Web Bytes 175

Estate agents settle for one association
Business Day - South Africa
The National Association of Real Estate Agencies (NAREA) and the Institute of Estate Agents of South Africa (IEASA) have announced they are uniting.

The move is expected to be welcomed by real estate agents because for more than a year and a half there have been divisions in the real estate industry with two bodies separately representing members' interests.

Willie Marais, national president of IEASA, said yesterday the two organisations would join together under the IEASA banner.
Business Day

Lending a hand
Iafrica.com - South Africa
South African banks are doing everything in their power to assist struggling and defaulting bondholders sort out their positions before they proceed with legal action, says Alliance Group Chief Executive, Rael Levitt. "Assisting struggling homeowners seems to be a worldwide trend", explains Levitt. "Recently in the United States, as the world's largest residential property market faces its worst housing slump in more than two decades, the Bush administration announced a new initiative aimed at helping homeowners about to lose their homes".
IAfrica.com

How will the electricity crisis affect property?
Rode's Property News - South Africa
Prior to the recent paralysis of the mining industry, most South Africans probably did not fully appreciate the extent of the country's electricity problems and the implications they hold for the economy - and hence the property market.

Commenting on the relationship between economic growth and electricity consumption, property economist Erwin Rode, from Rode & Associates, notes: "We built a simple statistical model using data for the past 10 years, which shows that a 1% increase in economic growth was accompanied by an increase in electricity consumption of roughly 0,8%. This shows that in a modern economy growth in economic activity is highly dependent on the availability of electricity - in case we needed any reminding."
Rode's Property News

Land reform failure rate may be 50%
Business Day - South Africa
The government has admitted to a significant degree of failure in achieving the sustainable agricultural development of rural communities benefiting from land reform policies.

The failure rate could be as high as 50%, Thozi Gwanya, the acting land affairs director-general and former chief land claims commissioner, said at the launch of the land affairs department's Settlement and Implementation Support strategy yesterday.

This indicated the need for post-settlement support for land reform beneficiaries.
Business Day