Housing Real Estate Sector in Bangladesh:
The real estate sector is the growth center for the development of an economy. Bangladesh, being one of the most densely populated nations in the world, has been experiencing severe housing shortages for its citizens. Although the majority of the population is segmented into middle and low-income groups, still housing for all has been a fallacy in Bangladesh. The private sector housing real estate developers have met a small proportion of the national housing demand in the last more than twenty years. The gap between demand and supply is still joy-wide.
Despite inadequate policy preparations, these real estate developers have been successfully making business although the middle and the low-income households are still untapped. With the larger proportion of people living in this income group, the private housing real estate sector has a huge scope to grow in this country. The positive notion is supported by many key indicators such as increasing house rent, inadequate and costly land, easier financing availability, and more.
To pave the way for the organic development of the industry, the problem of long-existent inadequate financing availability at a lower burden of terms and costs must have to be removed immediately, and a wider scope has to be created for Non-Resident Bangladeshis. With many other issues, this study attempts to identify the current status of private housing real estate in Bangladesh, presents deeper insights into the critical factors for increasing its coverage, and thus finally recommends some immediate policy measures.
The real estate sector is one of the fastest growing and thrusting sectors in Bangladesh. Infrastructural development is highly important for a country to rise as a developed nation and to ensure housing facilities for the citizens of the country. But in spite of compared to the importance of this sector, there have been studies that are far below the required number on the real estate sector and its accessibility to financing. Islam M. S. and Hossain A. (2008) conducted an extensive study on the depth of the housing industry with focus on the supply chain, and Sarker M. M. R. and Siddiquee (2008) conducted another similar study on the real estate sector.
Sarker M. M. R. and Siddiquee (2008) focused on the availability of and accessibility to financing for the stakeholders of this sector and concluded with some important policy recommendations. Due to fewer studies on this sector, it is necessary to have extensive studies to find out the future potentiality, problems, and solutions of the real estate sector and the availability of financing in this respect. This study is exploratory in nature and may work as the basis of knowing the present scenario and indicating any future study.
The objective of the study is to find out the current condition, growth, market structure, financing condition, and future potentiality of the real estate sector in Bangladesh. The study also aims to identify policy measures that should be addressed immediately to ensure the organic growth of private housing real estate in Bangladesh.
Exploratory research has been conducted in preparing this paper. A pure basic research approach has been used along with this where theoretical and practical studies have been incorporated. Data have been collected through face-to-face and telephone interviews. The questionnaire has been used in gathering primary information from real estate participants. Information has been used from different secondary sources, Newspapers, annual reports, online and printed articles, journals, and previous research papers on the real estate sector.
Opinions have been collected from experts and participants in the real estate sector, which have been very useful in analyzing the data and information and reaching a conclusion. Numerical data have been analyzed and interpreted with concentration and relation to the main issue. Data and information collected from different sources were compared critically and there was no mismatching. Theoretical analysis along with numerical evidence has been used to substantiate the findings of the study. The analysis has been presented first and then findings have been drawn.