FNB Property Barometer - Emigration selling
FNB - South Africa
"The brain drain appears to have slowed, and the opportunity in weak global economic times lies in the relatively strong availability of skills for non-cyclical sectors”.
Since the 1st quarter of 2008, when we began to ask agents surveyed in the FNB Estate Agent Survey to provide us with estimates as to the reasons that people sell homes, emigration selling has never been lower than in 2011, when expressed as a percentage of total residential selling.
Integrated housing developments to help with SA's housing backlog
Polity - South Africa
Integrated housing developments could play a key role in assisting government in tackling its housing backlog, Calgro M3 Holdings CEO Ben-Pierre Malherbe said on Wednesday.
There is currently a backlog of some 2.1-million subsidised houses, excluding previously built units demolished as a result of quality issues, and government has also committed to providing 80 000 social housing rentals opportunities in the next four to five years.
The company, which is involved in integrated housing development projects throughout the country, said it hoped to build over 25 000 units over the next five to seven years in South Africa, with each unit able to support about five to six people. Construction was not the concern in developing such a housing model, but rather development finance, Malherbe said.
Polity
Homeowners holding on to property for longer
RealEstateWeb - South Africa
Hoping to realise higher prices in the residential market
JOHANNESBURG – A recent property survey has indicated that home owners in Gauteng and the Western Cape are holding on to their assets for longer, hoping to realise higher prices in the residential market.
Property giant, Lightstone’s Andrew Watt says home owners in these provinces have waited roughly six years before disposing of their property, but this waiting period seems to have increased to eight years, with the exception of KwaZulu-Natal. What has also emerged is a spike in house prices in the Eastern Cape over the past few months, but Watt says it is too early to speculate on the reason for this.
Watt says house price inflation remains relatively muted although it is still positive with the affordable market remaining the pick of the value segments. Recent statistics gauging property price growth over the mid to long term, have shown the top performing luxury suburbs were, not surprisingly, in the Western Cape.
RealEstateWeb
Rode - House prices to fall 15%
Fin24 - South Africa
Johannesburg- Prospects for the housing market are dismal for the next few years, the Rode Property Conference was told on Wednesday.
Property valuer and economist Erwin Rode said in his presentation that the housing market would be especially affected as consumers’ disposable incomes would remain under pressure for another few years.
Consumers will therefore be in no position to take on additional debt.
He also believes real house prices will decline a further 10% to 15% over the next five years. As far as nominal house prices are concerned, he expects growth of 2% a year for the next five years, assuming inflation of 5%.
According to the latest ooba house price index the average house price in July, at R821 579, was 3.4% down from R850 763 in July 2010.
But although house prices are currently under huge pressure, South African homeowners who have owned their homes for the past 15 years have experienced exceptional house price growth compared with those who have owned their dwellings for the past five years.
Fin24.co.za.
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