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Worldwide trust crisis forces real estate agents to adapt
South Africa - Rawson
The 2017 Edelman Trust Barometer has revealed that people around the globe are losing faith that "the system" is working in their favour.

This worldwide trust crisis has created a general climate of cynicism and fear affecting both political institutions and commercial organisations. The real estate industry is no exception and local experts say adapting is becoming essential.

"When it comes to trust, the real estate industry has more obstacles to overcome than most," says Schalk van der Merwe, franchisee for the Rawson Properties Helderberg Group.

"It's no secret that the industry of old developed a reputation for poor service and unprofessionalism. That’s no longer the case - the establishment of the Estate Agency Affairs Board has done a huge amount to improve industry standards - but the damage done to the public’s trust was severe, and we’re still fighting against those old stigmas."
Worldwide trust crisis

Residential Property Affordability
South Africa - FNB
Residential affordability improvements have been tough to achieve in 2017, with weak income growth negating positive impact of slow house price growth

Housing affordability improvements have proved to be difficult to achieve. While average house price growth is at pedestrian low single-digit rates, on a quarter-on-quarter basis it outpaced anaemic Per Capita Disposable Income growth in the 1st 2 quarters of 2017.

This has led to a slight further quarterly deterioration (increase) in the 2 key FNB Housing Affordability measures, i.e. the Average House Price/Per Capita Income Ratio Index as well as the Bond Instalment Value on the Average House Price/Per Capita Income Ratio Index, after a prior rise in the 1st quarter in both indices too.
Residential affordability

Conveyancers more than just 'middleman'
UK - Today's Conveyancer
A judge has ruled that conveyancing solicitors are acting as more than just the client’s middle man when dismissing an appeal regarding electronic searches.

In Brabners v The Commissioners for Her Majesty’s Revenue & Customs, the Law Society intervened in order to assess whether the firm was liable to pay around £68,000 in VAT on fees it owed to third-party agencies.

Brabners had received an invoice from search provider Searchflow without the addition of VAT as this was the routine practice at the time.

Treating this fee as a disbursement and therefore not part of taxable supply, Brabners invoices the client for the fee without VAT.
Today's Conveyancer

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