Large crowd attends ExpoCasa kickoff

ExpoCasa 2012, this year’s version of the biannual everything-including-the-kitchen-sink house and home blowout exposition, kicked off Wednesday night with hundreds of vendor stalls, banks, furniture-mongers, big crowds, wine, song and government functionaries.

A line of cars several kilometers long snaked out of the Centro de Eventos Pedregal in Belén in Heredia, north of San José, as thousands of folks with dreams of buying or improving their homes flocked to ExpoCasa to slake their domestic thirst. 

Banks offering low fixed-, and variable-rate mortgages, tile and flooring companies, condominium developers and domestic appliance dealers were on hand to fulfill their desires. Organizers said they expect more than 30,000 people to attend the five-day event.

Despite all the hardware on display, dreams were the topic of the night. Vice President Luis Liberman touched on the subject. 

“Since the start of President Laura Chinchilla’s government, we have presented a bill that would permit banks … to issue fixed-rate bonds to finance middle-class housing,” Liberman said. “However, like with many other laws, the process in the Legislative Assembly has been torturous and slow. The dreams of many families are being truncated by the lack of quick action.”

The vice president added that the administration is working to develop a fund that would give help to Costa Rican families struggling with their monthly home payments.

Master Key, a mostly a cappella quintet hearkening to Boyz-II-Men’s mid-1990s heyday, took the stage after Liberman, while members of the press and homebuyers and decorators explored the offerings on display in the massive center.

ExpoCasa ends Sunday. For more, see: www.expocasa.co.cr.