Cabs tackles housing backlog

Clara Mawere Business Reporter
THE country’s largest building society, CABS, has since 2010 disbursed US$$125,7 million in mortgage finance for 440 units, mostly low cost.
Speaking at the Real Estate Institute of Zimbabwe workshop yesterday, CABS general manager responsible for retail banking Mr Ken Chitando said they had resorted to financing low-cost housing projects which can be afforded by the majority.

He said this was in view of the fact that there is an estimated backlog of 1,5 million units of housing stock in the country.
“Harare alone has only 500 000 units which means that there is serious shortage of housing stock. What is happening is that the houses you (real estate agents) are selling are mostly existing stock which is just changing hands, but there is need for us to increase our housing stock,” he said.

Mr Chitando also said there was high demand for housing across the board from high-, medium- to low- density. The country has struggled to invest in infrastructure over the past decade due to shortages of working capital and a debt of about US$10,7 billion. According to a Bard Real Estate property market report released last year, the country continues to experience a huge demand for serviced residential stands in most towns, while the lack of key infrastructure has hindered the supply side of new stands.

The report noted that the lack of infrastructure such as good road networks, consistent water and electricity supply have contributed to an increase in the number of properties, especially in Harare’s low-density suburbs being difficult to let or be sold.

The report pegs the average prices for serviced high, medium and low-density land in Harare at US$25, US$18 and US$15 per square metre, while in Bulawayo they average US$12, US$10 and US$6 respectively.

Completed housing units in the two major cities were also pegged at an average of US$30 000 for high-density, US$80 000 for medium-density and US$150 000 for low-density in Harare while in Bulawayo prices averaged US$12 000, US$50 000 and US$120 000 for the high-, medium- and low-density units respectively.