Is property still a good investment in South Africa?

The current pandemic has been devastating to so many sectors, but the housing market has experienced a boom. This can be attributed to the low interest rates (lowest in 55 years) and the fact that the work from home trend that has become increasingly popular.

1^st time home buyers are also able to enter the residential market as they can afford more and the appetite from the banks is competitive with many able to qualify 100% loans.

Another reason for the increase in demand is that living arrangements have evolved over the last 16 months with more people working remotely. This has created an interesting trend where buyers are not necessarily drawn to the traditionally popular suburbs close to city centres as commuting between home and work is not a major consideration. Space has become more of a priority and properties that lend themselves to flexible home office configurations and additional room for home schooling, are becoming increasingly popular for bigger families.

Another positive for home ownership is that house prices are seeing a growth according to the statistics received from Lightstone. April's prices were 4.5% higher year on year which is a significant improvement to the 2.52% recorded increase in December 2020.

In summary, demand is still exceeding supply at this stage and the average time on market for well- priced properties has almost halved. This coupled with low interest rates, higher affordability, competitive lending by the banks and healthy house price growth are the main reasons why property remains a good investment.

RE/MAX Masters has a team of over 100 experienced sales associates to assist with any of your home requirements whether buying or selling. Contact us today.

Author: Denise Plank