ACIP: A Decade Paving the Way to the Professionalization of the Paraguayan Real Estate Market

ACIP celebrates a decade of setting the agenda for real estate brokerage in Paraguay, promoting its own MLS and discussing a law to regulate and professionalize the activity.

The Association of Real Estate Brokers of Paraguay (ACIP) celebrates its tenth anniversary in 2025, consolidating its position as one of the main reference entities in the process of organizing and professionalizing the local real estate sector. Born in a context where the activity was dispersed and often sustained solely by social or personal ties, the ACIP emerged in response to a specific need: to provide institutional support to real estate agents and lay the groundwork for moving toward specific brokerage legislation, a concept already in place in more developed markets in the region and around the world.

From its inception, the association had a clear objective: to provide direction for the real estate industry. Its first president, Yamili Jara—currently vice president—was part of the founding group that launched this process. A decade later, under the presidency of Daniel Ortiz, the organization combines experience and renewal, maintaining the essence with which it was founded, while incorporating new ideas and challenges. Real Estate Broker's Day, which coincides with the founding date of the ACIP, has become an annual meeting place for industry professionals. This year, the celebration took place on the rooftop of the TRYP Hotel, with a strong presence of franchisees and companies that see the association as a key space for dialogue about the future of the business.

Daniel Ortiz - Presidente de la ACIP

One of the structural challenges facing the Paraguayan real estate market is the lack of a shared information system. The proliferation of duplicate or triplicate listings on different portals creates confusion and makes it difficult to obtain reliable data on the real estate market. A paradigmatic case is that of real estate portals, where the same property can appear listed ten times, distorting reference prices and discouraging transparency.

In more mature markets, this problem has been solved with the Multiple Listing Service (MLS), a collaborative system in which different real estate agents and companies upload their inventory to a common, organized, and standardized platform. The MLS not only prevents duplication, but also allows for the construction of solid databases, the generation of reliable statistics, and facilitates networking among professionals.

Aware of this need, ACIP launched a partnership with the ITTI Group, part of the Vázquez Group, which also owns Ueno Bank. This firm's experience developing technological solutions for the financial and data sectors made ITTI a strategic partner for the leap toward a Paraguayan MLS. The project includes the use of tools such as Place Analyzer , which uses artificial intelligence to perform comparative market analyses, optimizing decision-making.

ACIP's vision is clear: to create an MLS that is not exclusive to its members, but rather becomes an open ecosystem, capable of integrating other chambers, franchises, and eventually interested third parties. The goal is not to raise barriers, but to build bridges that facilitate more orderly and collaborative work. While the process is complex and time-consuming, the goal is to have a clear framework in place by the end of 2025 so the system can be operational in 2026.

The other major focus of the ACIP's work is the creation of a real estate brokerage law, a regulatory framework that will allow for the regulation and professionalization of the activity. Unlike other countries in the region and around the world, Paraguay currently lacks legislation regulating the practice of real estate brokerage. This means that anyone, without specific training or prerequisites, can call themselves a real estate agent and operate in the market, creating a considerable gap for both serious professionals and owners and investors who expect minimum guarantees. The lack of parameters also directly impacts the sector's credibility, as there are no clear channels where clients can file complaints or validate a broker's track record.

In neighboring markets, the situation is very different. In Argentina, for example, brokerage is regulated as a university degree of at least three years, with mandatory registration and membership in a professional association. In the United States, the system is even more demanding: two years of initial training are required, in addition to periodic renewals that guarantee the constant updating of agents. These regulations ensure that the end consumer has properly trained professionals with legal, technical, and commercial knowledge that reduces risks in often multi-million-dollar transactions. The absence of these types of requirements in Paraguay leaves clients on uncertain footing and, in a context of increasing influx of foreign capital, becomes a factor that can discourage investment.

Aware of this situation, the ACIP has been promoting for several years the drafting of a bill to serve as a starting point for national debate. This project has already gone through various stages of discussion with lawyers, corporate law experts, representatives of other chambers of commerce, and related sectors, seeking a balance between market needs and the specifics of the Paraguayan legal framework. The draft, which has been developed, aims to address three key aspects: first, establish an official registry of real estate advisors that provides clear credentials and allows for the identification of licensed professionals, with legal consequences in cases of noncompliance. Second, establish basic parameters for the collection of commissions, ensuring clear rules of the game. And third, provide greater legal certainty for all parties involved, especially foreign investors, who currently lack support in the event of conflicts or breaches of contract.

The debate, however, is not without its complexity. A real estate brokerage law not only impacts brokers and advisors, but can also conflict with the interests of developers, construction companies, land developers, and even financial institutions. Furthermore, there is the challenge of not repeating mistakes made in other countries, where excessively rigid regulations ended up limiting the entry of new players. The ACIP maintains that the future law should be pro-market, not protectionist. The goal is to create clear and fair conditions, but without erecting artificial barriers that run counter to national capital attraction policies.

The search, therefore, focuses on a delicate balance: ensuring professionalism, transparency, and legal certainty, while maintaining a flexible framework that fosters the competitiveness of the Paraguayan market. The goal is to establish regulations that elevate the level of the profession without dampening the dynamism that has characterized the sector in recent years. In the words of its proponents, the idea is to provide the market with modern tools that support both brokers and end customers, reinforcing the industry's credibility and laying the foundation for sustained and orderly growth.

In this maturation process, an emerging player has been the education system. Universities and training centers have begun offering diplomas and specialized programs in real estate brokerage and investment. This academic interest reflects the existing and growing demand for training, and that the market is beginning to value professionalism as an indispensable attribute.

The ACIP recognizes this phenomenon as a positive sign: the incorporation of training programs in the field by the academic world is an indicator that Paraguayan real estate brokerage is moving away from being viewed as an informal practice and is becoming established as a profession with more solid technical and ethical foundations.

As it turns ten, the ACIP not only celebrates a symbolic anniversary, but also reaches a turning point. With the MLS underway, a draft law in the making, and increased participation from the academic world, the current landscape reflects a sector in the midst of transition. The challenge now is to translate these advances into concrete structures that organize the present and lay the foundations for a more competitive and reliable future.

The association has a clear vision: to professionalize real estate brokerage in Paraguay, consolidate exclusivity as a common practice, and ensure credibility through registries, laws, and technological tools. As its current president summarizes, the path forward is not to build walls, but to build bridges. And it is in this process—gradual, structured, and collective—that the opportunity for the Paraguayan real estate market to reach a new level of maturity and international recognition lies.