Zimbabwe’s 2025/26 National Budget, and what it really means for the 2026 property market: Part 1
Reading the Budget Part 1
The 2025/26 National Budget is not a property-sector document, but it sets the conditions under which all property decisions will be made in 2026.
While mainstream commentary has focused on revenue measures and the politics of the ZIG consolidation, the deeper story is this:
This Budget quietly resets the operating environment for real estate, not by stimulating it, but by forcing a more disciplined market.
Most players won’t see this shift until Q2–Q3 2026.
onBoulevard is publishing this issue because the market is reading the Budget at face value.
You shouldn’t.
QUICK BUDGET SUMMARY [The Property-Relevant Version]
Here are the only tenets that matter to real estate, extracted and summarised:
1. ZIG Consolidation → Push toward a Single Domestic Currency
The Budget reaffirms the direction: ZIG becomes the functional anchor.
USD will still circulate, but the policy preference is unmistakable.
This reduces short-term confidence but increases medium-term predictability.
2. Tax Tightening (IMT, Customs, VAT Enforcement)
The government intends to widen the tax net and enforce compliance.
Not property-specific, but construction-importers (finishings, fixtures, fittings) will feel it.
Developers operating on thin margins will be squeezed.
3. Infrastructure Allocations (Energy, Roads, Water)
More capital is being directed toward backbone infrastructure, not vanity projects.
Cluster developments benefit most; peri-urban areas benefit next.
Water & power stabilisation = higher building confidence.
4. Formalisation Push
SMEs, informal traders, and small-scale operators now face registration pressure.
For property, informal developers get boxed in as compliance requirements rise.
Cleaner, more traceable development pipelines in 2026.
5. Conservative Fiscal Stance
The Budget is defensive, not expansionary.
No major stimulus → property won’t get speculative liquidity.
But inflation containment supports long-term price realism.
The onBoulevard Budget Read
Most commentary says the Budget creates uncertainty.
That’s surface-level.
The contrarian truth:
1. A stronger ZIG reduces property speculation, not increases it.
People assume a tighter domestic currency pushes buyers into land as a hedge.
Historically true.
Not in this environment.
Why:
The government is tightening compliance.
Title regularisation is rising.
Land scandals are politically costly, so oversight is increasing.
Property sellers can’t just “price in USD and move.”
2026 = fewer panic purchases, more scrutiny.
2. Construction inflation will stabilise, and possibly fall.
Consensus: “Taxes increase costs → building becomes more expensive.”
Half-true.
onBoulevard read:
The Budget’s heavier compliance on import channels reduces price arbitrage, not inflates it.
Smuggling margins collapse → real market prices emerge.
Infrastructure spending reduces project delays → lowers overruns.
Net effect: 2026 is the first time in years with predictable cost curves.
3. Developers with weak compliance models will start disappearing.
Not because of the Budget itself.
But because the Budget enables something bigger:
A more formal property market.
When:
tax enforcement tightens,
import paperwork is scrutinised,
and cluster projects must prove servicing, informal operators lose a competitive advantage.
Expect:
consolidation,
paused projects,
distressed developers.
This becomes opportunity-rich for disciplined buyers.
4. Cluster Developments Become the 2026 Kingmaker
Not because they are fashionable, but because:
they fit infrastructure priorities,
align with urban densification goals,
use more predictable materials,
offer faster capital cycles,
and are easier to regulate.
2026 cluster projects will outperform stand-alone peri-urban plots by a wide margin.
5. Liquidity Won’t Return, and That Is Good
No Budget-based stimulus means:
fewer speculators,
fewer overnight millionaires,
fewer artificial price spikes.
Most people think this slows the market.
It actually cleans it.
2026 will be the year when genuine value differentiates from noise.
Implications for Market Participants
1. Verification becomes non-negotiable.
This Budget supports stricter governance.
Buyers who verify win; those who gamble lose.
2. USD-only pricing will face pressure.
As ZIG strengthens and compliance enforcement rises, dual pricing becomes politically untenable.
3. Cluster projects with audited servicing win.
Serviced water, power plans, and onsite drainage; these outperform all else.
4. Developers who survive 2025 will be the strongest in 2026.
This Budget filters out weak operators by design.
5. 2026 becomes a “Price Realism” year, not a “Price Run” year.
It’s a year for strategic buying, not hedging panic..
Closing & Why onBoulevard Wrote This Issue
We wrote this issue and are actually committing to a 3-part series deep diving into this topic, because the market is reacting emotionally.
Some believe the ZIG will kill liquidity.
Others believe it will trigger a stampede into land.
Both are misreads.
onBoulevard exists to give the market intelligence, not speculation.
This Budget doesn’t crash the property sector.
It doesn’t ignite it either.
It resets it in a way that only disciplined investors and verified buyers will benefit from.
That’s why this analysis matters.
Because 2026 won’t belong to the loudest players.
It will belong to the clearest and most prepared
Which side are you?
— Zivanai
Founder, onBoulevard
NEXT STEPS
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