Web Bytes 229

Property: Can things get any worse?
RealEstateWeb - South Africa
More dismal property price figures, but economists reckon your home loan bill will soon be 30% lower than in December.

More dismal property price statistics were released on Wednesday, showing values falling by as much as almost 8% year-on-year, but economists reckon they can see conditions improving before the year is up.

That's provided, of course, SA Reserve Bank Governor Tito Mboweni keeps chopping the interest rate so that we're not far off the 10,5% we were enjoying before it started ticking steadily up from June 2006.

If economists are right, you can expect your debt bills to drop by roughly 30% of what you were paying in December within the next few months.

FNB's House Price Index for March showed South Africa's house prices down by about 8% compared to the same time last year.
Real Estate Web

Richard Gray wants mortgage origination industry regulated
RodneyHayter.com - South Africa
There have been calls for the government to regulate the local bond origination market with industry leaders indicating legislation would ensure consumers received expert advice when dealing with a relatively-unchartered financial service.

A relatively new industry locally, bond origination has seen substantial success in Australia and is the business of finding mortgages that suit the specific needs of individual home owners. The key lies in giving clients a choice of banks and thus providing a hassle-free service without incurring additional costs.
RodneyHayter

Calculators on the house
Personal Finance - South Africa
Use these free online tools to find out whether you qualify for a home loan and what your monthly repayments will really cost you.

Anyone who is in the market for buying a home that will be financed through a home loan first needs to check up on how much they can afford to borrow.

Even if you are already a homeowner with a mortgage bond, you can't make assumptions - based on what you have borrowed in the past and the increase in your earnings - about the size of the loan for which you will qualify.
Personal Finance

Land Registry online pilot role
The Northern Echo - UK
LEGAL firm Punch Robson has been selected by the Land Registry to help pilot new online services that could speed up conveyancing transactions and help drive down the cost to house buyers and sellers.

Land Registry Direct, the Land Registry's existing online information service for business users, will be withdrawn next year and replaced by the Land Registry portal - effectively a gateway to all of the government agency's electronic services, including e-conveyancing.
The Northern Echo