The Residential property market in Durban is not entirely a tale of woe at the moment, in spite of repeated interest rate increases since June 2006...

Lately there has been a lot of talk among real estate professionals about whether we have moved into a buyers' market. Comparing sales figures from 2004 to 2007 it has become increasingly clear that we have indeed moved into a buyers' market.

KWAZULU-NATAL residential property values were reflecting the corrosive effects of soaring interest rates and the nine-month-old National Credit Act, although certain areas were thriving...

With the festive season debt hangover consumers are feeling the squeeze, as some battle to meet higher bond repayments or face bank repossession of their homes.

For some time now I have been saying that the market has swung from being a sellers' market to a buyers' market. If there was any doubt, this should have been swept away by the latest interest rate hike that brings the prime rate to 14.5%.

There is a lot being said about the softening residential housing market in South Africa, which has been affected by successive interest rate increases and the National Credit Act, but experts suggest things will firm up next year.

While this year’s interest rate increases and the National Credit Act (NCA) have unarguably depressed real estate activity in most parts of the country, expectations by some of Durban’s market leaders are that the current cycle will take a turn for the better in the first half of 2008.

The number of unit sales may have dipped in the Greater Durban area in the past year, but the average selling price has increased across the board, with some suburbs recording extremely healthy capital gains.

Phoenix, the city's hottest property spot in the first half of this year, with a 26% surge in average property prices, is showing distinct signs of peaking.

It's being trumpeted as the "place to play for investors" by Nedbank finance expert Richard Thomas and prompted as "possibly the next place savvy investors should be casting their eyes".

STEADY buying interest from expatriate South Africans is one of the drives of the Umhlanga property market which has seen the average selling proce increase from R1 267 483 in the first quater of 2006 to R1 356 494 over the same period this year.

Average selling prices of property in and around Durban have increased during the first quarter of this year compared with the same period in 2006, although certain areas have simultaneously recorded a slowdown in gross rand sale growth.

Demand for Durban's upper-end property continues unabated, according to a recent Prop Values survey showing that three of the city's exclusive residential areas - Umhlanga, Berea and the Upper Highway - are among the city’s four most active real estate zones

Wide-sweeping redevelopment of Westville's commercial and retail centres, including the landmark Pavilion Shopping Centre, is creating a new wave of confidence in the suburb, best demonstrated by a resurgence of activity in its residential property market.

Wide-sweeping redevelopment of Westville’s major commercial and retail centres, including the landmark Pavilion Shopping Centre, is evidence of a new wave of confidence in the suburb that is already experiencing a resurge of activity in its residential property market.

Despite four interest rate increases since June last year, and two more pending, Durban’s property market remains active, with some suburbs showing house price growth well in excess of Absa’s national average of 15,2 percent.

Durban's Berea area recorded the highest residential price increases last year over 2005, followed by Westville and Pinetown in the Greater Durban area, according to figures released by PropValues this week.

Property price growth in Queensburgh, one of the few remaining outposts in the greater Durban area where entry-level buyers with earning power of R10 000 a month can afford homes of their own, slowed markedly in the third quarter of this year.

Once known as the Old Main Line, Queensburgh as an area comprises 10 suburbs which together offer a full range of pricing options, from entry level buyers to those at the luxury end of the market. 

Sectional title sales in the Pinetown area have increased their market share in the first nine months of this year over the same period as last year, according to Ross Sibbald, Director of PropValues.

Sellers in Durban’s residential property market are being too greedy and are trying to sell their properties at unrealistic prices. Because of this, the percentage of sales taking place below asking price in the greater Durban area is nearly 80%, according to data service provider, PropValues.

PropValues is a tool used by estate agents to compile comparative market analyses in order to allow them to set market-related prices.

Nearly 80% of residential property sales in the greater Durban area are being concluded below their asking price, according to figures released by property data supplier; PropValues.

PropValues’ year-to-date figures show that of the 2 646 units sold between January and the end of July 2006, 79% went for below their listing price while only 567 or 21% sold for their original listing price or above.

With house price growth hitting a four-year low, according to Standard Bank’s latest residential property gauge, sellers who price their homes based on valuations that bring music to their ears are likely to end up tapping their fingers in frustration.

