The August 2012 residential market overview compiled by the highly respected analysts, Lightstone, reveals clearly that the four major banks in South Africa, as well as, Investec and SA Homeloans have by-and-large come to terms with and solved the unpaid mortgage loan crisis that hit them in 2008/2009.  

Landlords in South Africa in recent years have sometimes had the impression that the courts, in their endeavour to comply with the constitutional right of citizens to have “access to adequate housing”, have been overly sympathetic to tenants

The stress test looks at what a loan applicant qualifies for and then calculates if his financial position is strong enough to enable him to take the same loan with a 1% or 2% higher interest rate

Similarly to the UK and other developed markets, is SA in a potentially burgeoning buy-to-let climate as a result of various market imperfections and constraints?

Although the United States has temporarily bought themselves a reprieve by extending the debt ceiling on its debt payments, the current precariousness of the western world’s economies is still creating uncertainty on a scale never before seen in his 19 years in property.

In today’s housing market property leaders are frequently asked if this is not a good time to rent

Drawing attention to this, Tony Clarke, MD of Rawson Properties, said that the latest Lightstone Review reveals that since 2003 the growth in the estate market has been almost 350 percent

The Estate Agency Affairs Board has recently announced that a three month amnesty period for illegal estate agents (i.e. those operating without a Fidelity Fund Certificate) is now going into operation

There is, he says, a strong feeling in the residential property sector that the time has come for banks to take on and compete with each other in the open market in awarding bond finance

The problems now being experienced by Wendy Machanik Properties, which is under investigation by the Estate Agency Affairs Board for alleged misuse of trust funds, have strengthened the perception in some people’s minds that residential real estate agencies are unregulated