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Weekly Newsletter
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Friday, 31 July , 2009
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| >> Real Estate news – North Africa is a safe investment |
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Sports Cities International (SCI) is a subsidiary of the UAE-based Bukhatir Group. The giant US $4.9 billion (AED17.9 billion) project will be constructed across 2.6 million square metres in the Lac de Tunis area in the northern suburbs of the Tunisian capital...
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| >> Residential property prices in South Africa show year on year rise |
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The average price of a property in South Africa increased by 1.2% year-on-year in June, according to the latest property price index...
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| >> Your house will be worth less by Xmas |
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House prices were forecast to decline by about 3.5 percent in nominal terms this year after growing by 3.7 percent in 2008, Absa analyst Jacques du Toit said in the bank's latest housing review. In real terms (where the effects of inflation have been factored in) prices were set to drop by around 10.0 percent this year, taking into account projections for consumer price inflation and nominal price growth...
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| >> Refuel property market, please Pravin |
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Tax authorities, we are told, are focusing efforts on high net worth individuals, particularly those with offshore assets in an attempt to meet South African Revenue Service (SARS) 2009-2010 targets. Stats SA reveals an alarming number of job losses amid the recession, saying this week that another 302 000 have joined the ranks of the unemployed. This in turn means increased reliance on the country's 5m registered taxpayers...
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| >> So you want to be a property investor? |
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A few years ago, property was quite simply the sexiest dinner party conversation. Everyone, from your dominee to your domestic worker, wanted a piece of buy-to-let action as residential real estate prices chugged up rapidly...
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| >> Quick Sell helps homeowners avoid deadly debt spiral |
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| >> Do not sell but rather rent out your home - this might be the right tactic now - APKF MD |
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“With the stock market already recovering from its low point a few months back, some are thinking of selling to invest in shares. “While it is true that those who really understand the stock market (and the real potential for each share), tend to do well no matter what the up or downturns, for the average person...
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| >> Property sector: home loan criteria: Dr Willie Marais – national president, Institute of Estate Agents of South Africa |
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FELICITY DUNCAN: There is more bad news on house prices again today - Absa says prices will be declining for the rest of the year. Dr Willie Marais, the national president for the Institute of Estate Agents of SA, is on the line here. Willie, from your side, the agents' side, you interact with a lot of banks, trying to get home loan approval. What kind of feedback are you hearing about lending criteria at the banks...
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| >> Call for pre-paid electricity to fund Eskom costs |
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And while nobody really questions the need for continuity of supply that these multibillion-rand plans will bring, there is a widespread feeling that the burden of funding could be more evenly spread and therefore more moderate, says Gerhard Kotzé, CEO of the ERA South Africa...
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| >> Angry neighbours can topple your approved building plans |
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Colliers International's second annual parking report says monthly parking in these cities costs less than it did a year ago, but Cape Town "remains the most expensive city in the country for monthly parking"...
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| >> How to pick a child-friendly place to live |
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Indeed, says Martin Schultheiss, CEO of Harcourts Africa, many parents have been led to choose homes in security estates in the past few years in the belief that these are now the only places where their children can enjoy a “normal” childhood...
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| >> Chas Everitt Home MakeOver - A Home Makeover with a Difference! |
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| >> Recent court decision could have implications for anyone in property dealing |
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The case has been fully described in Fairbridge’s Law Letter, which, said du Plessis, gives an admirable summary of what in fact happened...
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| >> Make sure you know where your levies go |
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So says Berry Everitt, CEO of the Chas Everitt International property group, who notes that levies collected each month are intended for the upkeep of communal property such as gardens, recreation facilities, fences and security systems, and should be managed by an HOA set up by all the owners in that particular gated community...
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| >> Never underestimate the value of a parking bay, says APKF MD |
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| >> Force that @#*^! |
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The same rights apply to airspace over a property as to that of the ground beneath it, a partner at Shepstone and Wylie Attorneys, Sifiso Msomi, said in a statement...
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| >> Self storage units are an increasingly popular asset class in their own right |
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Self storage units have in recent years proved to be one of South Africa’s most successful asset classes, says Steven Horton, a Director of S A Self-Storage Investments (“SASSI”), the company that is currently expanding the fastest in this field in South Africa. “From the time (2004) we launched our first self-storage facility at Edgemead in Cape Town’s Northern Suburbs we have always made a certain number of the units available to investors - and they have always responded well...
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| >> To the editor |
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To the editor: I think its most unreasonable for once again, the have nots, have to pay for the haves. Those persons who have benefited by the increase in their property values, due to the Gautrain, those persons should have a levy raised against them. Not persons who live 1 kilometer or more away from the stations. You are opening up a can of worms again, but just like the Rates department, they will look for any excuse to increase rates, in order to feed the ‘fat cats’ This is just another ploy for more money, so where is it going to end. Next in live, because you live near a river, or a shopping centre, or bus route, you have to pay increased rates. I say definitely No. Get the extra money you require from the MP’S who are getting fatter on the taxpayers money.
Corrie Nel Share your comments with us by sending it to news@cyberprop.com
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| >> In the area... |
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The areas we are going to take a closer look at this week are;
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| >> In the area 1 – Houtbay |
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THE HOUT BAY SENTINEL CONTROVERSY – FUTURE DEVELOPMENT BLOCKED BY LACK OF ACCESS ROAD
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| >> In the area 2 – Killarney |
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New generation of buyers for Killarney
Aadil Moola, co-owner of the new Aida franchise in the suburb says Killarney has shaken off its rather staid image and is being reinvented as a trendy address for young buyers and students. Killarney borders affluent suburbs such as Houghton, Norwood and Parkhurst, and offers mostly high-rise sectional title apartments...
