Market Activity to Pick Up Once Border Opens
Fiji is already a cooling market with the United States-China trade war and there are properties in contract scheduled to close.
Although there is a decline in prices of rentals and properties, market activity is expected to pick up gradually once border opens.
Real estate company director Arif Khan says: “While there was a slight decline, we have repositioned our company to be more proactive to gain market share. 2021 will be an interesting year.”
Arif Khan had started up the Bayshore Real Estate Fiji in 2015, when he saw a gap in educating and producing more professional real-estate sales team.
The company name rebranded in 2018 to ‘One Agency Bayshore Fiji Pty Ltd’, since the agency is a franchise based in Sydney. Mr Khan said the rebranding was done to strategically market their listings to overseas buyers.
The agency started in Lautoka with one agent and since then it has expanded over Fiji with approximately 20 salespersons. “All salespersons attend a mandatory three day class with testing before a license submission is made to Real Estate Agents Licensing Board (REALB). The class is an integral part of the company’s culture of continuous training and development,” he said.
Sales agent Jerome Maharaj said they had over 100 listings from Suva to Savusavu. That includes residential, commercial, land and properties.
“We also offer property management and investment consulting,” Mr Maharaj said. He said he was happy the business was still on despite the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Fiji is already a cooling market with the United States-China trade war and there are properties in contract scheduled to close.
Challenges
“In the west, there is an increase in inventory of rentals that has enabled prospective tenants to be choosier and hence, agents have to work harder. There is a 30 per cent reduction in prices so commissions are lower; we have adjusted our lifestyles accordingly. “Bank loans can be challenging for some industries and finally, we look forward to first time home programme funds to be resin stated to reinvigorate the first time home buyers activity.”
Plan
“Our plan is to keep building on the efficiency of our operations, include technology to improve backend operations and increase target marketing. We will work to align our company with strategic partners to target overseas buyers and diaspora,” Mr Khan said.