Property sales took a fall in 2020 due to the corona virus induced lockdowns which affected many sub-sectors like taxation, insurance, pension and real estate market. Zimbabwe like every other developing African country is gradually regaining its stance and is set to recover its real estate market in 2022/2023.
As a result of the global pandemic, listing and viewing of properties became impossible for stakeholders and real estate companies. Buyers could not verify records and documents due to diligence and the accepted processes and criteria for purchasing a property in the country.
Payments of rents by tenants to landlords were also delayed as many had lost their income sources, those who were forced to work from home had their salaries slashed which left them with little or nothing. The property market recently released a report which revealed that businesses cannot operate without the real estate sector and during the lockdowns; the inability of tenants to pay their rents affected the performance of the real estate sector.
The performance of the commercial properties declined, residential real estate properties proved to be resilient and did quite well among all the chaos the economy was faced with.
In all odds, stakeholders are rejoicing, 2022/2023 is slowly approaching and this is promising to be a great year for real estate practitioners in the country. A recovery is much expected and anticipated by various stakeholders. The stability of the economy, especially the real estate sector, is imperative because of its interconnectedness to other sectors like insurance and pension.