Property
June 30, 2010
Commercial sector will not score
Thabang Mokopanele
Business Day
THE excitement of the World Cup and the increase in foreign tourism is not expected to have much effect on commercial property prices. Commercial Investment Properties of SA MD Rodney Luntz says this is notwithstanding the huge financial effect of the event on the South African economy. Grant Thornton research says an estimated R93bn will be pumped into the economy. Most of the money will, however, be spent on tourism, primarily hotels and airlines and in bars, restaurants and shops. The first week alone saw an influx of more than 400000 international visitors. There is also the huge marketing boost SA will get, with at least 500-million TV viewers.
|
|
|
June 28, 2010
Big shopping centres enjoy many advantages over small ones
Thabang Mokopanele
Business Day
Larger regional and super-regional shopping centres enjoy the longest dwell times and highest loyalty among shoppers, compared to smaller local centres, according to the latest research tracking key performance indicators at shopping centres. South African Council of Shopping Centres data released on Friday showed that while small shopping centres enjoyed the highest frequency of visits by far, they were most at risk of heightened competition, shifting loyalties, and inconveniences such as high traffic volumes or road construction.
June 23, 2010
Home-building trend still downward
Thabang Mokopanele
Business Day
The building figures for the month of April published by Statistics SA last week show continuing weakness in residential building activity. The slow pace of building activity is the lagged response to very weak demand during the recession times of 2008-09, as well as being the result of oversupplies generated in the boom years. In April, the square metres of residential buildings completed declined by a huge 34,1% year on year, after an even bigger fall of 38,4% in March. Larger-sized houses, above 80m², seem set to do slightly better in the near term than the smaller-sized categories.
June 18, 2010
Cost-cutting landlords sell smaller properties
Thabang Mokopanele
Business Day
Many large commercial property owners are in the process of decreasing their exposure to smaller, more management-intensive properties, according to Coronation Fund Managers portfolio manager Anton de Goede. The economic slump has seen the average operating cost ratio as a percentage of gross rent receivable, increase from 32,7% to 38,7% between 2008 and last year, forcing commercial property owners to change tack.
June 02, 2010
Act will let disgruntled sellers sue
Thabang Mokopanele
Business Day
With the new Companies Act likely to come into operation from the beginning of September, homeowners who believe they were pressurised into selling their houses at well below market value will be able to claim for damages. According to accredited commercial mediator Adv Jacques Joubert, in South African law banks have no duty or incentive to help homeowners sell their homes for more than the outstanding mortgage. Mr Joubert, who has practiced law in SA and Canada, says...
May 28, 2010
Listed property sector ‘not immune’ to volatility
Thabang Mokopanele
Business Day
The local property market is in far better shape than its international counterparts, but analysts warn that this year will still be challenging for the sector. The South African listed property index recorded 1,85% in total returns as an asset class last month — the highest total return for last month beating bonds, cash and equities. But on a 12-month rolling basis, equities were ahead of the pack recording a total return of...
|
June 23, 2010
Foreigners still interested in putting down roots
Thabang Mokopanele
Business Day
Despite the precariousness of the world’s economy, there is still a lot of foreign interest in South African properties, with investors from the UK, Germany, Australia and even the US eyeing property here. A recent analysis of traffic on the Lew Geffen Sotheby’s International Realty website shows the number of international visits to the site is on the rise. The French seem to be the ones most interested in property in SA, with the number of visitors to the site from that country up 62%.
June 18, 2010
The appeal of Jo’burg
Ian Fife
Financial Mail
The cash-strapped Johannesburg municipality has started appealing against its own valuations, considering them too low, in an effort to defend its rates base and improve its cash inflow. It is one of the SA local authorities paying a high price for replacing traditional property valuers with previously disadvantaged ones. In some cases the new valuers are inexperienced — one of a number of signs of cronyism in their selection — resulting in unrealistic values. A municipality’s rates are based on the valuation roll it carries out every three years as required by the Municipal Rates Act of 2004.
June 11, 2010
Why you’ll still make money
Ian Fife
Financial Mail
South Africa’s property investment returns have been better than the rest of the world throughout the global financial meltdown. It’s not because we’re smart. It’s because we build too little. There’s another reason; o ur banks lent conservatively and most property investors borrowed much less and over a longer term than their global counterparts. So when the crunch came and prices fell, few owners owed the banks more than their investments were worth.
May 28, 2010
Lamb to the slaughter
Ian Fife
Financial Mail
An auctioneer’s scheme to settle banks’ bad home loans has rescued thousands of distressed homeowners. But an auction that went wrong has identified weaknesses in the scheme. First-time buyers Kino and Sandy Thomas moved into their R350000 home in Stellenberg Street, Lenasia, in early 2007. They were financed by a R350000 bond from Absa that was increased to R410000 later that year. In 2008, disaster struck. Sandy Thomas’s husband lost his job and left her. And she was retrenched.
May 26, 2010
No recovery seen in building activity
Thabang Mokopanele
Business Day
Residential building activity in the housing market continued to experience a substantial amount of strain year on year up to March. Month on month, conditions in the planning phase deteriorated further, while some improvement was noticed on the construction side. Statistics SA figures show that with regard to plans approved for new housing, the real value was down 10,6% year on year in the first quarter of this year, to R3,85bn from R4,31bn in the first quarter of last year.
|
MORE ARTICLES:
|
Property market lagging recovery, Vukile cautions
May 25, 2010
The Bottom Line
May 20, 2010
Old inner-city buildings get green overhauls
May 05, 2010
House prices start to improve — review
May 05, 2010
SA needs another rate cut, says Rawson
May 05, 2010
Commercial property in SA a global leader
April 30, 2010
Vacant office space on the rise
April 28, 2010
‘Rate cuts no good if finance is impossible’
April 28, 2010
Weakness persists in residential building sector
April 28, 2010
|
|
|
 |
|