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Category Archives: Property News
Co-Working Trend in Cape Town
Cape Town’s CBD is seeing a rise in coworking, a trend that describes consultants, freelancers and entrepreneurs sharing office space.The numbers of young entrepreneurs choosing to be based in the central city is climbing, attracted by the vibrancy of the CBD, cost effectiveness, readily available office infrastructure, convenience and the knowledge, sharing and networking opportunities. read more…
Distribution Property Sector arrives in SA
A new property sector is opening up in African markets as retailers growing their presence there are now in need of or building their own distribution warehouses, according to Belinda Clur, managing director of Clur Research International.
Self Employed = Difficulty Securing Property Loans
Compared to a full time employees - a self employed individual will have a much harder time securing a loan from the banks for the purchase of property. The paperwork requested by the banks could drown you and the turn around times are stunted by the meticulous checking by the banks. This is understandable to a degree – but does being self employed really indicate a much higher risk for the banks?
The banks see a self employed individual as having a “lack of guaranteed income” – but in today’s economy no one has a guaranteed income and a self employed individual could lose their income as easily as an employee.
Buy Local or Global?
The question investors are asking themselves on a regular basis is should they purchase property locally or globally? Which would present the better investment?
Global valuations, when compared to our local valuations, are much stronger – but does that mean the return will be better?
Here we take a close look at the returns and fall backs of each option to allow you to decide for yourself…
read more…
Beautiful Architecture
That building is not just a place where you live or work. It is also a piece of artwork. Designed, planned and then constructed with delicate care.
Here is a tribute to beautiful architecture. <–Click to see more images!
Industrial rentals rising, but we’re not out of the woods yet
The South African Property Market is on the Up and Up according to Property valuer Erwin Rode. He states that the yearly growth of industrial rentals has slowly been on the rise, a very good sign for companies across South Africa.
On a national basis, the yearly growth in industrial rentals is slowly heating up, seemingly benefiting from the lagged impact of declining vacancy rates. “In fact, such has been the acceleration in the growth of market rentals in this sector that in the fourth quarter of 2012, prime rentals recorded a nationally averaged growth rate of 7%, with the strongest yearly growth of 9% being achieved in the Cape Peninsula.” Disappointing, however, is that the national average still failed to be in excess of building-cost inflation. “Hence, we are not yet out of the woods,” cautions Rode.
Sea Point Property Value Rises
Situated between Signal Hill and the Atlantic Ocean, Sea Point is one of the most densely populated and vibrant suburbs of Cape Town.
Residential property in the area has become more sought after, which has led to a surge in the property values. Adrian Goslett, CEO of RE/MAX of Southern Africa, says that due to the number of high-rise developments, sectional title units outnumber freestanding homes by approximately nine to one.According to Lightstone figures, the area is popular among all age groups and buyer types with around 30 percent of recent buyers aged between 50 and 64 years old, 28.57 percent aged between 36 and 54 years old, 24.76 percent aged from 18 to 35 years old and 16.57 percent, 65 years old or older. He adds that the largest percentage of existing owners (35.03 percent) are from the 65 years old and older age group and account for 37.33 percent of those who have recently sold their property.
Buying/Selling Guest Houses in SA
The guesthouse property market in general follows the trends experienced in the hotel industry, says Peter Bruil, managing director of Pam Golding Lodges and Guesthouses (PGLAG), a subsidiary of Pam Golding Hospitality.
Bruil explains that as per the 2012 Smith Travel Research (STR), guesthouses in general also have enjoyed an increase in RevPAR (revenue per available room) above inflation during the last year compared to the previous year.
Recent STR reports reveal that for the 12 months ended 31 December 2012, RevPAR in South Africa grew by 10.5 percent compared to the same period in 2011.
“The same report showed that RevPAR over this same time frame increased by 9.4 percent in the Western Cape and 14.5 percent on the Garden Route,” says Bruil.
However, Bruil points out that they have noticed that some smaller guesthouses are sometimes converted back into normal residences, following a period of oversupply after the 2010 FIFA World Cup. read more…
“Green Building” Imitates plant life
Would you live in this green building? Architect Ahmed Elseyofi of IAMZ Design thinks you should.
The Egyptian architect’s green building concept, a mixed-use building called “World of Chlorophyll,” features individual units stemming from central columns that “imitate the ‘branch and leaf’ structure” of plants, according to his web site.