Although home loan payments are now more than 25%
lower than what they were in December last year there was
not much feedback from the property industry on last
week’s decision of the Reserve Bank to cut the repo rate.
I find this difficult to understand if you take in consideration
that Mboweni cited falling house prices among one of
the factors that was taken in account. One would expect the
property industry to be jubilant. Or are they just careful?
Herschel Jawitz chief executive of Jawitz Properties says
that any cut will take pressure off existing homeowners
and that property is now becoming more affordable.
MD of Rawson Properties Tony Clarke was one of the few that
was “more or less” expecting a cut in the repo rate.
“The weak domestic growth,” said Clarke,
“in my view calls for a further drop as soon as possible.”
A survey of real estate executives in 27 countries
showed South Africa, the United States and New Zealand faring
worst as the market downturn worsens. Distressed sales
of global comm. properties rise-RICS
Last week we asked you if you are thinking of upgrading your
property or even looking at building that dream home
and gave advice from two of the property industry gurus. Lew
Geffen, chairman of Sotheby’s International Realty answers
this week in Upgrade in time for the upturn
LONDON, Aug 17 (Reuters) - More countries
are seeing a rise in distressed sales of commercial
properties in the second quarter, with South Africa,
the United States and New Zealand faring worst as
the market downturn worsens, a report showed...
South Africa's gross domestic product
(GDP) growth contracted by three percent in the
second quarter of 2009, indicating that the economy
is still in recession, but with signs that a recovery
is in sight...
Tony Clarke, MD of Rawson Properties,
was one the few chief executives in the residential
real estate sector who has “more or less”
expected the latest drop in the Repo rate –
despite what he described as the SAR Bank’s
“innate conservatism”...
The strangest thing about this market,
says André Hamman director of Huizemark,
is the fact that it is perceived to be a buyers’
market characterized by a surplus of sellers, few
buyers and property prices under heavy downward
pressure...
While much is made of the effect
that lower interest rates and home loan repayments
will have on the property market, more needs to
be said about the benefits of keeping the inflation
rate on a downwards course...
Investors are beginning to re-appear
on the property scene, suggesting that the “smart
money” is seeing real opportunities at this
stage of the market cycle...
South African property owners have
over the past 20 months weathered several major
storms with commendable success – but one factor,
crime, is still a cause of concern and a serious
dampener on the property market, says Tony Clarke,
MD of Rawson Properties...
The rapid decline in the home loan
interest rate since December and the resulting increase
in affordability has set the stage invitingly for
savvy homeowners to upgrade to bigger and better
properties before prices start to rise again...
Recent months in the Anne Porter
Knight Frank sales experience have once again shown
just how complicated house sales can become when
they are caused by a divorce...
Some Cape landlords are hoping to
transform an R8 000/month rent into a R60 000 windfall
during the 2010 soccer tournament. Residential owners
in Mouille Point, Green Point, Sea Point, De Waterkant
and the city foreshore and harbour areas are apparently
planning to charge possibly five times the going
rate, writes Lanice Steward, MD of Anne Porter Knight
Frank...
I own a sectional title unit and I'm having problems
with damp in the majority of the walls. I can
only deduce that this is because of ground moisture
seepage.
Driving east from Pietersburg (Polokwane)
to Haenertsburg, the land rapidly changes from flat,
dry bushveld to steep hills and valleys covered
in lush green forests...
There may be more cold fronts coming, but the
team at the Chas Everitt Helderberg office already
have spring fever following a record month in
July in which they notched up home sales worth
more than R32m...
Luxury properties still selling
well in East London
The demand for homes in the upper sector of East
London’s property market has remained steady
in the face of the economic downturn – mostly
thanks to the fact that many buyers in this sector
have access to cash...
Statistics and figures produced by
SPS (Selected Property Services), a computerised
properties for sale information facility supported
by nine prominent estate agencies serving the Bloubergstrand,
Table View, Parklands...
To the editor
Do you think that as a homeowner that the
time is right to fix your interest rate on your
mortgage or should you wait a little longer? Send
your viewpoints to news@cyberprop.com
From the editor:
The majority feedback that we received from our
readers was that they feel it is not a good time
to fix mortgage rate as they feel interest rates
should come down more
To the editor:
How come there is always 3 and a half percent
between the repo rate and the prime rate? I understand
that this is where the banks make a profit but
when they charge 13 and a half from 10 percent
repo then they make a 35 percent mark-up but now
at a repo of 7 they make a 50 percent mark-up!
Am I understanding this correctly?
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