Roger Williams, interim group CEO of Spectrum Group, owner of RE/MAX Elite Realty and RE/MAX Jamaica, says there is a need for more affordable housing solutions for Jamaicans.

Williams, who was speaking at RE/MAX Powerbrokers Coffee Break, a precursor to the upcoming RE/MAX
Jamaica Premier Real Estate Conference and Expo on Tuesday (March 19), said while the local real estate sector has seen positive growth, there remains a challenge in ensuring that the housing programmes work for Jamaicans seeking to own real estate.

“All I have said so far are positive developments, so far, that have been helping to drive the sector forward but you would be wrong to think that all is well with the sector. (You may think) All I have to do is just a straight train from here to wealth. Any(thing) I buy or touch, I’m good. That’s not the case and the first challenge that we have to call out, on one hand, the growth of the sector is positive, but the challenge that we have, which is sometimes exacerbated by this growth, is the issue of affordability.

A lot of working Jamaicans really find it hard to find property that they can afford, where they want to live, when they want to buy it and this is something that is not a new challenge, it is something that we have been grappling with for decades,” Spectrum Group CEO said.

He further noted that while there are institutions such as the National Housing Trust (NHT) and banking institutions that offer solutions to bridge the gap, the issue of affordability remains a challenge for working-class Jamaicans.

” There are also reasonable questions about the sustainability of the pace of appreciation of some of the properties we are seeing now. Someone asked me Yesterday, who is buying these properties, we seeing all these developments going around and the truth is our sector is not a monolith. We have luxury segments, we have the Pinnacle Jamaica development as an example and they are quick to point out that it is not all over a $1 million pricing for their units, $400,000 starting and going up. You have luxury and you have luxury. But for most Jamaicans, that is out of their reach and out of their target, frankly, so there is a continued need to ensure that the programmes and facilities that we have in place continue to try to serve and bridge that gap between what people can afford and what their aspirations are,” Williams added.

Spectrum’s CEO says with the recent road infrastructure development in St Thomas, Mandeville and May Pen, making it easier for individuals to commute to and from the corporate area, he is expecting a tempering of real estate prices.

” There is a drove price appreciation, particularly in Kingston and St Andrew, there is a concentration of demand in a relatively small and finite inventory of property. Now an individual can live in Yallahs and work in Kingston because it is much easier to travel to come to Kingston, likewise for May Pen, Mandeville etc., so over time I expect those drivers to help temper that widening or that gap between prices and goals,” Williams explained.

He also highlighted the issue of high maintenance fees in some gated communities following last year’s increase in wages for security personnel.

“A lot of these gated communities, security is the largest part of their maintenance fees, so that is causing investors to recalculate their projections on how their returns are going to work. These are not insurmountable but these are challenges that give us pause,” Williams added.