Five residential property trends no one saw coming
Experts have already predicted the top property trends of 2024, ranging from the impact of looming interest rate cuts to co-buying, solar power financing, sectional title demand and the resurgence of first-time homebuyers. However, several emerging (and sometimes overlooked) trends are set to come into play, creating notable shifts in the landscape. The top five […]
Property advice in an election year
Buy now, sell later. This year, almost half of the world’s inhabitants will head to the polls to elect their new governments, including eight of the world’s 10 most populous countries. In South Africa, we can expect our own election to put the property market into a temporary holding pattern, dragging on the subtle buyer’s […]
How to Obtain a Home Loan: Things to Consider Before You Apply
With most of the major interest rate hikes now out of the way, 2023 is set to provide a more stable environment for financially savvy, would-be home-buyers to enter the property market. While the economic outlook is set to be less turbulent than during the previous year, it’s still vitally important to take charge of […]
Can trustees sell trust property to their own company?
The Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) recently deliberated on whether a court sanction is necessary to validate the sale of shares owned by a trust to a company controlled indirectly by two of the trustees of the trust. This matter was addressed in the case of Kuttel vs Master of the High Court and Others. Peter […]
Dream holiday or nightmare! An overview of the property time-sharing control act and the vacational ownership
Part 1 This article broadly looks at property time-share and the legislation regulating it. The problems and complaints by consumers trapped in the empty and misleading promises advertised to them by the time-share industry are also addressed. In part one, the article gives a broad outline of what the Property Time-Sharing Control Act entails and […]
Softening the rate hike blow
Ways to reduce your monthly home loan repayments and other costs Cost-cutting is on many people’s minds, as prices rise, and affordability becomes stretched. While potential homeowners continue to benefit from attractive interest rates due to heightened competition between the banks, what are the cost-saving options available to existing homeowners? The reality is that the […]
5 questions to get your homeowner relationship right
Despite the recent interest rate increase, South Africa is still currently in what is deemed a “buyer’s market”, where first-time homebuyers are enjoying the opportunity of entering the property market at a much earlier stage than their financial situations would have allowed in previous years. But it’s precisely the fact that so many homebuyers are […]
Six projected home loan trends for 2023
Looking ahead to what is likely to drive home loans this year Despite challenges of external factors such as ongoing interest rate hikes and rising costs of living, the ongoing demand for home loans remained relatively stable in 2022 slightly down on 2021 volumes, but up on 2020 and 2019 volumes. This sustained demand can […]
The importance of property practitioners in the times to come
Many industries are piecing things back together again this year, as they try to recover from the effects of the pandemic or recreate themselves to remain relevant in a changing world. One industry that has been left unaffected to a great extent, and yet has had to re-create itself almost entirely in the same breath, […]
Buying or renting: Has the question finally been answered?
The question of whether renting or buying is the best is almost always in circulation in the real estate industry. While one is affordable in the short term, the other holds more benefits in the long run. In 2020, however, things took a turn, and the answer to the question may be a bit clearer than usual. Historically low […]