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Remarkable Rental Payment behaviour in Q3 2012
SA Commercial Prop News - South Africa
The Tenant Profile Network (TPN) Rental Monitor Q3 2012 report reveals that the Residential tenants’ payment behaviour improved during Q3 2012 with Tenants in good standing improved to 83% - an improvement of 2% from Q2.

Viewed against the backdrop of deteriorating consumer credit and a potential unsecured credit bubble, with house values declining in real terms and slower than expected GDP growth, it is surprising to note that residential tenants’ payment behaviour improved during Q3 2012.

Tenants in good standing improved to 83% - an improvement of 2% from Q2, which had remained flat along with the previous 3 consecutive quarters. “Tenants in good standing” is based on tenants in the Paid on Time category (71%) and the Paid Late (12%) category. One would have to go back to late 2007 and early 2008 to see rental payment performance at such good levels.
SA Commercial Prop News

Mortgage advances - October 2012
Absa - South Africa
Continued slow pace of growth in mortgage balances

Year-on-year growth in the value of outstanding credit balances in the South African household sector came to 9,3% in the first ten months of 2012, up from 9,1% as at the end of September. With growth in household mortgage balances remaining subdued, the components of household instalment sales and unsecured credit continued to drive growth in total household credit balances. Growth in instalment sales balances (15,1% share in total household credit balances) was 19,5% year-on-year (y/y) at the end of October, with growth in unsecured credit balances (21,6% share) at 26,9% y/y over the same period.

Private sector mortgage balances, comprising both commercial and residential mortgage loans, showed growth of 1,9% year-on-year (y/y) up to the end of October. The value of outstanding household mortgage balances increased by 3% y/y to R792,1 billion in the first ten months of 2012. The share of outstanding household mortgage balances in total household credit balances continued to decline, reaching a level of 62,6% at the end of October. The further decline in the share of household mortgage balances is the result of continued low growth in this component of total credit balances, while strong growth is still evident in instalment sales and unsecured credit balances, causing the share of these components to be on an upward trend.

The forecast is for year-on-year growth in mortgage balances to remain in single digits up to the end of 2012 and in 2013, based on trends in and the outlook for the economy, household finances and consumer confidence. Interest rates are projected to remain low over the next 12 months against the background of economic prospects and consumer price inflation to stay within the inflation target range of 3% to 6%, despite some upward pressure in the short term. Low interest rates for longer will continue to support the property market and the affordability of mortgage finance.
Mortgage advances Oct 2012

Tenant's bill is property owner's liability
Iol Property - South Africa
eThekwini municipality joined some of the other municipalities in introducing a change to its credit control and debt collection policy as of July 1.

The new policy makes owners directly responsible for municipal accounts for electricity and water services. Tenants are no longer allowed to maintain an account in their names.

Owners of properties now have a consolidated account in place for rates, water and electricity. Tenants do not have access to copies of the owners' accounts and pay the service charges on presentation of the municipal bill by their landlords, if these charges are not included in the rentals.

A tenant has the legal right to examine the original consolidated municipal bill before paying the landlord.
Iol Property

Seller beware: Know the real value of your home
RealNet - South Africa
The practice of estate agents “buying” sole mandates – which last reared its ugly head before the 2009 recession – is becoming prevalent again and causing market distortion in many parts of the country as well as significant financial losses for property sellers.

So says Jan Davel, MD of the RealNet estate agency group, who explains that “buying” a mandate is the practice of deliberately inflating the estimated selling price of a property in order to get the home seller to award a sole mandate.

“This is happening again all over SA,” he says, “and what’s worse is that the biggest offenders are usually not inexperienced newcomers to the industry as one might expect, but well-seasoned agents in the employ of some of the biggest-name companies in the real estate industry.”
Agents Accused of buying mandates

Multigenerational housing a major trend to watch
BetterBond - South Africa
The number of households where adult children will move back in with their parents, or ageing parents will move in with their children, is set to increase exponentially within the next few years.

That’s the word from Rudi Botha, CEO of SA’s biggest mortgage originator BetterBond, who says multigenerational housing will be one of the biggest property trends of the next few years.

Writing in the BetterNews newsletter, he quotes the findings of a new survey just conducted by US homebuilding company PulteGroup, which revealed that among respondents with children aged 16 to 30, some 14% already had at least one of those children back living with them after leaving home, and that another 31% expected at least one child to “boomerang” within the next five years.
Multigenerational housing a major trend to watch

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