Foreign currency from mining, agriculture, infrastructure spending and the diaspora helped grow Zimbabwe’s property sector by around 5% in 2025, according to the Tigere REIT, one of the country’s key listed property investors.
Retail property competition is heating up, and winners will be those with the right tenant mix, location and willingness to redevelop, Tigere says in its 2025 results. That’s partly why Tigere is planning upgrades at Highland Park this year: “Key redevelopment and asset management changes will be implemented during 2026, which is expected to improve the tenant mix and grow revenue.”
Suburban office and retail nodes are holding up well, but CBDs remain plagued by informal trade and high vacancies.
What’s driving property? Tigere says growth is being driven by “urbanisation, residential housing demand, rising diasporan investment, and infrastructure development.”
Tigere adds: “We also take note of significant foreign currency receipts filtering through various avenues such as mining, agriculture and remittances which have all combined to support demand and price stimulation within the sector.”
In the hospitality sector, investment is growing, with fresh hotel and lodge openings. But occupancies stayed soft, showing how supply may be running ahead of demand in parts of the industry.
The strong performance of retail shows in how Tigere’s Greenfields performed in the last quarter of 2025. “The Q4 tenant turnover performance exceeded expectations, especially at Greenfields Retail Centre, with almost all the restaurants, fast food and entertainment tenants breaching monthly sales expectations in November and December,” Tigere reports.
Tigere pools investor funds into income-generating property and then pays out rental income to unitholders. In 2025, the REIT pulled in US$2.64m in rental income, up nearly 60% year-on-year. This was after it added Greenfields and ZimRe Drive Thru to a portfolio that also includes Highland Park and Chinamano Corner. For the December quarter alone, the REIT paid out US$847,250 to unitholders.
Tigere also expects to add four more yield-accretive commercial properties; Cardinals Corner, Design Quarter, Kadoma Retail Phase 1 and Gweru Phase 1.
