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Weekly Property News
Friday, 07 May, 2010 |
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FROM THE EDITOR |
Dear Reader
How to handle increased costs? This is for sure not an easy question to answer. All I can tell you is that you will have to do it with care and intelligently. Increases of costs is “the” one issue that will not go away and day by day we see the property industry hit hard with increases like electricity, interest hikes etc
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Headlines: “JSE-listed steel producer ArcelorMittal South Africa (AMSA) confirmed to Engineering News Online on Monday that the price of flat and long steel for delivery from June 1, 2010, would increase by between 2% and 17%, depending on product type – news of the increase was met with anger by steel consumers.” And this is happening all over;
An increase of between 6.2 percent and 43 pecent is proposed by South Africa’s water boards. Water tariff hikes on the cards.
Proposed changes to the Municipal Property Rates Act would result in homeowners paying more. This is the fears that was downplayed by Deputy Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs Minister Yunus Carrim on Monday. Homeowners to pay more?
Market news: House price growth increased modestly in April, rising to 2% y/y from 0.5% y/y in March, taking the median property loan financed by the bank to R571 000 from R550 000 in February. This growth remains modest in comparison to other indicators that are signalling a stronger turnaround in the appetite for mortgage finance. We believe that this growth rate reflects a healthy improvement in line with the current business cycle dynamics, as a steeper acceleration relative to economic activity is deemed risky during the early phases of economic recovery. A healthy recovery underway
Enjoy!
The editor
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Local
News |
| SA border towns booming |
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Increasing cross-border trade and traffic between South Africa and Mozambique via the Maputo Corridor is creating positive spin-offs for the property market in neighbouring towns such as Nelspruit, Komatipoort and Malelane...
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| Knight
Frank Prime Central London Index April 2010 |
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South Africa’s financial institutions have
taken the brunt of the blame for not approving
more mortgage finance, which many believe would
go a long way to further stimulating trade within
the property market...
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| Buyers
must do their homework |
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Adrian Goslett, CEO of RE/MAX of Southern Africa
explains how, where and why buyers should do their
homework before purchasing a property...
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| Existing
bonds can be converted to access bonds |
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With buy-to-rent investors once again moving
back into the residential property sector, it
is becoming clear that as a result of the National
Credit Act certain applicants no longer qualify
for the sort of bonds that they were able to get
previously...
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| Concerns
about reverse mortgages |
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There has been an increase in the number of financially
hard-hit pensioners applying for reverse mortgages
on their homes, say financial advisers...
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| From
debt comes distress |
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According to the National Credit Regulator (NCR),
the credit standing of consumers has continued
to deteriorate, with data indicating that the
number of credit-active consumers increased to
about 18 million in the third quarter of 2009,
up from 17,8 million in the second quarter...
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| Some
developers saw recession coming |
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Although the worst effects of the recession are
now tailing off, property development and construction
companies still have a long hard road to walk
before anything like “normal” trading
conditions are seen again, says Paul Henry, Managing
Director of Rawson Developers and Rawson Construction....
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Investors
returning to buy-to-let property
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There has this year, says Tony Clarke, MD of
Rawson Properties, been a steady stream of investors
returning to the buy-to-let residential property
market – and the reason for this, he says,
is that the returns here are now looking better
and better...
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| SMME's
the neglected key to property growth |
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Small to medium enterprises (SMME’s) are
the key to further solid, broad based recovery
of the property market and there’s a strong
case to be made for nurturing this market through
fresh incentives...
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| Obstacles
for the unwary in Insolvency Act |
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If you’re one of the many thousands of people
who’ve decided to run a business from your
home, you may not now be able to sell that property
legally unless it has first been advertised in
the way prescribed by the Insolvency Act –
even if you are not about to go insolvent...
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| Truth
or Dare? |
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So, you want to reclaim some land, build an island
paradise containing some 500 residential apartments,
maisons and luxury villas, add retail outlets,
restaurants and a hotel component and, of course,
make it commercially viable...
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| Kelvin
Grove Property Breakfast |
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With interest in buy-to-let residential properties
stimulated by the lower prices now available and
the lower interest rates, and with investors increasingly
spreading their portfolios to take advantage of
bargain buys, Rawson Auctions...
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| Water tariff hikes on the cards |
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Deputy Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs Minister Yunus Carrim on Monday downplayed fears that proposed changes to the Municipal Property Rates Acts would result in homeowners paying more... |
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| Homeowners to pay more? |
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Deputy Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs Minister Yunus Carrim on Monday downplayed fears that proposed changes to the Municipal Property Rates Acts would result in homeowners paying more... |
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CyberProp
Property Count: 07/05/2010 |
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Focus
On |
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Search
For Properties |
Search for property in your area
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In
the Area |
The areas we are going to take a closer look at this
week are;
- East London
- Pretoria (Wilgers)
- The Cape
| In
the area 1 - East London |
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There’s a buzz at the lower end of the
East London market
There’s lots of action right now in the
East London property market, and especially in
the lower-priced sectors...
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| In
the Area 2 - Pretoria (Wilgers) |
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Demand high in Wilgers and surrounds
Activity in the property market in Wilgers and
surrounding areas in Pretoria has picked up dramatically...
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| In
the Area 3 - The Cape |
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Rentals on Cape homes now moving upwards
Rentals on Cape homes are now moving upwards
and returns of 7% or 8% per annum are now quite
common, says Lanice Steward, MD of the estate
agency Anne Porter Knight Frank...
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To
the editor |
| Tourists
bowled over by new airport |
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A group of 70 German tourists were
among the first international visitors
to use Durban's new R7,2-billion King
Shaka International Airport, when
they arrived at the airport on Sunday
to be greeted by a colourful dance
group of Zulu women...
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Send your viewpoint to news@cyberprop.com
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News
from IOEA |
| Propstats
figures confirm Western Cape's upswing in sales |
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Reports from several Cape estate agencies that
their turnovers have risen quite noticeably this
year appear to be part of a general upturn recorded
by most of the more reputable estate agencies,
says Annette Evans, Manager of the Western Cape
Institute of Estate Agents...
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