Sa Property Market Still Beats Inflation
he growth of house prices continues to beat inflation and the demand for homes still exceeds supply inSouth Africa’s major metropolitan areas.
The growth of house prices continues to beat inflation and the demand for homes still exceeds supply in South Africa’s major metropolitan areas, says CEO of Keller Williams Southern Africa, Niël Cronje.
This is according to the CEO of Keller Williams Southern Africa, Niël Cronje, who amidst glum economic reporting paints a more hopeful picture of the property market.
He says looking at registrations in the Deeds Office, property prices of secure lifestyle estates increased by 11.1% in 2015, taking properties of below R1.5 million value into account.
“The average selling price in South Africa was just under R1 million and the number of units sold in 2015 increased by 9.6% from the previous year,” he points out. “Close to 200 000 homes were sold over the past 12 months.”
Cronje says 51% of buyers were first-time home buyers, taking bond applicant statistics into account. “Buyers continue to lean towards smaller, less maintenance security estates which explains why this type of housing still outperforms any other type of property.”
He says international trends of living have changed over the past decade and people continue to shift towards lifestyle estates offering community living within the estate.
“The demand for properties closer to public transport in the greater metropolitan areas has also increased dramatically and I believe this trend will continue in 2016.
“With people giving up space for security considerations and lower operating costs, buyers are selecting smaller sectional tile units, which have stimulated the demand for self-storage radically,” says Cronje.
Also, he says today’s homeowner is much more equipped to install alternative energy saving systems or to be totally self-sufficient from municipalities that cannot deliver services.
“Green, environmentally sustainable homes will become more prominent in the future and the trend will gain momentum because of the unreliable and expensive electricity and the shortfall of water in the country.”
Cronje says South Africa’s housing shortage will carry on in 2016 and the demand for smaller residential sectional title units will continue to increase.