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International Luxury Real Estate Icon, Sarkie Ampim, Gives His Audience A Look Into The Industry 

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Sarkie Ampim is a well known figure in the international luxury real estate industry. Besides his influence throughout the market itself, he also has amassed a worldwide audience of over 100,000 followers between TikTok and Instagram. He utilizes his online presence to give individuals a true look into the life of a realtor serving luxury clients in places like London, the US, and West Africa. 

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Ampim recently spoke to USA Today about his specific approach to different markets around the world and how he utilizes social media to let his followers know about the inner workings of the multitude of real estate markets he works in. 

“You have to understand culture without losing local nuance. Trust looks different in every market. The way you earn it differs, but integrity is universal.”

To navigate the many markets and wide range of clientele Ampim works with, he knows that specificity is key. He stated that trying to deliver a universal message and technique as an agent will end up backfiring, because every client is different and has varying needs. 

Ampim prides himself in his ability to create personalized plans and strategies for every client, making him an authentic figure in real estate. 

Through Coldwell Banker Warburg, Ampim works on high-profile commercial properties, exclusive developments with first-time buyers, seasoned investors, and high-net-worth clients, according to USA Today. 

Sarkie is originally from Ghana and was raised in both England and the US. Initially, his career began in Brooklyn, NY as a Commercial Real Estate Agent. He quickly developed skills and techniques in property transactions and the market, solidifying a long lasting client base.

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“Real estate moves quickly in New York, and Ghana is catching up fast. Both markets are full of energy, culture, and opportunity. You just have to know how to navigate them.”

“I’ve always been fascinated by the way people live, how culture, design, and opportunity connect,” he said.

Sarkie moved into finance at Belstar Capital where he focused on project finance for infrastructure development in emerging markets. He then was able to gain global fluency in urban growth.

However, Sarkie always craved the world of real estate, so he eventually went back full-time to work at the boutique firm Batra Group, where he became very well known for his work as a Commercial and Residential Agent. 

“It’s about honoring where people come from and where they want to go next. I see myself as a bridge.”

“I’m passionate about bridging the gap between the U.S. and Ghana,” Sarkie Ampim says when discussing looking towards the future.

“There’s so much opportunity, and it’s filled with culture. Real estate is one of the most powerful ways to connect the diaspora.”

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China To Relax Their Internal Migration Rules To Kickstart Their Economy 

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China is moving to relax its rules on internal migration to make it easier for people to settle into smaller cities in an attempt to increase their ailing economy and provide growth, according to a government announcement this week. 

The ministry of public security (MPS) announced plans to lower the standard for receiving an urban hukou, their household registration. Beijing, specifically, wants local governments to cancel hukou restrictions in cities that have less than 3 million people, as well as relax the restrictions for cities with 3-5 million residents, according to the MPS.

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Cities with a larger population, more than 5 million people, will also be encouraged to relax their hukou quotas, to ideally allow more people to receive the highly prized urban registration documents. 

China’s national development and reform commission, which oversees economic and social policy, first announced these plans back in 2019, however, it’s not clear how many cities have actually adopted the rules. 

One of the main goals of relaxing these registrations is to encourage rural migrants to move into cities to aid the urban economy. One-third of the total working population in China, around 292 million people, are rural migrants that are working in China’s growing metropolitans.

However, these population groups don’t have proper access to public education, healthcare, and other social benefits, leading many of them to leave their families and return to villages themselves. Without urban hukou, many rural migrants are forced to pay more for social services, and are even banned from buying property in the city. 

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The hukou system also deters migrants from spending money and moving into cities long-term, which economists in China claim have impacted its growth. 

“To the extent that there is a spare capacity of workers in the rural areas to draw upon and go and work in the urban areas, easing the registration requirements may help at the margins … but I don’t think it’s really going to alleviate labor supply problems,” said George Magnus, a research associate at the University of Oxford’s center in China. 

In the second quarter of 2023, when compared to 2022, China’s economy grew by 6.3%, which was below expectations, and marked a .8% increase in the first three months of the year. 

Part of this decrease is due to the decreasing workforce in China. The number of individuals working who are aged 16 to 59 declined by more than 40 million between 2019 and 2022. 

Disney Launching Residential Communities For Fans 

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The theme park division at Disney announced that they are developing master-planned residential communities that will “meet the demand from fans looking for new ways to make Disney a bigger part of their lives.”

The project is a part of Disney’s decades-long efforts to expand into residential development. The company announced this Wednesday that “Storyliving By Disney” communities will be master-planned by Disney Imagineers, who are responsible for designing the company’s many theme parks. 

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Disney employees will operate the community associations. The company also announced that the communities will feature clubs where residents can participate in different forms of entertainment, health and wellness activities, and seminars. 

The first community is set to be developed on a 618-acre community called Cotino in Rancho Mirage, California; DMB Development is also helping bring the community to life. 

Disney plans on building full-scale residential houses, including a neighborhood specifically for individuals aged 55 and older. Mixed-use districts will consist of shopping centers, restaurants, a beachfront hotel, beach park, and a 24-acre “grand oasis” lagoon. 

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Disney is currently looking for additional community locations throughout the nation to further develop the communities. Josh D’Amaro, chairman of Disney Parks, Experiences and Products, made a statement Wednesday regarding the search:

“As we prepare to enter our second century, we are developing new and exciting ways to bring the magic of Disney to people wherever they are, expanding storytelling to Storyliving.” 

Disney’s original residential efforts began in the 1960’s when the late Walt Disney announced his plans for the Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow, or EPCOT. The initial plans were to make the residential community the centerpiece of what is now Disney World. However, when Walt Disney died in 1966, the plans were put on hold, and the EPCOT name was repurposed to be used for Disney’s second theme park. 

Disney restarted residential development in the late 80s and 90s in Florida, with a planned community of Celebration. Celebration was a small town designed by Disney to give fans a nostalgic feeling. 

Disney sold a majority of its shares in Celebration in 2004 to a private investment firm. There’s no solid timeline as to when these Storyliving communities will be available for living, but it’s the biggest effort to come from Disney’s residential sector in a while.