Property News
A recent property survey has indicated that home owners in Gauteng and the Western Cape are holding on to their assets for longer, hoping to realise higher prices in the residential market. Property giant, Lightstone’s Andrew Watt says home owners in these provinces have waited roughly six years before disposing of their property, but this [...]
Category : Property News
Banks are easing their mortgage lending criteria for new loans, thanks to a stabilising economic outlook which has helped boost the number of new home loans approved. According to research done by property analysts Lightstone for the first quarter of 2011, banks are now approving on average close to 9 000 home loans per quarter, [...]
Category : Property News
Senior property analyst Jacques du Toit says the volume of new housing units for which building plans were approved rose by a substantial 24,4% year-on-year (y/y). “The sharp rise in plans approved was a result of strong growth in the segment for houses smaller than 80 sqm and in the sector for flats and townhouses,” [...]
Category : Property News
The average property price in South Africa have dropped from about R880 000 to R820 000. Which is a decline of 6.5%, while homes in the lower end of the market have only dropped by about 0,2%.
Saul Geffen, chief executive of ooba, says that the drop in prices indicates the house prices in South Africa are continuing to decline on the back on some stronger growth that was experienced during the second half of last year.
Category : Property News
The SA Reserve Bank has left the repo rate unchanged at 5.5 percent. While, the prime rate would stay at nine percent. This was in line with market expectations and kept interest rates at its lowest level in over 30 years. This was the third consecutive meeting where it remained unchanged, after it was reduced [...]
Category : Property News
Demand for affordable housing in South Africa far outweighs affordable housing stock, particularly for properties with values below R200 000, where potential demand is in the millions. So says Lightstone property consulting, which recently undertook a survey to identify affordable areas in the country.
The chart below highlights the great demand for housing in affordable areas and particularly affordable properties with values below R200 000. It summarises the households that make up the population of South Africa by their respective income earning categories and maps these income categories to the value bands of property that would be affordable.
Category : Property News
The FNB House Price Index (HPI) for April has shown a significant increase in the number of first time buyers between the 2nd quarter of 2010 and the first quarter of 2011.
According to the index, first time buyers as a percentage of total buyers rose to 22% from 17% over the past four quarters. FNB property market analyst Ewald Kellerman says while the figures are impressive, it is important to note that they come off a low base and that the entry level buyers are still playing catch up.
Category : Property News
First time buyers are making a steady return to the residential property market in South Africa, according to new statistics, which show that they are currently responsible for almost half of all home loan applications. According to a recent Moneyweb report, research has revealed that the proportion of first time buyers as a percentage of [...]
Category : Property News
Following the decision to keep the prime interest rate unchanged at 9.0% on 20 Jan 2011, property experts have been calculating what kind of impact this will have on the property market. Dr Andrew Golding, Chief Executive of the Pam Golding group, adds that most recent interest rate decision was unsurprising, but that we could [...]
Category : Property News
With interest rates the lowest in decades, more and more investors are now targeting buy-to-let properties. With a growing shortage of good residential rental stock, particularly in the market priced below R1m, many more landlords will now be able to achieve double-digit rental increases this year.
Property pundits says it appears that the buy-to-let market has finally turned to corner, with rentals in slow decline since early 2009 now on the increase. Auction Alliance CEO, Rael Levitt predicts a strong recovery in investment buying this year.
Category : Property News
Low Interest Rates, Tight Lending Policies and High Debt Level Will Result In Some Slow But Steady Growth Predictions of 2011 seem to indicate that the local property market is set for a year of slow, but steady growth. The fireworks of earlier years – where property values were increasing by 20% each year – [...]
Category : Property News
These Standard Bank repo properties are due to go on auction shortly in Gauteng. Select and Click the reference number for more information and contact details. View more Bank Repossessed Houses Here Ref # Suburb Address Type Price Auction Date MR022847 Birch Acres House from R400 001 08-Dec-10 MR022844 Clayville House > R2 [...]
Category : Property News