The Real State of Real-Estate
*AKM Zabed of Anwar Group of Industries weighs in
Tell us about your role in Anwar Landmark?
As the chief marketing officer of Anwar Group of Industries, I look after the sales and marketing of Anwar Landmark strategically. My role here is more strategic than operational. We have an Executive Director who is responsible for executing and looking after the operations.
According to you, what is the current situation of the real estate sector and what are their trends?
A little while back, I used to lead BTI as CMO. After the share market crashed, the real estate industry had been in a dire situation. Recently, it has turned around, the for the last couple of years has been getting better. I believe, this year it will really take off like it used to be in around 2010. Response in the last REHAB fair was amazing, we are confident that the upcoming ones will be great. Therefore, the market appears to be turning around. Around 100,000 crores Tk has already been invested in this industry. This industry has a number of stakeholders. As you know, that our country is being elevated from LDCs list to a developing one, the potential is huge. Only 34% of people of our country owns a second home, so the rest 64% will be looking for a second home in the near future. I would say, the real estate industry has reached only 1/3rd of it’s potential, rest is left to be explored. This is a very operation intensive business, but it’s great in terms of ROI. Currently, there are more than 1800 companies operating under REHAB. There are at least 1500 more companies which are running their operations without being enlisted in REHAB. So, you can reckon the amount of interest the industry draws.
Recently, the trend in the industry has changed quite a lot. In the past, clients were not very interested in the design and craftsmanship of the projects. Now, they have certain expectations regarding the position, design and sometimes who is behind the design, they usually prefer big-name designers. People have become more environment-conscious, they want a greener environment, and facilities such as rainwater harvesting, natural light usage etc. Expectations of the consumers have become standardized, and the industry is trying to keep up with it. Even though we use big-name designers for our projects, our client’s choice is always on the first priority. Our sales team is very adept at understanding what our clients want, and we design our projects from the ground up according to the customer needs.
The current market is now full of young buyers as opposed to retirees in the past, why do you think that is?
It is actually an inheritance issue. When the asset is being divided among the siblings according to the existing law, space becomes inadequate. Therefore, we had no other choice but to live in separate flats. So, as generations pass, a number of separate living spaces required increases. Second reason is financial, nowadays it’s possible for young executives to get home loans, which they can pay off by the time they retire, this is another reason young client base is increasing by such large numbers.
On the subject of finance, what kind of financial policy support does the industry expect?
First of all, housing is a basic need. Considering that, basic raw materials should at least enjoy duty-free access if not with a subsidy. Materials such as cement and steels should enjoy minimum duty while entering the country. Secondly, there is a restriction on the amount of money homeowners can borrow from the bank. The amount is restricted to a maximum 70% of the total value of the flat. I think, government should offer some leniency and raise that amount to 90%. Also, the interest rate on the loan must be within single digit.
How has the change in lifestyle influenced taste of the clients?
Nowadays people have become busier. They do not have time to oversee construction of their own house. Therefore, they depend on real estate companies to build their home.. Moreover, maintaining the house is not easy as well, there are countless little things that are required to be taken care of. City lifestyle does not allow that time to anyone, that has opened door for real estate developers to meet the demand and make a living out of it.
What is your take on the sharp increase in number of luxury apartments, in areas previously known as affordable to live?
With growing affordability, aspiration of the consumers is also rising. Actually, the demand for better products has pushed developers to provide more luxurious living spaces. There was a time, we could not imagine a flat costing 35000tk/square feet. Now, 10-15% of our clients are from this segment. So, the radius is increasing, places like Mirpur now havs top tier apartments which were limited to a few zones in the past.
“Expansion of Dhaka city has facilitated developers to invest more money in areas previously considered unattractive. More supply and competition will ensure consumers get the best deal for their money.” – AKM Zabed, Chief Marketing Officer, Anwar Group of Industries
How does the middle-income segment stand to benefit from this expanding demography?
In the past, supply of quality apartments used to be limited. Clients had very few options, as they were available in few selected areas of Dhaka. Now, there are more choices available. Expansion of Dhaka city has facilitated developers to invest more money in areas previously considered unattractive. More supply and competition will ensure consumers get the best deal for their money.
We are hearing more and more about smart homes, with that in mind, how different will be the real estate scene five years down the line?
My first experience with smart home was when I was studying in the U.S. DLF has started building smart homes in India. Right now, no brand in our country is providing smart homes. We have a luxury project on the list, which will include smart features like face detection and smart sensors. It will also include centralized thermal control.
Do you think this will be a viable product in your market within the next five years?
Yes, of course! People are more tech savvy now. We are already using sensor-based products in our toilets and kitchen. Within the next five years, we will see a rise in demand for smart homes.
Recently, you have unveiled 8 new projects. Can you please give us an overview?
We are one of the industry leaders. We have projects in Dhanmondi, Gulshan, Banani, Bashundhara, Uttara to name a few. So, we are pretty much spread across the city. Our customer segment is also very spread out. We have projects for all three segments, from high end to economical. We try to give customers best value for their investment.
Safety of the new apartments have been an area of discussion recently, how much of the finished product depends on the structure of the building?
We are the only company in the market who is focusing on the green buildings. You will find a lot of greenery in our designs, both exterior and interior. We are providing rainwater harvesting facilities and designs that saves more electricity through using day light. Not only designs, we also maintain the quality of the materials. We have the luxury to use our own products such as Anwar Cement, Anwar Ispat, A1 polymer and galvanizing. Our cement uses the highest percentage of clinker which makes it the strongest and safest in the market. I can assure you our steel quality is the best in the market now. Regarding polymer, A1 polymer is the safest in the market, it ensures no toxic chemicals get diluted in the water from the pipe which in some cases causes cancer. By using the best products available, we are making sure our buildings are the safest.
How do you provide integrated services to your clients?
Our products are very reliable and well reputed in the market. Our partners ask for them by themselves. Not only materials, if they require home loans, we can refer them to BD Finance. We can even provide furniture from Athena Furniture. If a client needs to buy a car, we have our own automobiles division having the brands like Ford, Peugeot & Volvo . If a client requires, we can recommend him/her to our attaché banks like The City Bank or Modhumoti Bank Limited. I believe, we are the only company that can provide such wide range of services to our clients.
