Online Reporter
Online Reporter
More than 300 stakeholders in the real estate sector attended the ZimReal Property Conference in Harare on Friday, where they frankly discussed about the future of the sector and what needs to be done to see it fulfilling its potential.
Headlined by real estate giant, Westprop Holdings, as the main sponsor, the annual conference was being held in its second year running.
The stakeholders at the conference included property developers, property owners, pension fund executives, banking executives and other professionals.
The conference was held under the theme: “Cementing Growth and Growing Value”.
“Ken Sharpe, CEO of Westprop Holdings opened the conference with some stark realities that the real estate market in Zimbabwe is only 2 percent of the country GDP, while the average in Africa is 12% and international average is 20 percent,” said WestProp Holdings chairman Dr Michael Louis.
“More concerning was that the mortgage rate contribution by the state in Zimbabwe is only 0,04%. In first world countries like Switzerland the government contribution 125%.
Dr Loius said Mr Sharpe conveyed that meaningful growth could not be attained without unlocking capital and that mortgages and long-term finances were the arteries of a functional property market.
“Without these we build, but do not grow. The absence or inaccessibility of such instruments constrains not only developers, but also the dreams of everyday Zimbabweans who seek to own a home a shop or a piece of land,” he said.
In his closing remarks, Dr Louis said the conference heeded the call to the real estate industry that honest discussions needed to start being held with the Government and that their voices now needed to be heard.
He said bureaucracy, infrastructure bottlenecks and lack of policy consistency would negatively affect investments in real estate.
“If we are serious about growth, these matters cannot be left at the fringes of policy. They must become core agenda items. We cannot talk of “cementing growth” when the foundations are shifting beneath our feet,” he said.
Dr Louis called upon policymakers to partner the real estate sector in designing policies that favour growth.
“Stable currency policy consistency, land administration and predictable legal frameworks must not be ambitious, they must be the norm,” he said.
He said the real estate industry was laying strong foundations for families, businesses and national pride.