Strong words, but relevant in terms of the country’s current economic climate, its two recent interest rate increases and the real likelihood of further increases in the near future, say the directors of KwaZulu Natal’s leading property data supplier, PropValues.

In terms of daily appreciation in the property values, the strongest performance in the Durban area for the first seven months of this year, over the same period last year, was in the Upper Highway area, with a day-on-day increase of R483.

Commenting on the statistics, Scott Allnatt, Director of PropValues, said the increases reflected good price growth in the lower end of the market.

Pinetown's reputation as a haven for entry-level buyers has been reaffirmed by just-released figures from Kwazulu Natal property data supplier Prop Values.

Prop Values announced that the area's average house price, at R620 000, was 23% less than ABSA's national average of
R798 000...

Pinetown’s traditional status as a haven for entry level buyers has been reaffirmed on the back of just-released figures by leading KZN property data supplier PropValues, which show that the area’s average house price, at R620 000, is 23 percent less than ABSA’s national average of R798 000.

That’s according to PropValues managing director Scott Allnatt, whose figures are based on feedback from member agents in Pinetown, during the first half of 2006...

For emerging township families wanting to move into middle-class suburbs, it’s no longer just a question of the house being too expensive or the fact that home loan interest rates may rise again soon, it’s also a question of disposable income being seriously depleted by educational and medical costs.

Both expenses, only of minor consideration during the post-democracy rush to the suburbs, have become large cost issues for middle-class black families in enabling their upgrading...

Durban’s gross Rand sales in the residential property market for the first five months of this year was 16% higher than the corresponding period last year, according to figures released this week.

PropValues Director, Scott Allnatt, said member agents reported strong take-up in all categories, from sectional title to freehold, with prices ranging from R175 000 to R5.4 million for a luxury, six bedroom home on the Berea...

A commendable performance by Durban’s residential property market during the first five months of 2006 has seen gross Rand sales shoot up by 16 percent, according to the latest figures from PropValues.

The KwaZulu Natal-based property data company reports an ongoing demand in all price ranges, which has ensured steady sales volumes and price growth for Durban and the Berea, from its most exclusive avenues to its entry level suburbs...

The mounting likelihood of an interest rate hike in the near future, on the back of the country’s steady house price growth, should be foremost on sellers’ minds when it comes to establishing their asking prices.

That’s because price-conscious buyers are increasingly demanding value for their money, says Scott Allnatt, founder of leading property values company Prop Data...

Greater accuracy in residential property valuations has become possible through Durban website design and Internet service provider, Prop Data.

The company has relaunched its Comparative Market Analysis (CMA) report as PropValues. Spokesman Scott Allnatt says the processing system has been made into a more powerful online residential property valuation tool that provides estate agents with the broadest range of accurate information...

The need for greater accuracy in residential property valuations has been given meaningful significance by Durban website design and Internet Service Provider, Prop Data.

Announcing the re-launch of its Comparative Market Analysis (CMA) report this week, under the new branding of PropValues, Scott Allnatt says the processing system has been re-engineered into a more powerful online residential property valuation tool that provides estate agents with the broadest range of accurate information...

Prop Data, one of the leading Web Design and ISP firms in the South African real estate industry, has proudly announced the relaunch of the CMA Report under the new brandname PropValues.

The new and improved PropValues system is a powerful online residential property valuation tool that provides subscribing Estate Agents with accurate, up-to-date property market values and trends. In just a few clicks, subscribers are able to determine the market value of a property, identify price trends within a particular suburb, property type or price range and analyse their own office’s market share...

Demand for secure, communal living in the Upper Highway area is on the rise, according to a recent survey by the Hillcrest and Kloof branches of Acutts Estate Agents.

Local franchisee, Dave Jones, reported a record 40% of buyers were now buying into developments, particularly those offering freehold ownership and where units are priced at below R1 million.

And while data from real estate statistics company Prop Data has shown sales volumes in the Upper Highway area has dropped from 780 properties sold during the financial year ending February 28, 2005, to the current rate of 480 units for the year ending February 28, 2006, the Upper Highway area, and particularly Hillcrest, is likely to remain a growth hot-spot for the foreseeable future, said Jones...