SANTO DOMINGO - The president of the Association of Real Estate Agents and Companies (AEI) , Alberto Bogaert, revealed that the real estate sector in the Dominican Republic "is not paralyzed," but rather needs greater opportunities and facilities to encourage investment .
This was revealed during an interview on the new episode of "La Ventana de El Inmobiliario , " where he highlighted that this scenario, which presents a slower sales pace, is occurring in high-cost units and properties aimed at the middle class.
“Those people, for example, are currently renting a lot. They prefer to rent rather than invest. Obviously, if you see a resale property at a good price, it's also selling very easily because, as I said, I don't see the market as completely paralyzed. What I see are opportunities and facilities that are perhaps a little lacking in those projects,” he indicated.
The president of the AEI specified that, in the last year, there has been a positive boom in the rental sector , comparing it to the months of May and June of 2024.
“You realize there’s an increase of up to 100% —in the number of rentals—. Prices have obviously increased as well. But when it comes to selling projects, we’re seeing a reluctance,” he stated.
Given this reality, Bogaert emphasized that incentives , such as a preferential rate at the bank, as well as benefits including appliances, motivate people to buy real estate.
“There’s a lack of incentives to motivate people to buy apartments. We see that things aren’t slow by magic; it’s simply due to high interest rates,” he emphasized.
Congress in Punta Cana: Dominican Republic as epicenter
In a dialogue with Ana María Ramos, director of the El Inmobiliario Media Group , the president of the association reported that, for the first time, the country will be the epicenter of the X Latin American Real Estate Congress (CILA) .
The meeting will take place in a historic merger with the VI International Congress of the Association of Real Estate Agents and Companies (AEI) , to be held from August 24 to 27 at the Hard Rock Hotel in Punta Cana.
delegations from 18 countries would be participating and that he would combine training, networking, and entertainment as fundamental pillars of his proposal.
He also indicated that the meeting will serve to strengthen ties with different countries, associations and colleagues, with the aim of making it a favorable setting for business in the nation.
“The content that is coming is –I would say– never seen here before–, because each of the exhibitors is coming with something new, with something created especially for this activity, for this congress,” he pointed out.
Furthermore, he noted that the topics of the congress “were rigorously chosen” to guarantee an innovative educational experience.
Alberto announced that on the first day of the event, Sunday the 24th, an official opening ceremony , scheduled for 7:00 pm.
Among the topics to be discussed on Monday the 25th, he mentioned the talk entitled “Strategic Expansion in the Caribbean,” to be given by Indhira Desangles, a local guest who has distinguished herself as a leader in the commercial real estate market.
A second talk, entitled “Innovation and purpose: customer-centric business strategies”, will be given by international guest Marcos Lobera, from Argentina.
The president of the AEI announced that a panel of Latin American presidents , the topic of which will be announced during the congress.
“These are presidents of associations from different countries who, at CILA congresses, usually hold a panel where they talk about a specific topic that will be announced at that time at that event, but, generally, it is a topic of interest to the public that gathers there,” he explained.
In the afternoon, two more talks will take place: “The current reality of the use of artificial intelligence in the real estate world”, by Pepe Gutiérrez; and “The new real estate code: How to grow 10x in the difficult real estate market”, to be carried out by Carlos Rentalo.
On Tuesday, the last day of the event , there will be two panels, a talk, a workshop, a meeting with a special guest, as well as a visit to real estate projects and a closing ceremony with the CILA awards.
The talk will be given by architect Fernando García Erviti, who will speak on the topic of “Luxury Properties: A Global Challenge.” The workshop, led by coach Ariel Castillo, will be titled “How to Manage Productive Real Estate Teams.”.
The first panel on Tuesday will be titled “Perspective and trends for real estate development in Punta Cana”.
The second dialogue table, of an international nature, will be carried out by the associations CILA, the International Federation of Real Estate Professions (Fiabci) and by the National Association of Realtors (NAR).
