EVOLUTION OF THE REAL- ESTATE SECTOR IN MAURITIUS AND ITS CONTRIBUTION TO ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

The Mauritian real-estate sector has observed quite some changes in the past decades. From being mainly an agricultural-based economy, since the 1990s the country has shifted to other economic activities, for example, manufacturing, tourism, banking, financial, and information and communications technology. Hence the use of land has also been evolving and adapting to the economic requirements. Nevertheless, with an increasing Mauritian population, a large part of the real-estate market is characterized by residential land usage. Higher demand for residential real estate has led to affordability issues in the residential land market. Low-income individuals can qualify for social housing in Mauritius. The non-residential real-estate segment has also been expanding, for example with the setting up of more commercial infrastructure (offices, hotels, villas). Mauritian authorities have been allowing foreigners to purchase real-estate properties (foreign real-estate investments) since 2002, through several schemes. To promote more sustainable as well as better planned real-estate developments, particular policies have also been established in Mauritius.