RE/MAX International’s Vice President for Franchise Sales Peter Gilmour said the South African property market is performing exceptionally well compared to other global markets, and that the World Cup will impact on the real-estate market over a long term, attracting foreign investment in real estate.
“South Africa is one of the better performing global real-estate markets. When comparing sales activities and signs of market recovery with the other 72 countries RE/MAX International operates in, South Africa is one of the forerunners. Over the last two months, we have seen a gradual improvement in the number of national property sales transactions in the country. This is a result of the change in the credit lending criteria from the banks, and the interest rate reductions by the MPC. “We are anticipating a gradual strengthening of the South African property market over the next three quarters along with improvement and growth in property values. We expect a full recovery of the market will not happen for a couple of years..
Commenting on the 2010 FIFA Soccer World Cup’s impact on the real estate market, Gilmour said he is reserved about a major once-off boom. “I anticipate that the World Cup’s impact on foreign real-estate investment in South Africa will yield results over the long-term, more specifically over a 2 – 3 year period after the event. Foreigners visiting South Africa during the 2010 World Cup will be in a ‘vacation’ and not ‘property buying’-mode but will be impressed by the real estate opportunities they see. “Europe is depressed and investment opportunities are few and far between. However, investors with capital reserves visiting South Africa will have a renewed interest in the country based on its property investment returns economic stability and the opportunity to spend the European winter here. US investors are at this stage weary of overseas property investment and are unlikely to be a factor in real estate investment South Africa enjoyed a robust 10% year-on-year appreciation in the value of properties before the recession – in the US before annual growth on properties’ value was 3 – 5%. “The country remains one that is high on the list for European investors who will be watching South Africa’s recovery with interest.
