Most people are familiar with the basic concept of zoning; that it determines the purpose for which a property can be used.

After a year and a half of pandemic conditions made worse by South Africa’s crippled economy, rising municipal rates and tariffs, violent protests and looting, it’s safe to say the commercial and industrial property sectors have had a difficult time of late.

A decade ago, few of us would have contemplated the idea of negative monetary policy rates, let alone negative market-determined bond yields.

Whilst the onset of the pandemic has significantly impacted the commercial sector, it’s not all doom and gloom and there are ample opportunities for investors and landlords to harness the market shifts and translate them into opportunities if they remain flexible and do their homework.

Redefine Properties is leading the charge towards a sustainable future in the property sector with a R1 billion issuance on the JSE for its first sustainability-linked bond.

Results from the listed property sector in 2020 showed property values reducing by an average of around 8%. And while listed property is just one component of the South African property sector.

Across the market, residential property sales in Bloemfontein last year (2020) were the highest recorded during the past decade, despite the impact of Covid-19 and the lockdown, says Pam Golding Properties area principal, Ulrich Sirgel.

The TUHF Western Cape regional team believes that even though COVID has had an impact on the property market, there are still significant opportunities for savvy investors looking to enter the affordable residential sector as new areas for development become available.

Serviced office space provider The Business Exchange (TBE), in partnership with Maxcity Properties, the largest and most established real estate company in Mauritius, today launched an exciting new opportunity, offering investors the unique chance to own offshore property in Mauritius, a Dollar-based country.

It’s been over a year since the pandemic-induced stock market meltdown and since South Africa entered hard lockdown, and it is time to look back and examine what this period has taught us as an industry.