Housing fair on Dec 23 after two-year hiatus

The REHAB Fair 2021, a five-day event where members of the Real Estate and Housing Association of Bangladesh (REHAB) will showcase their housing solutions, is all set to begin on December 23 after a two-year hiatus.

The fair, to be held at the Bangabandhu International Conference Center in Agargaon, will feature 220 stalls with building material suppliers and financial institutions also taking part, according to REHAB.

"Since the fair hasn't been held in two years, we hope this edition will be good," Md Abdur Rashid Babu, head of media and communications of REHAB, told The Daily Star yesterday.

"This is the biggest fair for the real estate sector and its main purpose is to promote our brands," he said.

Babu went on to say that the price of many construction materials, including rod and cement, have gone up and so, the price of flats will increase in the near future as well.

"But in this fair, buyers can actually check and choose a lot before buying a flat and that's why many people will come with interest," he added.

Commerce Minister Tipu Munshi is scheduled to participate in the inaugural ceremony as chief guest.

Like every year, visitors who attend the fair will have the chance to win attractive prizes from a raffle draw with their entry tickets.

REHAB first started hosting the fair back in 2001 and has since handed over more than 2.25 lakh apartments from the annual event.

Earlier this year, most ready-for-occupant flats in Dhaka, the key market for real estate, were sold out.

This is because demand soared after the government provided amnesty for the use of undisclosed income to purchase land, apartments and other property upon paying a certain amount of tax based on the property's size and location.

With a current membership of 1,191 companies, REHAB is the only trade organisation of real estate developers in the country.

Growth in the real estate industry has also triggered development in related sectors, such as cement, ceramics, steel, paint, and so on.

As a part of its efforts to foster growth in the local real estate industry, REHAB organises housing fairs abroad as well so that Bangladeshis living in countries like the US, UK, Canada Australia, Canada, Italy and UAE can also buy a house in their home country.