Page 21 - IB July 2021

Real Estate

A BUYER’S MARKET

MARKETING FIJI TO HIGH-END BUYERS

By Samantha Magick months to secure title, another 6-12 months to get plans
passed through council, and then by the time builders and
The pandemic has flattened Fiji’s real estate industry, with materials are secured, two years is up and work still hasn’t
the Reserve Bank reporting that commercial bank lending to commenced. He has suggested a moratorium be placed on
real estate had plummeted 31.3% (or F$24 million) for the those requirements, or better still, the timeframe be extend-
year ending March 2021. Similarly, lending to building and ed to five years and investors be better incentivised.
construction fell 11.5% in the same period. But how are things
faring at the prestige end of the market? Aged care opportunities
Susan Pritchard established her practice, My Island Home, Like many businesses, the power of digital marketing has
three years ago after more than ten years with other agen- proven incredibly important for both My Island Home and the
cies. She works across all price points, with high-end listings Professionals’ practices throughout COVID.
concentrated on Denarau, Naisoso and Maui Bay amongst Pritchard invested in high quality photography and her web-
other locations. site, building it twice in order to get the version she wanted.
It’s a buyer’s market, Pritchard says, and many of those “It was a good investment,” she says and has brought in more
buyers are local businesspeople or people based overseas who enquiries.
have strong family and ancestral ties to Fiji. Sellers include Bruno sees opportunities in new markets, and says his agen-
homeowners who have been away from Fiji for a few years cy is setting up partnerships with digital platforms in China,
and don’t envisage travel returning to the ease of pre-COVID Australia, the US, New Zealand and the United Kingdom.
times, and who don’t want to keep up the costly business of They’re also looking at how to communicate what it is like to
maintaining properties in absentia. Others have outgrown live in Fiji, not just holiday here, to prospective clients, and
their properties as their children have grown up, while others provide a concierge-style service that helps clients settle in
have bene forced to sell as global economies have constrict- their new home.
ed. “Since we’ve bought the business, we’ve upgraded our lo-
Baron Bruno and his wife Bren took over the Profession- gos, branding, marketing, social media, SEO, website, pretty
als Fiji agency on Denarau just a week before Fiji’s borders much kind of press the reset button,” he says.
closed due to the pandemic. The agency specialises in So where do they see opportunity in the sector?
high-end properties including lifestyle businesses and private “When everything goes back to normal, I expect to see
islands. Bruno says they’ve seen an exodus of sellers, par- more New Zealanders and Australians …moving to Fiji. And the
ticular older owners who have “grave concerns” about Fiji’s one downfall really for Fiji is our medical system, especially
health care sector, but also want to be closer to family and [for] the older generation. It has been a deal breaker for a
draw on their pension in their home countries. couple of our deals.”
On the rental front, prices have dropped dramatically, par- But get that right and Pritchard sees real scope in the
ticularly in Nadi where many businesses have shuttered due to retirement home sector because of Fiji’s climate, proximity
border closures, Pritchard says. “Executive Apartments, those to Australia and New Zealand, and the skill and reputation of
that used to rent out for $2.5 to $3000 [per month] have Fiji’s caregivers.
dropped to $1500. Denarau, it’s like the same thing has also Bruno agrees. “I think Fiji could be exorbitantly wealthy
happened there. But that’s typical of the Denarau market, if they looked at the senior market and retirees and if they
you know, it goes up and down.” were able to capture and get retired doctors from around the
At this end of the market, an impediment that realtors world, incentivise them to set up clinics here to work with
consistently hear about is the requirement that non-resident public-private partnerships,” he says.
landholders build within two years of acquiring vacant land. “Fiji could do extremely well, I think, because people
The penalty for failing to do so is large, 10% of the sale price, nowadays especially with COVID they want to be in a healthy
and is levied at the time of sale. tropical environment, and they’re willing to spend the money,
Pritchard says there are practical challenges to meeting this and will spend a crazy amount of money to be in a safe, won-
requirement. “[It’s] very hard to build in Fiji. There are some derful hospitable environment.
good builders out there; it’s about getting the right one. At “[Fijians] are some of the best caretakers on planet Earth
the moment it’s material, accessing the materials and espe- and Fiji, in my opinion should leverage that core competency.
cially if the materials have to be brought in.” Why ship those caretakers to America when you have them
Bruno says the Land Sales (Amendment) Act of 2014 here? Bring the elderly people here,” he says.
“scared everybody away” and the practicalities of meet-
ing the requirement are challenging when it takes up to six editor@islandsbusiness.com

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