Industries · 07
Real estate
The clearest number in this whole publication is a property number: six in ten CBD offices are empty while Borrowdale is being built. Agencies and landlords are handling a market that moved, with the same phones they had before it did.
What is specific to Harare
| Measure | CBD | Suburbs |
|---|---|---|
| Vacancy | ≈60% | low (new stock owner-occupied) |
| Average rent | ≈US$6/m² | ≈US$10/m² |
| Yield | ≈6% | ≈9% |
| New Grade A delivered | — | ≈12,000 m², mostly Borrowdale corridor |
Reasons given: ageing infrastructure, congestion, parking, utilities and rising informality downtown. Firms are choosing Borrowdale, Avondale, Eastlea, Milton Park and Belvedere; banks are heading to Highlands, Newlands and Borrowdale. Borrowdale itself had 28,929 residents at the 2022 census and 150+ stores at Sam Levy's Village.
Sources: Property Wheel; Propzone; Borrowdale; Sam Levy's Village.
What fits
| Operator | Pattern | Harare constraint |
|---|---|---|
| Estate agency | Listing lead qualifier: budget, currency, area, timing captured on WhatsApp before an agent calls; viewing scheduling. | Buyers quote USD; leads cluster north; agents work from cars on mobile data. |
| Commercial landlord (CBD) | Vacancy marketing sequences; tenant service-request desk with photo capture. | ≈60% vacancy means volume marketing, not premium; incentives in USD. |
| Property developer (Borrowdale corridor) | Off-plan enquiry FAQ; progress updates to buyers. | Owner-occupier buyers want documents, not chat; keep PDFs small. |
| Managing agent | Levy and rent reminders in two currencies; maintenance ticketing. | Rate date on every reminder; contractors reached by WhatsApp only. |
Index rows: Real estate.