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Weekly Property News
Friday, 11 September, 2009 |
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FROM THE EDITOR |
Royalty in trouble? Prince Charles found himself in trouble
with many British architects as he promotes classical designs
over modern “carbuncles”. His hostility to modern
architecture but his longstanding design crusade is now drawing
accusations of abuse of power. "It is unfortunate if
anybody uses their position in public life to exert undue
influence on a democratic process such as planning,"
Ruth Reed told the BBC on Tuesday, the day after becoming
the Royal Institute of British Architects RIBA's first female
president.
I cannot help to wonder what would happen if President Zuma
would speak about architecture designs. Would he be able to
charm the architects as he has charmed his wife and nation?
Headlines: Good news for South Africans; the August
oobarometer price index recorded an increase in year-on-year
house prices of 6.9 percent; Property Slump over
Market update: Although the Reserve Bank’s new
mortgage loan numbers remain weak, the mildly diminished rates
of year-on-year decline in the value of new mortgage lending
indicate a household sector that has begun to respond positively
to sharp interest rate cuts. This is good news because almost
all the banks have now announced a relaxation in mortgage
lending, which bodes well for the property sectorHow a consortium
of Malaysian developers is taking the destination to the buyer;
New Home Loans show effects of interest rate cuts
Marketing focus: Property websites receive record
number of visits. You can nominate our property portal CyberProp.com
for the 2009 E-Commerce awards as your favorite property portal.
Nominate
Us Now
To follow up on their Google mapping Google announced that
they are expecting to introduce their Street View option very
soon in South Africa. They will be collecting images through
Street View cars that are fitted with cameras that records
the images as the cars are driving. These images are then
put together to give you a “street view” of a specific
location. According to Google it has benefits for house hunters.
Send your view to news@cyberprop.com
Enjoy!
The editor
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CyberProp
Property Count: 11/09/2009 |
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Now |
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Properties for Sale: 134,533
Properties to Rent: 10,391
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Real
Estate News International |
| Mortgage
rates dip, still above record lows (USA) |
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Average rate for a standard 30-year, fixed-rate
loan is 5.07 percent.
Rates for 30-year home loans ticked down for
the second-straight week, remaining close to record
lows reached over the spring...
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Local News |
| Property
slump is over! |
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The August oobarometer price index
recorded an increase in year-on-year house prices
of 6.9 percent... |
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| New
Home Loans show effects of interest rate cuts |
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Although the Reserve Bank’s
new mortgage loan numbers remain weak, the mildly
diminished rates of year-on-year decline in the
value of new mortgage lending indicate a household
sector that has begun to respond positively to sharp
interest rate cuts... |
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| Absa
offers 100% home loans |
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Mortgages of 110 percent are now available to
low income earners, ABSA said on Monday as it
adjusted its lending criteria...
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| Do
careful sums before adding to your home |
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Building on a flat or adding a cottage to an
existing home has become an increasingly popular
idea in recent times, as many families look to
reduce living costs by housing more than one generation
on the same property, or raise their incomes by
taking in tenants...
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| Sellers
of homes – beware |
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Anton du Plessis, CEO of Vineyard Estates, has
pointed out that regardless of how small the balance
owing on the mortgage bond might be, if the seller
does not give the bank three months’ notice
of his intention to cancel his bond...
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| Should
you pay for ‘res’ or buy student accommodation? |
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Students who choose to study away from home need
accommodation, and at this time of the year that
always raises the question for parents of whether
they should plan to pay for ‘res’ or
other rented space, or decide to buy their own
student flat or house...
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Google's
gift to thieves
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Close your curtains - Google's new
Street View facility is coming to your suburb soon
and security experts and civic leaders warn it is
a potential tool for criminals and a gross invasion
of privacy... |
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| Real
estate mogul Barak Geffen dies |
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BARAK Geffen, 35, of the Geffen real estate dynasty,
has died.
Barak was the son of Lew Geffen, co-owner of
Sotheby’s International Reality South Africa
and grandson of Aida Geffen of Aida Properties...
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News
From |
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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;
- Constantia
- George
- Ballito
| In
the Area 2 - George |
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Luxury sells in George
Homes at the upper end of the market are still
selling well in George on the Garden Route, says
Gerhard Hoepfner, new owner of the local Aida
franchise...
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| In
the Area 3 - Ballito |
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Things weren’t looking good
early this year for Ballito, the town north of Durban
made famous a decade ago by the plush golf estate
Zimbali... |
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To the editor |
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To the editor: Article on retirement
destinations
It is such a shame that South Africa is
not on the list for preferred destinations
for retirement, as our beautiful country
has qualities sometimes unappreciated by
its resident citizens….. I wish they
could leave the country for a while, as
we have been forced to do, and then they
would be astounded at the high standards
both in South Africa’s natural environments,
and man-made infrastructures, that we enjoy
here…..
However…… the senseless crime
in South Africa MUST, and does, have an
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influence on foreign investors, especially
those thinking of a safe haven in which
to retire. I think media tools such as Cyberprop
should endeavour to inform the public and
the government of facts such as your article
. Over and over again….even ad nauseum….
We cannot become complacent or try to mask
the problem by never talking/writing about
it WHERE IT MATTERS!
Thank you for an interesting magazine,
I look forward to receiving it and keeping
abreast with property news in SA, in preparation
for our re-entry in the new year.
Best regards,
Maria Haenen
Dar es Salaam
Tanzania
From the editor: Thank you for your
email Maria. I can tell you that South Africa
will welcome you with open arms
Send us your comments to news@cyberprop.com
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