Lexpress Property Trends Lexpress Property Trends EN Light Version | Page 20

THE MAURITIAN ECONOMY AND ITS ASSETS
agency tasked to attract investment,
has rounded up 2,737 transactions,
totalling Rs 73.7 billion, equivalent to
€ 1.8 billion. Therefore, after years
of successful courtship of tourist
clienteles from Europe
mainly
France and reat Britain, as well as
South Africa
, these very markets
have been targeted ever since the early
2000’s, initially by luxury developers,
and currently by high-end segments.
The results are encouraging: in 2017,
33% of all foreign direct investments
earned by Mauritius were in the real
estate industry.
The influx of foreign investors and
increase of the purchasing power
of Mauritian households, combined
with quality-oriented expectations
make up for a conducive environment
for real estate to thrive. It is now
one of the pillars of the Mauritian
economy which constituted of, as
in 2016, approximately 10% of the
DP according to the Economic
Development Board. The construction
sector, as a lever of the economy,
brings a considerable contribution in
terms of job creation, thus generating
revenue in Mauritius.
The dynamics of Smart Cities
According to the EDB, 2018 has
witnessed a
.5% growth in the
construction sector, soon after a 7.5%
growth in 2017. Investment in this field
has reached Rs 56 billion, equivalent
to € 1. billion, boosting the creation of
over 53,000 jobs.
The majority of these capitals are
involved
in
Smart
City-related
operations (Smart cities: ingenious
towns conceived with the objective of
offering their citi ens the opportunity
to live, work and find leisure
activities while enjoying the best of
communication technology and public
transport), a few of which include:
Jinfei Mauritius, niciti, Mon Trésor
Smart City, Moka Smart City, and
Cap Tamarin Smart
Happy Village.
Another portion of these funds and
jobs went to other residential and non-
residential real estate projects such as
Molinea Property Ltd, Barachois Villa
Company Ltd, Nexteracom, Caudan
Phase 3, Cyber City 1 Phase 2, and
Oceanarium (Mauritius) Ltd.
According to the EDB, prospects
for 201 point to a growth in the
construction sector of
8.6% with
investment as high as Rs 63 billion,
equivalent to little less than € 1.6
billion, with the upcoming projects of
30
LEXPRESSPROPERTY TRENDS
Rs 73,7
billion
of real estate transactions
(IRS,RES PDS)
Beau Plan Smart City, ihai ardens
Smart City, Trocadéro Investissement,
Société Sweet Hori ons, One Only St
éran, Hyvec group’s business towers
and Les Salines olf Resorts. aiming to ease access to property.
Foreigners have, for their part, access
to private banking services which
facilitate financial arrangements to
execute their projects.
ith each new delivery
for housing
units which were not sold off-plan,
and for all units up for rental
the
various phases of these projects will
certainly keep feeding the residential
real estate market. As far as property
accessible to foreigners is concerned,
upcoming transactions will ensure
the constant stimulation of a growing
sector, having sei ed the momentum
of tourism. Other stakeholders contribute to the
dynamism of the sector such as real
estate agents
professionals for the
most part
and also notaries who
help buyers and sellers in their
transactions by providing a solid and
reliable legal framework (enriched
by its bi-juralist roots, that of the
French Civil Code and the British
Common Law).
From an island-wide perspective, the
economics of residential real estate
are promising. Siding with profes-
sionals in this field and construction
companies, other participants contri-
bute to and benefit from its growing
strength.
Investment made easy
The ideal investment targeted by
both developers and buyers is,
of course, eased by financial service
providers such as banks and other
wealth
management
institutions.
ith a volume of banking that keeps
expanding
oscillating around
0%
Mauritians have access
to various types of mortgages,
elaborated by about twenty banking
and insurance institutions which
are complemented by public policies
Impacting other sectors
A dynamic real estate sector has
various effects and impacts. Profes-
sionals of the field, from architects to
masons, but also developers, market
researchers and designers, have all
seen a considerable increase in their
workload over the past few years.
Public finance also benefits from
this prosperity. Indeed, 25% of the
overall cost of projects under various
schemes targeting foreign buyers
go to local and State agencies
as taxes. Moreover, Value Added
Tax (VAT) on materials and other
revenue-related
taxes
pertaining
to these activities also weigh in.
All these favourable conditions added
to a dynamic Mauritian economy
particularly the real estate sector
form a virtuous macroeconomic circle.