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| >> In the area 3 – Upper Claremont |
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Less than three months after teaming up to work together in Rawson Properties Newlands franchise, long-serving Rawson agent, Lynne Longworth (formerly in Rosebank) and Julie Millar, an experienced agent in the area, have made it into the top 20 agents in the Rawson Group which has 800 agents operating nationwide...
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| >> Focus on Musina, Limpopo, South Africa |
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This is the most northernly town in South Afica close to the main border post to Zimbabwe and the rest of Africa. The rich copper deposits in the norhtern countryside of the region ultimately led to the founding and growth of the busy town of Musina. In prehistoric times, black miners of the Musina tribe discovered the mineral and it was rediscovered by 20th Century prospectors... >>
View Properties in Limpopo
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| >> Property of the week |
Search for property in your area |
| >> Tweeting tenant sued |
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Horizon Group Management filed the lawsuit against Amanda Bonnen, the former tenant, on Monday in Cook County Circuit Court and is seeking at least US$50 000 in damages. Horizon, in its suit, said that on 12 May, Bonnen wrote a 'false and defamatory' message on the micro-blogging service. "Who said sleeping in a moldy apartment was bad for you? Horizon realty thinks it's okay," said the 'tweet' sent from Bonnen's since-discontinued account at @abonnen. Horizon said the statement was 'wholly false' and had 'greatly injured' its reputation as a landlord in Chicago. The filing of the lawsuit was first reported by the Chicago Sun-Times. AFP
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| >> Software at its best! |
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For Sale Property: To Rent Property: |
Jan
Kleynhans, chief executive officer of FNB Home Loans, says
the bank's loan to value criteria, an aspect of lending policy,
have been reviewed from 85-90% to a maximum of 95% for new customers.
Standard
Bank's residential mortgage lending criteria remains unchanged
and is constantly being reviewed, says Lasath Punyadeera, director
of Standard Bank Home Loans Product. He says Standard Bank adopted
new lending criteria in November 2008 and has not changed these
since. However, these loan-to-value criteria are constantly being
reviewed and could be revised in the future.
Absa
says it is not relaxing its lending criteria but is looking at the
clients' affordability when assessing home loan applications.
Absa clients are granted up to 85% loans and non-Absa clients 70%,
says Luthando Vutula, Absa Home Loans managing executive. Absa customers,
therefore, pay a deposit of 15% and non-Absa customers pay 30% deposit
in order to secure a home loan.
Clive
van Horen, managing executive for retail secured lending at Nedbank
Home Loans, says: "Nedbank is conscious of the interplay
between banks' willingness to lend and property prices, and so we
remain open for business but with a relatively cautious stance."
The
developer behind the Tunis Sports City project, which hosted its Dubai
launch on Wednesday, has claimed it is safe to invest in tourism and real
estate in North Africa in the current climate.
The
residential property market in South Africa appears to be coping with
the global downturn although concerns about a rising number of foreclosures
are increasing.
Nominal
house price deflation is set to continue for the rest of 2009, starting
to slow down towards the end of the year, Absa said on Tuesday.
Property
tax cuts will boost housing delivery, SARS coffers.
Starting
now with a residential portfolio: lessons from the pros
Homeowners
in financial difficulty should of course do everything they can to hang
on to their properties, but sometimes they have no alternative but to
sell and start over, and that is when they really need professional help...
There
are situations in which a homeowner thinking of selling should be advised
not to do so – especially if he is not in urgent need of the cash,
says Lanice Steward, MD of Anne Porter Knight Frank.
Hard-pressed
SA homeowners are being asked yet again to dig deep into their pockets
to further finance Eskom’s expansion plans.
The
cost of parking your car in Cape Town's central business district
(CBD) is almost double that of Johannesburg, according to a survey released
on Wednesday.
All
parents want their children to grow up in healthy, happy surrounds where
they can safely visit friends and go to the park or the shops, but it
has become increasingly difficult to find such an environment.
Anton
du Plessis, the Chairman of the Cape Peninsula area Committee of the Institute
of Estate Agents, has drawn attention to a recent Supreme Court of Appeal
decision that could have far reaching implications for anyone involved
in property dealing with close corporations.
Property
owners in estates and cluster complexes should ensure that they get good
value for their monthly levies – by ensuring that their homeowners’
association (HOA) has a proper constitution.
It's
possible to apply for an interdict compelling a neighbour to cut the branches
of a tree that encroach onto your property, a law firm said on Tuesday.
The
City of Johannesburg is looking at ways to finance the continues provision
of public transport. One way to fund this service is to higher tax on
properties where the value has risen because of the their proximity to
the newly created transport infrastructure. We’ve spent R27bn on
Gautrain and made some property owners very, very rich, and isn’t
there an issue there?” This according to the Deputy Transport Minister
Jeremy Cronin. Fair or not fair? Send your viewpoint to 
Further
facts have recently come to the surface regarding the future of Hout Bay’s
iconic Sentinel mountain. The present owners had planned to sell it off,
but their auction, in the Chapman’s Peak Hotel was disrupted by protestors
from the Hangberg community. Now it has been revealed that there is a
60 000m² piece of land on the Sentinel which lies between the plot
to be auctioned and the Hangberg community below it. his was privately
owned until recently, when Gerald Romanovsky of Greeff Properties’
new Hout Bay branch concluded the sale of this land to the Parks Board
for R800 000.
Killarney
in Johannesburg is reinventing itself and, in the process, holding its
own in the recessionary climate.
RAWSON
TEAM TIPS LESS EXPENSIVE UPPER CLAREMONT HOMES AS “BEST BUY”
A
Chicago real estate management company is suing a former tenant for defamation
for complaining on Twitter about mold in her apartment.