ExpertBroker
JF-Expert Member
- Jun 1, 2009
- 454
- 107
TANZANIAN REAL ESTATE INVESTORS! Apartments or Standalone?
Dear TANZANIAN REAL ESTATE INVESTORS (including parastatals/institutional investors),
YES we need homes but APARTMENTS needs are limited in Tanzania! The concept of vertical development (high raised apartment buildings) is associated with the scarcity of land to allow traditional horizontal development, hence the Highest and Best Use of Land (HABU) is capitalized by adopting the vertical construction approach!
BUT do we need apartments in Mbeya, Dodoma, Iringa, Kigoma, Kibaha and other areas in Tanzania where the urban land is to some extent plenty comparing to Dar es Salaam for example, to sell the same to local people, at a price which is as likely as the price of a standard house?
Lets not just copy and paste! Research on demographic analysis to establish need analysis is inevitable before embarking on what type of real estate development to be put in a given area.
Most Tanzanians would love to live in a standalone homes, drive their cars through their private gates, enjoying their private garden and the like.
Housing is much more than physical structures; housing is/has become a subject of highly charged emotional content:
v A matter of strong feeling
v It is a symbol of status
v It is the symbol of achievement
v It is the symbol of social acceptance
v It seems to control, in large measure, the way in which the individual, the family perceives him/itself and is perceived by others.
BUT in areas where there is inelasticity supply of land like Dar es Salaam, apartments may sell, but again, not for owner occupied, most of them are for rental purposes!
Lets not ignore culture when it comes to real estate investment.
By Andrew P. Kato, a Senior Property Consultant based in Dar es Salaam, andrew.kato@realestateprofessionalstz.net