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Be your own real estate agent
Fin24.co.za - South Africa
With all the online real-estate information available to home sellers nowadays, it's not surprising that some of them consider selling without the help of a real estate agent.

The biggest advantage of the for-sale-by-owner strategy is that a commission won't need to be paid to a listing agent. But those taking on the job themselves need to roll up their sleeves and prepare for a little work to get the property sold, understanding that they will be the ones taking care of tasks ranging from marketing to showing the property to interested buyers.
Fin24.co.za

Take your pick
Financial Mail - South Africa
Don't underestimate the speed at which property investment is globalising - or the range of opportunities emerging for SA investors.

Real estate investment trusts (Reits), the international form of listed property funds, are now found in 29 countries. They have firm growth ahead of them, despite nervous financial markets. The shopping centres, offices and factories they own are fundamentally sound, with growing demand for space and rising rents as the world economy forges ahead.

South Africans have a growing choice of international property investment funds that don't need exchange control permission.

These offer forward yields from Liberty International's 2,7% to the 7,3% of a new entity, Fortress Reit Fund, recently launched by local listed fund Diversified. That is a higher yield than many local funds. Other rand-denominated funds are unit trusts such as the Marriott global real estate and Stanlib international property fund. You can also get offshore exposure through listed fund Redefine. It is the biggest shareholder in Ciref, a London-listed property fund launched by Coronation and run by South African Mike Watters.
Financial Mail

Soaring Cape property prices
Iafrica.com - South Africa
Anyone sceptical about Cape Town residential property's ability to continue to increase in value well ahead of the inflation rate should take a look at the sales figure for February.

According to Bill Rawson, chairperson of Rawson Properties, the latest Residential Property Price Ranger figures show that February turn-over and average sales values were the highest ever.

"They beat the figures of March 2006 which were inflated by many buyers delaying transfer to get the benefit of transfer duty reductions," he said.

Double national average
February sales are up year-on-year by 19.6 percent, giving a total sales figure for the greater Cape Town area of around R1944-billion.

Equally impressive is the fact that the average sales price in the greater Cape Town area is now R1.58-million, which is almost double the national average, now hovering around the R820 000-mark.
Iafrica.com

Building plans passed in Jan up 0.6%
Business.iafrica.com - South Africa
Statistics South Africa reported on Tuesday that the real value of building plans passed in January 2007 increased by 0.6 percent year-on-year from the 9.6 percent decline in December.

The total real building plans passed increase for 2006 has been set at 2.4 percent. Residential building plans were down -10 percent year-on-year from -20.7 percent year-on-year in December, and a total -1.9 percent year-on-year decline for 2006.

Non-residential building plans passed were reported to have increased 20.3 percent year-on-year in real terms from the 39.2 percent year-on-year increase in December and the 21 percent year-on-year overall increase in 2006.
Business.iafrica.com