Is the South African property market starting to turn from favouring sellers to buyers? That’s what those “in the know” seem to be saying recently.
So it’s always interesting to see what is really happening in a particular suburb’s real estate affairs and the table I’ve put together shows a quick comparison between the first half of 2015 vs 2016 for Tokai in the Western Cape.
The major difference is in the total value of sales – R12 million or thereabouts more spent in Tokai last year which makes sense considering there were four more sales for the same period. And otherwise it’s pretty much Even Stevens in all other categories: buyers negotiated the same discount this year as last year, the average days on market is pretty much the same and even Cash vs Bond purchases are on a par.
So we seem to be quite stable here in the green and leafy lanes of Tokai.
Fun facts for 2016: the highest value sale was R5 700 000 for a cluster in the Weaverbird Close complex, Standard Bank was the most generous when it came to dishing out bonds and all buyers were local of which most, surprisingly, came from showhouse days. Trends for the country show that overall numbers of showhouse visitors are actually on the decline – so maybe only the serious buyers make the effort and it means that the system still works!
And as for the overall outlook? Respected household and property sector strategist with FNB, John Loos sums up his latest review “By all accounts it looks as though homeowners are going to find it marginally more difficult to sell. Serious sellers may have to consider accepting slightly less than they anticipated and those who have been ‘testing’ the market may well have to do some hard thinking and price their homes to sell.”
Stop press: The DA success in the Western Cape may have the effect of extending the sellers market into summer but a reality check is inevitable. At our recent management meeting it was anecdotally mentioned that while the Western Cape was benefitting from semi-gration from other parts of South Africa the Southern Suburbs was not benefitting from this trend due to a lack of value for money. With all eyes on interest rates affordability is becoming a far bigger issue as the recession bites. As always the market will find its level.