What are the defining moments in the Yangon real estate/expat history?
On the business side the lifting of the US Sanctions on Myanmar in 2016 was a very important moment in Yangon real estate history. This opened up multiple opportunities for the outside world and help instilled confidence in the Myanmar real estate market.

On the expat side a defining moment was when we realized there was more than two western restaurant/bars. When I first arrived in 2014 you almost didn’t need to call anyone because you knew exactly where other expats would be that night. The development of the restaurant and bar scene in Yangon has been amazing to watch over the last three years

Where are the key emerging markets that people should be looking to in Yangon that you think will have upside? 
The development of the industrial sector is a key stage for the growth of Myanmar. While it is not a glamorous sector it lays the foundation in the country and in the end helps create jobs, which in turn will put money back into the economy. 

Why did you first come to Yangon to focus on property?
At the beginning of 2014 I was working in property back in New York and decided that I wanted to move abroad. I was putting no limitations on locations and was looking at many major cities all over the world. To be honest Myanmar was not really on my radar, but one of my good friends from the US was already living here and told me to look into it. I started doing research and six months later I was on a plane heading to Yangon.

What advice would you have for those looking to come into markets like Myanmar and set up business?
Have patience and be flexible in your requirements. We see a lot of companies looking to enter the market with unrealistic timeframes and expectations. It is a big part of our job to manage the expectations of our clients and make it as seamless of a transition into the country.

How do you best help a buyer or tenant?
Finding and leasing office space is conducted through a proven process, where we apply our people and resources to translate office space and facility requirements into defined strategies. We undertake leasing assignments by combining our long term know-how of the market with the support of proprietary database, financial tools, site selection mapping and move management techniques to deliver the most efficient and effective tactical implementation for our clients.

How do you best help a vendor selling / leasing their property? 
The benefit of using Colliers is we have the local knowledge with a global reach. We have personally created a data base of the office tenants in Yangon and when you combine that with our regional relationships with multi-national corporations we can assure the landlord we will be bringing quality tenants to their buildings.

What would you like to see changed in the industry in 5 years?
The biggest one at the moment is the altering of the parking regulations of 1.2 spaces per unit for condominiums in Yangon to something more reasonable. The current requirements are severely hurting the feasibility of the condo market as a whole. 

We would also like to see the standardization and updating of the title system for land in Myanmar to create better transparency and organization going forward.

What are some key opportunities in the marketplace at the moment?
A key opportunity in the market place over the last year has been international standard office space. With the lower prices and less stringent LandLord commercial terms it is a great time to move into proper office space. Now clients can go into an international standard building for similar monthly rental rates as less efficient villas.

What advice do you have for people looking to rent office space in Yangon?
First we would recommend reaching out to Colliers. Second Yangon is still very much an emerging market and supply is still limited compared to the surrounding countries It is important to keep an open mind and be flexible with your requirements. In a place like this the most important thing is to have an office space that is functional, has consistent power supply and has good Internet. 

Who are currently leasing office space in Yangon? where is demand coming from, where is the interest focused at the moment? 
Currently we are seeing a lot of movement of multi-national corporations that are already based in the country moving from informal office space such as villas and condos into international standard commercial space. With the significant amount of supply that has come online the price of international standard office space has come down to an affordable rate with more flexible commercial terms.

Where do you see the Yangon Office market in 10 years?
Overall with the development of the market we see there to be much more price stability due to less severe fluctuation in supply and demand. At the moment you are seeing such drastic price swings because the amount of supply can double with two large buildings coming online and there not being the demand to keep up.

For more information about the Myanmar property market email Paul Ahlgrim via the contact details below.

This article was first published on Mingalar Real Estate Conversation.

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