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MPs adopt Property Practitioners Bill
South Africa - Business Day
The new bill aims to address the historic imbalance in the property market, where less than 6% of estate agencies are black-owned
The National Assembly has adopted the Property Practitioners Bill which will repeal the outdated Estate Agency Affairs Act of 1976 and introduce far-reaching changes to the regulation of the industry. Human settlements minister Nomaindia Mfeketo said in her speech during the debate on the bill that it was also intended to accelerate the transformation of the property sector.

It was geared to address the historic imbalance in the property market created by the legacy of apartheid, she said, and would promote the participation in the sector by previously disadvantaged individuals and companies.
Business Day

November 2018 House Price Index
South Africa - FNB
One of our expected property “themes” for 2019 is ongoing gradual real property price correction.

The FNB House Price Index continues to hover in low single digit growth territory not too far from 4% year-on-year. On a year-on-year basis, the Index’s growth rate accelerated slightly to 4.2% in November, from a slightly lower revised 4.1% rate in October.

The low single-digit growth in nominal terms continues to translate into a year-on-year price decline in “real” terms, when adjusting for CPI (Consumer Price Index) inflation. This means that the gradual housing market price “correction” continues, as it has since early-2016.

As at October 2018 (November CPI not yet available) real house prices declined year-on-year by -0.9%, with CPI inflation at 5.1% and house price growth at 4.1% in that month.
November 2018 House Price Index

Conveyancing fraud on the rise as new transparency rules kick in
UK - Estate Agent Today
It’s been revealed that 37 regulated conveyancing firms have repelled attempted frauds in the past year.But 11 conveyancing firms have actually been victims of fraud - of those, eight had experienced it once, two firms twice and the other an amazing three times.

Despite that, the regulating body the Council for Licensed Conveyancers says the sector is in good shape with almost all of its 212 members improving their work to identify or repel fraud.
Estate Agent Today

Investors wrung out to dry
South Africa - Property360
Owners are moving outside the country, as local operating costs rocket

South African property investors are being put off by the high operating costs of commercial properties and turning their sights to investing in other countries instead. Rates, taxes and electricity, in particular, are squeezing commercial property owners dry, and government needs to find a solution – and fast, says Neil Gopal, chief executive of the South African Property Owners Association (Sapoa).

These costs are a “significant portion” of the operating expenses. “We have situations where tenants are paying more rates than rental.” Gopal says locals need to stop using property rates as a mechanism to balance their books, and to, rather, look at their expenses in a “more serious manner”.
Property360

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