New development charges bill: What it could mean for property industry
South Africa - Moneyweb
Treasury wants to boost municipal revenues through uniform regulation around property development charges.
South Africa’s already-struggling property development industry could face a heftier municipal tax burden. National Treasury is publishing a new amendment Bill, aimed at creating a legislative framework around how municipalities levy development charges for new property projects.
The Municipal Fiscal Powers and Functions Amendment Bill, which provides for uniform regulation of development charges, was released for public comment last week (January 8) and the closing date for submissions is the end of March. According to Treasury, development charges are a once-off charge levied by a municipality on a land owner as a condition for approving a land development application.
“They [development charges] are imposed to cover the costs incurred by the municipality, when installing new infrastructure or upgrading an existing infrastructure that is required to service the proposed development,” it notes in a statement.
Moneyweb
SA residential property market review and outlook
South Africa - FNB
Muted house price growth in 2019; demand-supply gap narrowing
The FNB HPI was unchanged at 3.5% y/y in December, taking the average annual house price growth to 3.6% y/y for 2019, from 3.8% y/y in 2018. This is marginally above our forecast of an average annual growth of 3.5% y/y. After a slow start to the year, the combination of a mild improvement in demand, progressive mortgage lending as well as attractive market pricing supported the residential property market in 2H19. Nevertheless, depressed labour markets continue to weigh on household finances, which poses a threat to sustained demand growth. Market strength indicators continue to show a narrowing demand-supply gap, which may have provided support to house price growth in 2H19.
Area value bands suggest that pressure persists in the “affluent” areas, while low-income areas have remained resilient. This is due, in part, to the divergent demand-supply trends in the respective segments. In 3Q19 higher-priced areas (areas whose average purchase price corresponds to the top 20% of the price distribution) averaged -0.5% y/y, while low-income areas (areas whose average purchase price is in the bottom 20% of the price distribution) averaged 16.7% y/y. Sellers in the upper end have constantly had to reduce their asking prices to close the deal, while low-income areas are also supported by robust buy-to-let activity.
Below we summarise key themes that shaped market performance in 2019 and will likely continue to have an impact this year.
FNB Property Barometer - 2019 Q4
Professional designation examination
South Africa - EAAB
THE ENROLMENT TO WRITE THE PROFESSIONAL DESIGNATION EXAMINATION ON 05 MARCH 2020 IS NOW OPEN
This serves to advise all estate agents who wish to undertake the upcoming Professional Designation Examination (PDE) scheduled to take place on 05 March 2020 that enrolment for such is now open. Enrolment is done strictly via the MyEAAB portal available on the EAAB website www.eaab.org.za and an examination candidate must be in possession of their 7 digit personal identification number or reference number to be able to enroll. The Estate Agency Affairs Board (EAAB) Call Centre, 087 285 3222 may be requested to confirm such reference number.
Eligibility
The PDE is written by registered estate agents who are certificated against or exempted from completing the prescribed qualifications.
EAAB
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