Global property portal local hosts a conference with experts and developers from the Sri Lanka real estate market

Lamudi.lk hosted its first annual Real Estate Market Conference at the BMICH banquet hall on Thursday, December 11^th, 2014.  Gathered together were experts from across the field of real estate, including valuation experts, agents, developers and researchers.

Speakers at the conference include Roshan Madawela, Managing Director of RIU, Pratap Kaluthanthri, Senior Lecturer in Real Estate at the University of Sri Jayawardenapura, Dr. Bhathiya Satharasingha, CEO of Living Homes and Mr. Wilhelm Hammes, Country Director of Lamudi.lk

The conference was held in conjunction with leading sponsors of the event, including Main Sponsor Prime Lands, Platinum Sponsor Blue Mountain and other key sponsors including:  Holcim, Bright Lighting, Acquest, Travel Wings and RIU.

During the event, Lamudi launched its new report on emerging real estate markets.

New report: Real Estate in Emerging Markets

The report, Real Estate in the Emerging Markets, provides a comprehensive overview of the property sector in 16 emerging countries, including Sri Lanka.

The report is based on a series of online surveys conducted with house-hunters and real estate agents in each country, as well as onsite data from Lamudi’s global network of websites. The research examines the habits of online property-seekers, while offering insights into the future of the property sector based on interviews and surveys with local property experts.

The customer survey examined house-hunting habits among buyers and renters. Location emerged as the most important factor for property-seekers when they are looking for a new home, outranking other factors such as safety and security. Like many other countries in the emerging markets, affordability is the main issue that deters renters from buying property, yet, the desire to buy property remains, with close to 90 percent of renters saying they were currently saving to purchase a home.

The second survey, targeting real estate agents, revealed the extent to which the property market has moved online. The web is now the number one place where Sri Lanka real estate agents advertise their properties, followed by traditional mediums such as newspapers and magazines. More than 80 percent of agents surveyed said they used online platforms to advertise their properties.

Lamudi’s Global Co-Founder, Kian Moini, said: “The primary conclusion that we have drawn from our research is that the future for Sri Lanka’s property sector is extremely bright. In fact, more than half the agents surveyed by Lamudi are forecasting growth of eight percent or above for the coming year. The country’s real estate market has now emerged as one of the most promising in Asia.”

Each country covered in the report offers an in-depth interview with key figures from the local property industry. For Sri Lanka, Zhong Yuan from Chinese property developer AVIC International discussed the outlook for investors.

“With a stable political environment after the civil conflict ended in 2009, beneficial regulations for investors, increasing tourist confidence and an emerging economy, Sri Lanka is presenting strong investment potential,” he said.

The 16 countries covered in the report are: Indonesia, the Philippines, Myanmar, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Nigeria, Kenya, Tanzania, Morocco, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Mexico and Colombia.

The full report is presented in an easy-to-read online format, available for viewing on the Lamudi website. Visit www.lamudi.lk/research. 

About Lamudi: Launched in 2013,Lamudi is a global property portal focusing exclusively on emerging markets. The fast-growing platform is currently available in 28 countries in Asia, the Middle East, Africa and Latin America, with more than 700,000 real estate listings across its global network. The leading real estate marketplace offers sellers, buyers, landlords and renters a secure and easy-to-use platform to find or list properties online.