On 14 September, Lamudi.com.bd, one of the leading online real estate platforms in Bangladesh, held a press conference in which they presented their 2017 Market Research. In the presentation, Managing Director Anne Hermans discussed various economic trends, possibilities for the real estate sector and the outlook for 2017/2018.

‘The time to buy property in Bangladesh is now’, said Hermans during the presentation of a large-scale market research done by Lamudi.

Political instability, limited bank loans, a bearish stock market, and lack of adequate gas and electricity supply were the main causes of the difficult position in the real-estate industry in 2012, and created a second dip in 2014. When characterising the current state of affairs, Hermans shared her experiences with experts, mortgage lenders, and property seekers as well as from data gathered by Lamudi.com.bd.

‘It has been for a long time now...I would say that it’s a buyers’ market’.

Low interest rates and supportive government policies have resulted in an unprecedented access to mortgages. This has coincided with four years of stagnant demand for houses. After the first bubble, the real estate industry has been battling a bad reputation, and has seen a lot of developers closing their doors. The companies that currently offer products have survived four difficult years, and are very willing to sell. With housing prices dropping in some areas with over 30%, house buyers can be assured they get value for money.

This view is supported by special guest and contributor to the research, Engr. F.R. Khan, Managing Director BTI.

‘As a result of the 2012 and 2014 asset price bubbles, only genuine, interested and skilful developers are left in the market, who take their job seriously and are not in it for the short gain.’

Also on the longer term he sees excellent prospects.

‘We have a vision for 2021, if we keep that in mind, everyone will move in the same direction, and we will gain momentum. The roadmap is already there.’

Growth

Bangladesh is Asia’s second fastest growing economy, with recent GDP growth exceeding 7 per cent. Strong growth in the industrial and service sectors (11.09% and 6.25% growth respectively) helped to sustain this outstanding national economic performance. At this pace, 2 million Bangladeshis join the ranks of middle-class and affluent consumers every year.

Foreign investment

She highlighted the historical growth of foreign investment in 2015, reaching a US$2 billion mark for the first time ever. Now, with China investing a total of 24.45 billion US$, there is a new horizon ahead for Bangladesh. The plans to build a seaport in Payra could be one of the most promising for the real estate industry, creating a new consumer market for development, and possibly a booming new city.

Rapid urbanisation

The rapid urbanisation in Bangladesh emphasizes this. Dhaka is expected to have 35 million citizens by 2035, and is in need for secondary cities to take on some of the pressure to develop. From data of Lamudi.com.bd it is shown that cities like Chittagong, Sylhet, Rajshahi, Comilla, Mymensingh, and Khulna are emerging, however a new harbor city like Payra could really be a gamechanger.

Within all these areas, especially development of affordable housing is the key. The National Housing Authority (NHA) supports that need in Dhaka, with their latest 11 multi-storey building project for residential accommodation in Mirpur. Also with the ongoing development of Purbachal City, the government tries hard to address the growing population of the city.

Next exciting steps to take, as well as huge possibilities for the real estate industry, are the development of Dhaka East. In a recent conference of the World Bank, the importance of planned development of Dhaka East was stressed, currently a wealth of space for the city to grow.

The rise of E-commerce

Hermans said the real estate industry needs consumer trust to come back, and that online market places can facilitate in returning that confidence. With over 250 e-commerce websites and 2,800 Facebook pages selling products and services, the e-commerce sector is growing steadily, at a rate of 10%. Lamudi.com.bd is at the forefront of this movement, and is part of the growing group of companies that is disrupting traditional ways of conducting business, enabling people to save time and money when making life-changing decisions, such as buying a house.

‘Finding the right property can be one of the most difficult things to do in a city like Dhaka. Using an online marketplace like lamudi.com.bd can speed up the process of finding a good match, by comparison, a wealth of information and a good overview of the current market offer.’

By enhancing the use of information, Lamudi is in good company. Other behemoths of the online world owe their success largely to their innovative use of data analytics to boost performance and customer service.

Activating the data flow

With a wealth of data on their website, Lamudi.com.bd plans to support the sector in matching supply and demand. ‘Developers can use this information to better plan new developments, or strategically choose areas for future projects. According to data from Lamudi.com.bd, currently the most popular area in Dhaka is Uttara, with the number of inquiries taking an all-time high at the end of 2016. Further she elaborated on the stabilisation of prices for property in many different areas like Dhanmondi, Banani and Bashundara for the last 3 quarters, indication a new equilibrium in the industry.

‘The time to buy property in Bangladesh is now. Finding the right property can be one of the most difficult things to do in a city like Dhaka. Using an online marketplace like lamudi.com.bd can speed up the process of finding a good match, by comparison, a wealth of information and a good overview of the current market offer.’

By enhancing the use of information, Lamudi is in good company. Other behemoths of the online world owe their success largely to their innovative use of data analytics to boost performance and customer service.