Property market claws back
2010-02-04
THE property market in Paarl and Wellington is slowly but surely starting to claw its way out of its sustained decline. Real estate agents in Drakenstein are looking forward to 2010 and are excited at the prospects for this year. During the first, second and third quarters of last year agents had received only a few sales inquiries per month, but now the telephones are starting to ring again. The market hit rock bottom in the first half of 2009 and then started to improve. Earlier this month the FNB price index showed that the average house price for 2009 had declined by 3,9% compared to the average house price in 2008. “But there are definitely more buyers. We experienced a good December and January,” said Surina du Toit, principal of Pam Golding Properties in Paarl. “The banks are still very strict on giving bonds, but we see more buyers than last year,” she said. Tyree van Wyk, Durr Estates’ principal in Paarl said the middle range houses between R700 000 and R1 500 000 was becoming more popular, but it is still difficult for buyers to obtain bonds. Lizette Joubert, Rawson Properties’ principal, said she is very excited over 2010. “I think the consumers had a big fright last year, but we see that they are putting hand on paper more easily this year. Unfortunately the banks still have the say when it comes to approved bonds, but we hope that it will improve.” Heinie Gersbach, Era Real Estates’ principal, said that January started very well with good sales in all the house price ranges. “This year looks promising, if we take January’s sales as an indication,” he added. Hanlie de Waal from Hanlie’s Properties said that everything is not plain sailing yet, but there is an improvement compared to 2009. “The biggest concern is bank loans. They are not allowing 100% bonds, which puts potential buyers in a difficult spot,” she said. * According to Dr Andrew Golding, CEO of Pam Golding, the decision by the Monetary Policy Committee meeting to leave the repo rate unchanged (while anticipated) will disappoint many. “Although we are seeing some positive indicators it is evident that South Africa’s economy is by no means out of the doldrums, particularly with the looming outcome of the Eskom tariff decision and concomitant effect on inflation. “We are still hopeful that the interest rate may decrease further during the course of this year. However, what the market also needs is for the mortgage lending confidence of the banks to increase. “We did see a small improvement in mortgage lending during the last six months of 2009, but on the whole, mortgage lending criteria are still strict and banks are lending selectively. “Despite this we anticipate that the reductions in interest rates which were implemented during the course of last year will manifest themselves during this first quarter - which is traditionally an active period for buying and selling of property with those relocating for business and other purposes. “Having said that, while we remain cautiously optimistic, the housing market is by no means buoyant. “The negative trend in house price growth has halted and we are seeing consistent if moderate growth in house prices.
More
News
|
