ORGANISERS of International Real Estate Conference (IREC) 2024 are convinced they made the right move to bring the event back after a five-year hiatus.

The conference comes at a time when Jamaica’s real estate market is becoming increasingly complex, there is an accompanying revamp of the institute that trains its professionals, and there are a number of legislative changes impacting the sector.

“It’s on the back of all of those changes that we said it’s a very topical time for us to get back into going out there and really educating the public about real estate,” first vice-president of Realtors Association of Jamaica (RAJ) Gabrielle Gilpin-Hudson told the Jamaica Observer.

RAJ is staging the conference at Montego Bay Convention Centre from April 18 to 20. The last two days will include a home expo that is open to the public. Topics to be discussed include the impact the real estate sector has on tourism, the role artificial intelligence plays in the industry, and how real estate is contributing to Jamaica’s economic growth.

“There have been a lot of announcements about different developments coming — whether they are infrastructure or residential or resort projects. We just really want to get out there and engage with the public, share insights, and help educate everybody so that we can ride this wave of increased interest and attention on Jamaica’s real estate market,” she added.

IREC was put on a COVID-19-induced hold after its inaugural launch in 2019, and the RAJ — mindful that it took some international players some time to again be willing to attend conferences overseas — slowly eased back into staging the symposium. With RAJ headquartered in Kingston there is also extra effort needed to stage the event in Montego Bay.

Gilpin-Hudson said this year’s iteration will offer a lot more than the inaugural event did, simply because of how far the real estate sector has come since then.

She is confident that the expertise provided by RAJ members and other experts at next week’s event will be helpful to everyone attending.

“Whether you’re a realtor, a surveyor, a valuator, an attorney, property manager; if you are an owner, if you’re looking to buy; lenders, investors — whether you’re a seasoned investor or you’re trying to look into buying your first place — there’s really something for everyone. There’s going to be insights and professionals that you can connect with. Definitely, you’ll come away from the conference feeling like you’ve got some value,” Gilpin-Hudson said confidently.