It is interesting how we keep going in circles about housing and property in Namibia. Same debate, same complaints, same panel discussions, and same promises. Over and over again, yet nothing changes. We talk about land prices being too high. We talk about young people not being able to afford homes. We talk about serviced land taking too long. We talk about banks making it impossible to qualify for a bond. We have been having this exact conversation for years, and the people who were priced out five years ago are even further away from owning a home today. At some point, the talking has to stop and the action has to start.
And as we continue to go in circles, here are a few things you need to know. Property prices will continue to go up. They have never gone down over the long term, and they are not going to start now. Those who can afford to buy will buy. Those who cannot will be pushed out even further. The gap between homeowners and renters will only widen with time, and that gap is not just about housing. It is about wealth. Homeowners are building equity every month. Same amount of money leaving the account, completely different outcomes over 20 years.
Rent will also continue to increase. Every year your landlord raises the rent, and every year you pay it because you have no alternative. Over 10 years, the average renter in Windhoek will pay somewhere between N$600,000 and N$1 million in rent and own absolutely nothing at the end of it. That money is gone. It built someone else's wealth, paid off someone else's bond, and funded someone else's retirement. Not yours.
Building costs are going up too. Cement, steel, bricks, labour, everything is more expensive today than it was two years ago, and it will be more expensive two years from now. The house you cannot afford to build today will cost even more tomorrow. Waiting does not make it cheaper. Waiting makes it worse.
The deposit you need is also getting bigger. As property prices rise, so does the 10 to 20 percent deposit the bank requires before they will even consider your application. The N$80,000 deposit you needed last year is N$100,000 this year. The longer you wait, the harder it gets to save enough to get through the door.
Land servicing is not keeping pace with demand. The population is growing, urbanisation is accelerating, and the supply of serviced land in our towns and cities is simply not matching. Less supply and more demand means only one thing, prices go up. And when you add speculation into the mix, people buying land not to build on but to hold and resell at a higher price, it pushes the cost even further beyond the reach of ordinary Namibians who actually need somewhere to live.
Where are the affordable housing schemes? Where are the rent-to-own programmes that exist in other countries? Where are the first-time buyer incentives? Where is the policy reform that makes land accessible to young working Namibians who are employed, paying taxes, and contributing to the economy but still cannot qualify for a home? We do not have a shortage of ideas. We have a shortage of execution.
And while all of this is happening, the market does not wait for the debate to end. It moves. Every year it moves, it moves further away from the people who need it most.
This is not financial advice, just an honest look at where we are and where we are heading if nothing changes
The Namibian Police have arrested all nine suspects, aged between 15 and 16, accused of gang-raping a 25-year-old woman at Okahandja over the weekend.
The incident is alleged to have taken place in the early hours of Sunday morning, when a 25-year-old woman was allegedly attacked and raped while walking home.
Emil Seibeb
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If you choose to save and invest today, your future self will have options. If you choose not to, your future self will have pressure. If you choose to study and build your skills, doors will open. If you choose not to, those same doors will feel permanently closed. If you choose to buy a property today, even a small one, your future self will own an asset. If you choose to keep renting, your future self will still be paying someone else's bond.
We do not live in the present alone. We live the consequences of our past actions and decisions every single day. The person you will be at 40, 50, or 60 is being built right now by the choices you are making in your 20s and 30s. The money you did not invest. The education you postponed. The property you talked yourself out of buying. The debt you chose to ignore. It all catches up.
Communication isn’t the highest form of intimacy. Understanding is. Someone can explain themselves perfectly and still feel alone if their partner only hears the words and misses the meaning. Being understood changes everything.
The stupidity of whoever places speed humps on the highway should be addressed with immediate effect!! Whoever you are, Mr/Ms workaholic, if you are running out of tasks, just go home and rest! We will call you when there is something to be done. Remove the humps and GO HOME!!😡
🚨Andrea Berta is a huge fan of Sandro Tonali and Arsenal will be in the race if the midfielder decides to leave Newcastle United this summer.
At 26-years-old, the Italian still has his best years ahead of him.