Augustine Ewiah
CHIEF EXECUTIVE Officer (CEO) of luxury real estate Brokerage Company, Cameo 1 Homes, Augustine Ewiah, has indicated that the falling rate of the United States dollar against the Ghana Cedi has forced many businesses with dollar tags on properties to price in cedis.
According to him, properties with dollar rent tags in Accra are struggling for tenants and buyers as supply has outstripped demand in the high-end segment of the rental market.
He said the downturn in the economy, coupled with uncertainties in the foreign exchange market, has changed a number of market fundamentals, leading to a dollar-to-cedi rental transition, which, by default, was creating opportunities for investors and home seekers.
“Rental prices in up-market neighborhoods such as East Legon already took a nosedive pre-pandemic and only became worse as a result of the present economic condition in the country. Particularly and worthy of mention is the ‘dollar-to-cedi rental transition’ that has happened in properties that historically attracted US dollar rentals,” Mr. Ewiah, told DAILY GUIDE.
He said this transition had affected mostly luxury residential buildings which ranged from $60,000 to $100,000 per annum at Airport, Cantonments and East LEGON, adding that about 90 percent of such properties have now been downgraded to cedi rentals and at values which are, in effect, almost 40-50 percent below the precious dollar values before COVID-19.
According to him, the transition presented opportunities for more tenants who ordinarily could not afford East Legon homes to upgrade, adding this was already reflecting in the speed of rentals in Ghana.
Cedi Appreciation
The Ghana cedi strengthened in value against the dollar and the other major foreign currencies, the pound and the euro almost a day after the government launched the Debt Exchange Programme.
President Akufo-Addo has justified why the Ghana cedi is now performing against the US dollar.
According to him, the strengthening of the cedi had not happened by chance but by deliberate policies implemented by the government in collaboration with the Bank of Ghana.
The President further noted that the measures employed included the cedi liquidity tightening which resulted in the offloading of the forex flow, the improvements of forex from remittance on the mining sector; the reaching of the staff agreed with the IMF for a US$3 billion package.
BY Prince Fiifi Yorke