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| How to Qualify for a Bond? |
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Before the introduction of National Credit Act (NCA), a buyer's affordability was based on 30% of his gross income without taking liabilities into account.
Where this may have been a far simpler procedure than the process used today, it often led to buyers being over indebted. Today, much more weight is placed on the client's surplus income.
"The first thing to do is check the client's gross income and make sure he qualifies for the purchase price of the property. Once the expendable amount required to qualify is determined, the next step is to minus the client's expenses from his gross income to see whether he has the required surplus available. We require the client to sign a declaration for us to undertake a credit bureau check. Information is also acquired by conducting an expenditure interview," says Deon Lessing, marketing director of Betterbond.
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| Membership of GBCSA Growing! |
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The Green Building Council of South Africa, having opened for membership at the SAPOA Convention in May, has been extremely well supported by the industry.
We are experiencing overwhelming interest and organisations are showing their commitment to the green
building movement by signing up as members. We currently have 100 members registered and this number continues to grow! Have you joined yet? Be a part of the
green building revolution- join now and take advantage of the GBCSA member rate for our inaugural convention which takes place at the CTICC from 2-4 November 2008.
| Green Building Council of South Africa, 09-09-2008 |
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| Turning Point in Property Market is Close |
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The much-discussed low point in house sales and house prices could now be far closer than most people realise.
Analysing the Residential Property Price Ranger's (RPPR) latest figures for the Cape Peninsula, Bill Rawson, chairman of Rawson Properties, said that these show that, despite much negative comment from the public and media, prices have held up remarkably well.
"The average house price in the Cape Peninsula from March 2008 to June 2008 was R1,998,874. While this was well down on the R2,565,866 average for the same period in 2006, it was significantly up on the R1,689,617 average for 2007 and also up on the 2005 average of R1,892,220. These figures are not discouraging."
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| How Municipal Rates Will be Working |
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Have you heard of the Municipal Rates Act? What does it all mean? Everyone is speaking about valuers, and rates and taxes going up.
It's not enough to have load shedding and xenophobia issues, one may think to oneself, but another rates hike seems like overkill under the current economic circumstances. To be fair, we have to look at the facts.
Rates and taxes have traditionally been charged on municipal valuations – these have been extremely low, and undoubtedly the council had serious catching up to do to reach market values. You should be paying rates and taxes on the market value of your land and improvements on land. This is what the Municipal Rates Act has remedied.
| Biccari Bollo Mariano Attorneys, 27-07-2008 |
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| Green Ratings System for Offices on the cards by October |
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The Green Building Council of SA, which has attracted 20 paying members including several high-profile property players, will launch a pilot “green star” rating system for offices next month for public comment
Executive chairman Bruce Kerswill says the rating system, based on the system used by the Green Building Council of Australia, will be implemented by October. The system will be used to rate buildings in various categories and award them stars according to how “green” a building is.
Kerswill says the rating system is aimed at the upper end of the market in the hope that these players will “pull the rest of the market” along with them. The council was established in September last year as a voluntary body to promote green building programmes, technologies, design practices and operations, and innovation in sustainable building practices.
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| Rental Market will Boom Now - Buy To Let Way To Go |
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Today’s interest rate hike of 50 basis points, resulting in a prime of 15,5 percent, will further heavy South African home-owners’ debt burden, and increases the repayments on mortgages
This development, however, now sets the scene for a booming rental market with excellent prospects for certain investors, reports RE/MAX of Southern Africa and BetterBond.
The price boom of the last decade pumped up the capital values of property, outstripping the rises in rent which is typical of a bull market in house prices.
Because of affordability issues now faced in the current market climate, this driven by today’s interest rate hike, increased food and fuel costs, and banks tightening credit criteria (the unavailability of 100 percent bonds), rental properties will be in greater demand, as a proxy for homes, which are becoming more difficult to obtain.
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| Factors When Buying Property Offshore |
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If you are contemplating buying an offshore property – as a small percentage of South Africans do each year with a view to spreading their investment base and/or securing themselves a holiday home – which destinations, right now, offer the best prospects?
Lanice Steward, managing director of Anne Porter Knight Frank (APKF), has drawn attention to a survey, Knight Frank's (KF) Annual Wealth Report, in which one section sets out to assess the ten fastest up-and-coming residential markets worldwide.
These, in KF's view, are Portugal's Silver Coast, Singapore, Bahia (in Brazil), Morocco, The Seychelles, Croatia, the Italian Riviera, Granada, Mauritius and perhaps surprisingly, the USA – where recent falls in price values have made many buys good value and where certain rural destinations, says Knight Frank, are still competitively priced.
| Anne Porter Knight Frank, 09-06-2008 |
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| More Rate Hikes Would Be Perilous |
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Reserve Bank Governor Tito Mboweni's recent signal that interest rates would rise again this year because inflation pressures had spread far beyond food and fuel, is already having an impact on the residential property market
The combination of a decreasing property values with increasing interest rates has put the residential property market in a precarious position this year. Anecdotal reports of rising repossessions and a surge in forced sales is now spreading to various parts of the property market, particularly those in the R2m to R5m valuation range.
"Mortgage stress is spreading across all cities, suburbs and demographics. Over-extended middle income families are obviously the most vulnerable but wealthier South Africans are now also being affected by a slowing residential property market,' says Alliance Group's chief executive, Rael Levitt.
| Alliance Group Research, 06-06-2008 |
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| Century City Developments Short-Listed at SAPOA Awards |
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No less than four recent developments at Century City were selected as finalists in the 2008 SAPOA Awards for Innovative Excellence in Property Development continuing a proud tradition of previous years
The new finalists include the Liberty Life Regional Offices which were completed last year. The 20 000 square metre building, which includes 440 basement parking bays, 140 external bays, a medical suite, in-house canteen, training facilities, meeting rooms, executive boardrooms, dining rooms and pause areas on each floor, enjoys spectacular views of Intaka Island nature reserve and Table Mountain. The contemporary building was designed by Louis Karol Architects.
The three other Century City developments to be shortlisted all fell within the same “other” category which includes hotels and leisure, residential and mixed use developments.
Two residential developments, The Oasis Luxury Retirement Resort and KnightsBridge also made it to the shortlist with Oasis winning a merit award at the 2008 Sapoa Convention at the Cape Town Convention Centre last week.
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| Dubai Appears on SA Radar Screens |
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More buying opportunities are opening up to South Africans in Dubai, as the government of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) state continues to tweak legislation to boost foreign investment in its rapidly expanding real estate market
Developers have been quick on the uptake, pouring millions into new residential projects to satisfy the expected surge in demand for real estate among foreign investors, giving rise to claims that Dubai is currently home to 30% of the world's construction cranes.
Omar Khan, director of customer services centres at the Dubai Chamber of Commerce and Industry, told a group of SA journalists on a media trip to Dubai last month that some 270 000 new residential units are expected to come on stream in Dubai within the next three years. Prices for these units range roughly from R10 000m2 right up to R100 000m2. Top-end apartments in some of Dubai's most iconic developments such as Palm Jumeirah, the man-made island in the shape of a date palm stretching into the Arabian Gulf, and the sky-scraper Burj Dubai, the tallest man-made structure in the world, are selling for as much as R260 000m2.
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