Residential property prices in South Africa rose for a fifth month in December after the central bank cut interest rates and the recession ended, according to the country’s biggest mortgage lender.

The average house price rose 4.7% to 1 million rand ($134,454) last month from a year ago, after gaining 3.4% in October, Johannesburg based Absa said.

However , the increases have not dampened activity in the market with demand for residential properties rising. Many experts have attributed this to the Soccer World Cup due in a few months.

According to Joina Properties, a leading Property Group focusing on South Africa and Zimbabwe in their report, South Africa 2010 – A property market perspective “Increased buyer confidence in the market will remain unchanged for about 8 to 14 months after the World Cup. The expexted level of activity will however not reach the boom years of 2003 and 2007, mainly due to the current stringent lending policies by banks.”

“Technology and the internet will help the South Africa property market to see a significant movement towards an efficient property market with better marketing campaigns” said Chipo Madusise, CEO of Sabi Digital, a leading Digital Marketing Agency in the report.

Increased efficiencies and expected increased lending will ensure that demand keeps expanding resulting in a positive effect on real estate values going forward.

Article by: Seeraj Mohamed - www.engineeringnews.co.za