For a prospective investor or developer who has set their sights on expanding a property portfolio in Southern Africa or entering the region for the first time, the way forward may appear complex and uncertain. Conflicting reports, dubious statistics and misconceptions can cloud their route. So how can an investor or developer who wants to spread their investment wings in Southern Africa make an informed and strategically sound decision?

Broll Property Group’s latest research report on certain SADC (Southern African Development Community) countries, entitled “SADC Market Snippet 2018”, is a powerful and invaluable tool, designed to assist with understanding property market conditions across the region.
SADC was established in Windhoek in 1992 to grow the economies of sub-Saharan African states and foster cooperation and peace amongst its members. Broll Intel has put a group of SADC countries, where property investment opportunity presents itself under the spotlight. It has crafted a brief report which looks at:

• Country facts
• Economic indicators
• Global rankings on indices e.g. corruption or competitiveness
• Key indicators in the office, retail and industrial property markets

Dedicated market research

Broll Intel specialises in converting property data into market knowledge, providing clients with decision-making research that spans the commercial property sector. Research teams across sub-Saharan Africa enable Broll to add value to clients’ portfolios, by partnering with them to make well-informed decisions and grow the performance of their investments. The Broll “SADC Market Snippet 2018” takes each of the countries in turn and presents an easily readable and accessible six-part picture to guide the investor on property market conditions in each country.

Investors get the big picture

By extracting data such as GDP alongside ease of doing business rankings, as well as office rentals and yields, a fascinating picture that’s tailor-made for investors emerges (see Figure 1 for example).

The report is packed with a wealth of critical data for investors and decision-makers. Taking a closer look at a particular country in the report, for example Mauritius. A country of 1.3 million people, Mauritius rates well on the democracy index. The country is managing to keep corruption levels at bay and is high on the best-countries-for-business index. This ranks it as a favourable location in the SADC region in which to do business.

Mauritius also has 58.6% of the population urbanised, intense mobile phone usage at 142 phones per 100 people, internet access with 46.2 users per 100 people and a Real GDP annual growth rate of 4.0%, and therefore offers potential for investors and developers. Asking rents are being achieved within the retail market with average yields of 7.75% – 8% being evident. The average yield for offices is generally a bit higher at 8.5% – 9% and demand within the market is forecast to be stable with supply increasing over the next six months.

The Broll “SADC Market Snippet 2018” is an outstanding guide for property investors, packed with useful data and statistics that will make decision-making that much easier. As a group, Broll serves the investor and occupier markets across the African continent. These services include, but are not limited to: real estate investor services, facilities management, occupier solutions, property auctioneering, industrial and commercial broking, research-based real estate consulting and advisory, shopping centre management, valuation and advisory.

Further information
To download the report go to:
www.broll.com/publications