HARARE, July 4 (NewsDay Live) – Zimbabwe’s ambitions to unlock billions of dollars in property investment are being held back by a chronic shortage of long-term mortgage finance, with industry leaders warning that the country's banking system is failing to provide the patient capital needed to transform housing, commercial real estate and urban development.
Mike Juru, chairperson of the Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT), said Zimbabwe’s inability to offer 25-year mortgages has become one of the biggest structural barriers to growth, leaving developers unable to fully capitalise on rising demand for housing and commercial property.
“Property is a long-term investment, and we need the 25-year money,” he said.
“Imagine, right now, we don’t have 25-year money. We have so much construction.
“What will happen when we have 25-year money? A lot will happen. That’s our cry.”
The warning comes as the country seeks to position construction and infrastructure as key drivers of economic growth while grappling with an acute housing shortage and rapid urbanisation.
Although cranes continue to reshape skylines in Harare, developers argue that the sector remains constrained by a financial system built around short-term lending rather than the decades-long financing that underpins successful property markets globally.
Without affordable long-term mortgages, developers struggle to convert demand into completed sales, while aspiring homeowners remain locked out of the market because repayment periods are too short and monthly instalments unaffordable.
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The result, industry executives say, is a property market that is increasingly dependent on cash buyers, corporates and wealthy investors, limiting its contribution to broader economic growth.
Juru argued that Zimbabwe has already demonstrated its capacity to build.
The missing ingredient, he said, is long-term finance capable of unlocking investment on a much larger scale.
“We have so much construction.
“What will happen when we have 25-year money? A lot will happen.”
Economists say deep mortgage markets stimulate investment across the wider economy by supporting industries ranging from cement and steel manufacturing to banking, insurance, engineering and construction.
Juru said restoring investor confidence would require more than expanding bank lending.
It would also depend on delivering long-term certainty over Zimbabwe’s monetary framework.
“Can we have a firm position? If we have a firm position with regards to the United States dollar, which gives confidence,” he said.
His comments highlight one of the biggest challenges facing Zimbabwe’s financial sector.
Banks are reluctant to issue mortgages spanning two decades or more unless they have confidence that inflation, exchange rates and monetary policy will remain broadly predictable throughout the life of those loans.
Years of currency volatility and repeated shifts in monetary policy have made that difficult, limiting lenders’ appetite for long-term mortgage products.
Juru, however, welcomed recent assurances by the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe over the future of the Zimbabwe Gold (ZiG) currency, saying policy consistency would be critical to rebuilding confidence among lenders and investors.
“Today, the deputy governor presented on the future of the ZiG, giving assurances, and if we get that over 25 years, that will be good news for the real estate development sector,” he said.
Policymakers attempt to convince domestic and foreign investors that Zimbabwe has entered a period of greater macroeconomic stability.
For the property sector, however, industry executives argue that confidence will ultimately be measured not by policy statements but by whether banks begin offering affordable mortgages with repayment periods comparable to those available in more developed markets.
Developers say such financing would unlock billions of dollars in investment, expand home ownership, deepen capital markets and enable pension funds and insurance companies to channel long-term savings into productive real estate projects.
The benefits would extend well beyond the property industry.
A deeper mortgage market would stimulate demand for building materials, create jobs across the construction value chain, increase tax revenues and accelerate the development of new residential suburbs, office parks, industrial estates and retail centres.
Without those reforms, Zimbabwe risks falling behind regional peers whose more mature mortgage markets have supported sustained growth in housing and commercial property.
But Juru believes the opportunity remains enormous.
