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Entrepreneurs apply now! Business incubation programme
Property Point, a Growthpoint Properties initiative, has opened its next application window for entrepreneurs working in the property industry to join its business incubation programme.

Property Point is an enterprise initiative founded by Growthpoint Properties, South Africa’s largest JSE-listed property company. It has grown to collaborate with partners across the property industry, like Attacq, to drive enterprise development forward for the sector.

Developed as part of Growthpoint Properties’ social investment programme, Property Point has been a catalyst for successful enterprise and supplier development within the South African property industry since 2008.
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Global house price growth weakest since 2011
Global house prices shifted marginally in the year to June 2015, rising by only 0.1%. Lingering concerns over the Eurozone economy, jitters in global stock markets and discussions of when, not if, a US rate rise occurs is impinging on growth according to Kate Everett-Allen, International Residential Researcher for Knight Frank, who says as China supplants Greece as the world’s key economic concern, and emerging markets look increasingly anaemic, there is a global quest for growth which is evident at a macroeconomic level, but also when analysing house price performance.

She says annual growth of just 0.1% in the year to June represents the index’s weakest rate of growth since the final quarter of 2011. Of the 56 housing markets tracked, 27% recorded an annual decline in prices, however, back in 2011 44% of housing markets fell into this bracket.
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SA commercial property finance and market outlook
While the local commercial property finance market has been constrained by poor GDP growth, rising operating costs and low business confidence in the first half of 2015, it remains remarkably buoyant, continuing the strong trend seen over the last few years.

According to Robin Lockhart-Ross, Managing Executive of Property Finance at Nedbank Corporate and Investment Banking, a notable trend for Property Finance since the Global Financial Crisis in 2008 has been the improvement in the quality of its book. “Four or five years ago, 3.5% of our total commercial property finance book was problematic - that number is now less than 1.25%. This is a low ratio by bank standards, where anything below 2% is acceptable. Our credit loss ratio (bad debt as a function of the total book), which is usually between 0.2%-0.4%, is currently less than 0.2%”. He notes that most competitors are experiencing similar trends.
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8 ways you can add value to your home before selling
South Africans are as susceptible to trends and styles in home design and décor as any other people in the world, even when they do not realise what is influencing their choices according to Bill Rawson, Chairman of the Rawson Property Group, who says this being the case, any homeowner wanting to add value to their property, particularly if about to sell it, should consult an experienced estate agent on what features buyers today regard as popular.

If possible, Rawson says homeowners should ensure that these are incorporated in the home.

1. Colour schemes
Although white, off-white and soothing neutral toned plastered walls are still the first choice of most homeowners, Rawson says face brick is again proving popular because it offers big reductions in maintenance, particularly in the coastal areas. And in the lower and lower middle
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We bought property, tenants won't move out - help!
A Property24 reader asks:
We put in an offer to purchase in March on a property which had tenants. We were assured by the estate agent that the tenants’ lease contract ended on 30 June 2015 and they’d be out on or before that date. On 1 July, we contacted the agent who told us the tenants had refused to move out. We later found out the tenants’ lease contract in actual fact ended on 31 August and not on 30 June, as stipulated in the Agreement of Sale contract we’d signed.

In August we were informed the matter had been taken up with the High Court and that an eviction would take place.
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Tips for international property investment
For investors who are looking for ways to diversify their current portfolios and to counter the weakening rand, international property investment provides a feasible solution according to James Bowling, CEO of Monarch&Co, who says foreign property investment can spread an investor’s risk and be a cornerstone for wealth creation, provided that the necessary precautions are taken before the investment is made.

Bowling says buying a property outside of the country and investing in one of the world’s prime property destinations can create a more balanced portfolio, while providing the investor with the opportunity to reap the benefits associated with foreign property investment.
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