How the recent earthquake in Bangladesh has shaped real estate buyer’s buying behavior: a case study on buyer behavior at SpaceBiz Holdings

Abstract

During this internship report, I analyzed the effect of the recent earthquakes in Bangladesh on the purchasing habit of the real estate consumers, with special emphasis on the real estate consumers who were affiliated with SpaceBiz Holdings. I personally witnessed the shift to a more cautious level of the clients, with more questions about the safety and structural integrity, the interest in the structure strength and building compliance during my internship in the Sales Department. This observation made me engage in a systematic research study in order to know whether the earthquakes had really changed the priorities of buyers. In order to explore this, I gathered primary data consisting of 82 possible apartment buyers in Dhaka through an online survey. I compared the preferences of buyers prior to the recent earthquakes and afterwards. The results of my finding are clear that there has been a change of purchase priorities. Price was the most significant to the majority of the buyers prior to the earthquakes. But with the earthquakes, the issue of structural safety was among the best concerns. The buyers have noted that they have now attached more weight to reinforced construction, soil testing and the Bangladesh National Building Code (BNBC). Meanwhile, I discovered something quite significant: despite buyers declaring now safety to become their priority, they remain very price sensitive. Most purchasers are tough negotiators who do not settle on a purchase decision without price comparisons. This indicates an attitude-behavior gap. In a plain sense, buyers are highly concerned about safety yet they end up making the purchase decision based on affordability and budget constraints. Financial constraints remain a significant factor since the majority of the target group is middle and upper-middle income segment. My study also has established that consumers are taking longer time to assess safety details and they favor designers who openly present structural reports. They are less convinced of verbal safety statements and demand tangible evidence like certification of compliance and engineering work. It means that there is an increasing need of transparency and trust in the market. I would advise SpaceBiz Holdings and other real estate firms on these findings to pay more attention to communicating the safety features clearly, supplying the sales teams with appropriate documentation, training employees on how to address safety-related issues, and be more structured in their marketing strategy. The developers must also strike the balance between safety stance and the realistic prices development based on the financial constraints of the buyers. On balance, my research findings can be summarized as stating that even small earthquakes have a great impact on the psychology of buyers and decision-making in the real estate market. Price sensitivity is high, but safety has become more important than it used to be. This equilibrium of safety concern and affordability is what the real estate firms currently working in Bangladesh need to understand.