Stanbic Bank Ghana, in partnership with Ghana Real Estate Developers Association (GREDA), is to host a maiden Housing Fair in the country.

Dubbed; ‘Stanbic-GREDA Housing Fair’, the event, to be held on December 6 and 7 at the Polo Court in Accra, would enable the public to choose from the housing offerings of GREDA and financial opportunities.

Speaking at the launch, the Head of Personal and Business Banking of Stanbic Ghana, Nana Dwemoh Benneh, said it was a great delight to partner GREDA to host the fair to give existing and potential customers the opportunity to own houses of their choice.

Estimates from the Ministry of Water Resources, Works and Housing indicates that the country has a housing deficit of 1.7 million and averagely 170,000 housing units need to be constructed annually over the next 10 years to deal with the deficit.

Nana Dwemoh said the fair would expose customers and potential customers and the entire public on the housing offerings of GREDA.

“We are happy to be blazing the trail to ensure that customers who will join us during the fair would not be disappointed,” he said.

He said the fair would not only showcase housing products and building materials, but automobile and home appliances companies are also billed to participate in it.

Nana Dwemoh said Stanbic Bank had developed tailor-made mortgage products to assist customers and non-customers alike to purchase their own houses.

He pledged that the bank would continue to develop innovate products to meet the diverse needs of the customers of the bank.

Mr Sammy Amegayibor, Secretary of the Executive Council of GREDA, expressed delight about the event and commended the management of Stanbic Bank for initiating the programme.

He expressed worry about the high cost of capital infrastructure, multiple land sale, and lack of access to long term finance for real estate operators, saying all those added up to the high cost of properties on the market.

Besides, inadequate mortgage products to assist prospective home buyers was also a challenge against the real estate industry, and commended Stanbic for developing mortgage products to enable individuals to purchase their own houses.

Mr Amegayibor urged players in the housing and building industry to take advantage of the programme to showcase their products.