Study: Regulate industry

The National Business

SOME real estate agents and landlords tend to fix property prices at the expense of buyers and tenants, a PNG National Research Institute study revealed.
The argument was based on factors they consider when determining the price of residential properties being offered for sale or rent.
The institute’s research fellow Thomas Wangi and deputy director for research associate professor Eugene Ezebilo who conducted the study, said most real estate agents and landlords determined the prices by considering what their colleagues had fixed.
The other factor was the market force of demand and supply, according to the research paper titled Determinants of residential property prices as perceived by real estate agents and landlords in Port Moresby.
They recommended that:

  • THE Government facilitates the private sector to construct more houses relative to demand – the greater supply of houses should reduce house prices;
  • ACTIVITIES of real estate agents and landlords should also be regulated; and,
  • THE Government should facilitate the release of land, especially customary land with proper titles.

A statement from the institute said: “At the moment, some real estate agents and landlords appear to be manipulating prices by creating artificial demand to push up property prices for their own benefit, the report stated.
“The findings from this study aims to assist policy makers and planners develop strategy to address the housing affordability problems by considering the contribution of real estate agents and landlords in determining house and land prices.”
The research found out that the value of residential property in Port Moresby was determined by economic and non-economic factors. But there was no direct relationship between personal characteristics of interviewees, such as year of experience and level of education, in determining property value.
Real estate agents and freelance agents play intermediary roles for property buyers and potential tenants.
Landlords offered their own houses for rent.
Around 70 per cent of the interviewees used newspapers and social media to advertise land and houses for sale and rent.
Agent websites and public notice boards are also used.