments costlier than ever.
‘‘Now a 760-square-foot flat costs more than Tk 20 lakh, which is beyond the reach of a middle income person these days. So it's understandable why the spot bookings at the fair went down,” said an executive of Dom-Inno Builders.
However, organisers said the main objective of the fair was achieved, as the participants thronged to gather information regarding their choice homes, and the builders were aware of the popular demands through meeting potential clients at the show.
The organisers admitted though that the turnout was "unusually lower” than the previous years, and blamed the hot weather as a major reason.
The fair participated by 161 realtors and five building materials companies, kicked off on Thursday, and ended on Sunday at the Bangabandhu International Conference Centre in Dhaka.
Real estate developers showcased land and apartment projects in and around Dhaka, Chittagong, Sylhet, Comilla and Cox' s Bazar at the fair.
Real Estate and Housing Association of Bangladesh (REHAB) organised a closing ceremony yesterday at the fair venue, where AB Tajul Islam, state minister for liberation war affairs, spoke as the chief guest.
Sultana Shaheda Islam, acting president, and Murad Iqbal Chowdhury, gen-eral secretary of REHAB, also spoke.