Despite the crumbling global effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, Botswana managed to recover its property sector, which was torn during the pandemic, to a steady 20% rate.
The Botswana housing market, expected to fall, grew to a steady 20% rate. This was especially predicted for the properties ranging from 850,000 P to 1.3 million P. Unfortunately, the predictions were off the mark and never came true. Recently, the stakeholders affirmed that the real estate sector of Botswana is performing significantly well and as healthy as it could ever get.
The global COVID-19 pandemic, which shook the whole world to its core, affected almost all the world’s countries, and Botswana was no exception. During the pandemic, what damaged the economy, were the prolonged lockdowns that lasted for two whole years, starting in late 2019 and lasting until late 2020.
Like all the other African countries, Botswana is also recovering from the effects of the pandemic, the housing sector is doing rather well, but on the other hand, the hospitality sector looks bleak. The hospitality sector of Botswana is still recovering from the disastrous effects of the pandemic, but the rate of recovery remains a cause of concern.
With no buyers to sell the property to, the sellers in the property market suffered greatly during the pandemic, and the prices of high-end properties also fell. Some homeowners even had to sell their properties for less than the market prices at that time. Fast forward to today, the economy is still recovering, and the prices are still increasing from that time.
The economy of Botswana is now thriving, but there remain some sectors that are still in need of assistance. This includes the retail and office sectors. With the unannounced lockdowns, the rate of office activity has drastically decreased, and many offices are forced to lay off their employees, increasing the unemployment index. If the government can stop the lockdowns, it would benefit the economy. However, only some sectors are projecting a bleak outlook for the future; the industrial sector of Botswana is still reporting an ongoing rise in demand.
According to analysts, the property market of Botswana is stable, and this is due to the low spending habits of the people. The 25 percent reduced debt ratio from 100 percent to 75 percent. This change was brought about because of the affordable housing rates since most of the people of Botswana do not like to build their homes from scratch. The commercial and residential real estate markets have experienced exponential growth since the pandemic.
This positive change was brought about by the smart move of selling high-end properties to investors at rates a bit higher than the market rates from the year 2019. As a result, these investors have the financial means and the capacity to significantly increase the property value in the market.
