Bhubaneswar: The civic body and the development authority's focus on the affordable housing sector for lower income groups has made buying homes in the state capital difficult.

It's been nearly two years now since the development authority constructed or offered a housing complex for the middle or higher income groups.

In its previous attempt, the Bhubaneswar Development Authority offered two housing projects at Paikarapur for middle-income groups in January 2016.

That August, it introduced a duplex project at Ananta Vihar for higher income groups.

"Most people wait for government housing projects since these are free of fraudulent activities. Looking at the pace of introduction now, it would be wise to go for private projects," said Damana resident Jay Panda.

The city administration has announced and initiated steps to execute five affordable housing projects, mainly for lower income groups.

On the other hand, the civic authorities are constructing homes for slum dwellers under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojna.

"Bhubaneswar or the country at large has a large middle class population that pays taxes and contributes to the economy. The state government, instead of thinking about us, is on a mission to rob us. Its schemes are meant either for the poor or the rich people, but what about us?," said social worker Alok Mohanty.

Development authority officials, however, offered a different view.

"We are introducing policies and schemes such as Rera for the benefit of the middle class for easy transactions with real-estate developers. We also plan to introduce housing projects for the middle class next year," said an official.

Real-estate developer Sangram Nayak said 2016 and 2017 were watershed years for the real estate industry with new policies such as GST and Rera.

"The impact of demonetisation started to taper off slightly, but it couldn't contribute to an increase in investment in the sector," said Nayak.