The office real estate market in Yangon has seen an improvement following the passing of the Companies Law and the relaxation of the restrictions on retail and industrial foreign ownership. However, an over-supply of office stock in 2016 put rental rates under continual downward pressure over the following years.
Prior to the outbreak of COVID-19, residential real estate in Myanmar had already been going through a somewhat precarious period. In recent years, Myanmar’s residential market has descended significantly from the heights it reached in 2014/15.
Myanmar’s hotels and tourism sector has gone through somewhat of a turbulent time in recent years. With demand reaching astronomical heights in 2014/15 the sector looked set to grow exponentially in the years following.
In 2019, Slade Property Services found that shopping mall occupancy was very high with many of the malls, such as Myanmar Plaza and Junction City, having a 100% occupancy rate. Between 2018-2019, the Ministry of Commerce permitted thirty-four foreign and twenty-seven joint venture retail and wholesale businesses to operate in Myanmar, which represented a steady increase in demand for retail spaces over recent years.
Industrial real estate is becoming very popular in Yangon, and Myanmar as a whole. Significant developments, such as a 10,000 acre project in Mandalay, new ports and infrastructure developments, are drawing large volumes of investment from overseas. Major international occupiers are looking at entering the market, some having already done so, and establishing manufacturing and distribution facilities to take advantage of this new consumer market.
