When you read the daily newspapers and look at local and international television news, one cannot help but come away with a very dim view of the state of the world. Recently I read an article in the local newspapers referring to the ‘massive housing shortage’ and it got me thinking of the impact of these statements on Real Estate Agents when presented as facts.

The HDC states that they have over 100,000 outstanding applicants for dwellings. The Central Statistical Office states that there are approximately 437,000 households, with over 98% occupying a dwelling, and a population of 1,356,000 persons at 3.1 persons per household/dwelling. If we were by magic to provide another 100,000 dwellings it would bring the average persons per household to 2.5. The average of the US is 1.95. Both of these are less than a couple with one child.

There is no massive housing shortage. Unless of course we want to provide a house for every single person. What we have is a demand for an improved house or a house for ‘myself’. This reminds me of a friend of mine who is in her 40s unmarried, no children, but recently purchased a three bedroom HDC house.

Recently a developer friend of mine, informed me that he has nine rental apartments, the majority of them empty. And in Curepe, there are numerous signs of apartments for rent. There is a demand for better housing for lower level income earners. And there seems to be a mismatch between the number of multi bedroom dwellings and the demand for single bedroom, single person dwellings.

This is good news for Real Estate Agents. Since there is no housing shortage, there is adequate housing inventory to go around. What is required is better match making. And this is the forte of Real Estate Agents.

There is a need for Real Estate Agents to better communicate/negotiate with sellers and renters to adapt their offerings to suit the specific demand. There is a need for more interior designers and contractors who can tastefully convert dwellings to meet the demand for smaller households. There is a need for better financial planning education for mid level income earners to increase their savings and be more responsible for acquiring their own homes.

Bold negative statements sell newspapers and get politicians in office. But the truth, I dare say, is rarely as negative and not as depressing. The sky is not falling.