'Silent expropriation' practices in sectional title properties
IolProperty - South Africa
A Cape Town property lawyer has warned of the potentially disastrous consequences for buyers of sectional title properties who risk losing their garages, parking bays and gardens if they assume these exclusive use areas are automatically transferred to them on purchase.
Aidan Kenny, a director at Werksmans Attorneys, said sectional title schemes provided for exclusive use areas such as gardens, parking bays and garages.
"The Sectional Title Act provides for two mechanisms in terms of which an owner of a unit can become entitled to an exclusive use area. The first mechanism is by virtue of a title deed registered at the Deeds Office.
"The second mechanism is by virtue of the rules of the body corporate, where the exclusive use area is allocated to a specific owner in terms of the rules."
He said that in terms of the second mechanism, the owner of a unit cannot transfer the exclusive use area by virtue of registration at the Deeds Office. When the owner transfers the unit, the new owner becomes entitled to the use and enjoyment of the exclusive use area.
IolProperty
Rise of the millennials: a property revolution
Rawson - South Africa
YOLO (You Only Live Once) doesn’t sound like much, as far as creeds go, but this humble acronym and the generation that coined it are having a serious impact on industries and economies worldwide. The South African property market is no exception, and real estate agents are finding both challenges and opportunities in the wake of this non-traditional and tech-savvy generations’ increasing buying power.
“The millennial market is huge,” says Schalk van der Merwe, a Rawson Property Group franchisee based in the Helderberg Basin. “They make up 26% of our entire population, and are now at an age where they are having an increasing influence in the property market.”
FNB statistics place 44% of South African property buyers in the under-40 age category – prime millennial territory.
“As agents, this is a massive opportunity,” says van der Merwe, “but it does mean that we need to adjust our approach to suit the needs and attitudes of a new kind of buyer.”
Rawson
Property Barometer - Estate Agent Home Selling Survey
FNB - South Africa
Further signs of tightening Household Sector finances on the “Sell-Side”. City of Cape Town appears to show the strongest Household Sector financial strength.
The multi-year stagnation in South Africa’s economy continues to suppress Consumer Confidence, and this in turn appears to have led to a more cautious Household sector.
This caution is most visible in the percentage of sellers selling in order to upgrade homes. This points to mounting financial limits, and increased household caution. However, there has only been a minor rise in financial stress-related home selling to date.
The largest motive for selling remains the ageing segment of the Household Sector downscaling to smaller properties “due to life stage”. A key indicator of perceived “relative opportunity” between South Africa and other countries, for skilled labour, is the percentage of sellers selling in order to emigrate. This motive for selling remains moderate, but has been elevated since 2013.
Property Barometer
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