Myanmar real estate news

Mingalar shop owners face sky-high rents following fire


Myanmar real estate news A wave of shop owners urgently looking for new locations after being forced out of the fire-struck Mingalar Market are struggling with inflated rents.

The blaze that engulfed Mingalar Market on January 9 spread through the third, fourth, fifth and sixth floors – gutting 1630 shops and destroying some K36 billion worth of goods. Shop owners on the first and second floors escaped the worst of the damage. But with the market closed, they are now in need of places to store and sell their products.

The president has committed to providing a temporary market for shop owners, according to an official statement. But shop owners are uncertain how long this temporary market will take to create. Some have staff owed monthly wages. And some have had bad experiences with inappropriate spaces provided after earlier fires.

The closest alternatives are nearby markets Shwe Mingalar and Shwe Pyi Sone. But prices there have already hit levels shop owners have never seen before, said Daw Nilar who owned a clothes shop on the first floor of Mingalar Market.

“The price of rents is going up and up after the fire,” she said. Shop owners said prices at Shwje Pyi Sone Market are now several times what they were at Mingalar Market.

“Rents on apartments in the township are rising too,” Daw Nilar said. “People who have money can find somewhere, but I can’t rent at these prices. I hope they [the government] will give me a place to sell. I am waiting.”

Some shop owners rent apartments for storage, which is pushing up rents. Ground floor apartments can also serve as shops, and prices for apartments on the road were rising, said one real estate broker.

“It’s not unexpected,” he said. “Huge demand and little supply means prices rise. The situation was the same in 2010. People worry about finding somewhere to sell, they don’t trust the resettlement plan and brokers know how to play the market.”

Ma Darli Lin sold longyis on the ground floor of Mingalar Market, and is struggling through her second fire. After a blaze in 2010, she was resettled in an unsuitable location, and so had to rent at a high price.

“I’m worried the same thing will happen again,” she said. “I’ve heard the price is going up and it makes me sad. I hope the resettlement location will be good for all the shop owners.”

The government has said people will be resettled in Mingalar Market car park area, but it is not clear when this will take place.

Meanwhile, nearby Taw Win Plaza is already full of former Mingalar market shop owners. Taw Win rents were K100,000 before the Mingalar market fire. They are now K300,000, and there are no free shops left, said Ma Kaythi, who worked in clothes shop on the ground floor of Mingalar Market.

“The owners of my shop are renting in Taw Win Plaza,” she said, adding that they had to pay six months’ rent in advance. “So if a temporary market is opened we’ll have to work across both areas as we’ve already paid,” she said.



Quoted from mmtimes.