The first nine months of 2015 had 355 real estate sales transactions in the Western division.
While opening Fiji’s first ever real estate national workshop, Real Estate Agents Lisencing Board chairman, Dr Abdul Hassan said these amounted to over $180 million, with a large number of properties likely changing hands through agents.
“This brings us to the point that real estate agents provide valuable service to the public but their relationship with others do not always remain simple,”he said.
“The real estate agents are in a place of trust and they must exercise a reaonsable degree of care while engaging in selling or buying of properties for the clients. It is always the expectation on the clients that the real estate agents with skill and expertise will help them either to buy or sell a property at a reasonable price,” he reminded agents.
Dr Hassan added that with real estate being the single largest component of wealth in a society, it plays a key role in shaping the economic conditions of families and people.
“Changes in the value of real estate can heavily affect the wealth of business operations and their capacity to grow. Generally, the total contributions of real estate in the housing sector alone can contribute to over 20 percent of GDP of a country.
“Because of the significant influence of the real estate on the national economy, the investors – local and abroad – closely monitor real estate activities in a country before they undertake any investment.”
The workshop was officially opened by Industry and Trade Minister, Faiyaz Koya, at the Tanoa International Hotel in Nadi.