“Statistics revealed in the recent FNB Property Barometer – Western Cape Residential Property Review serve to substantiate the perception that the real estate market in the Western Cape is currently quite healthy,” says Mike Greeff, CEO of Greeff Properties, an exclusive Affiliate of Christie’s International Real Estate. He says that, among other things, the survey revealed a more robust financial status among current owners of Western Cape property who have made a decision to sell due to downscaling. “At the peak of the real estate “crash” in 2009, 36 percent of those selling to downscale were doing so due to financial pressure. Figures recorded at the end of the second quarter of 2014 reveal that this percentage has dropped markedly and is sitting at only 12 percent – a further drop of five percent from the 17 percent recorded at the end of the first quarter in 2014,” says Greeff.
The recent figures indicate that of those selling in order to downscale, 27 percent are doing so out of practical reasons motivated by old age. This is up from the 23 percent figure recorded at the end of the first quarter of 2014,” adds Greeff.
“What is particularly encouraging from a market health point of view, is that the percentage of sellers selling in order to purchase an upgrade is currently sitting at around 19 – a marked increase since 2009, when only 8 percent of sellers were selling in order to upgrade,” comments Greeff. He says that these figures might well be an indication that the rise of 500 base points at the start of 2014 did little to knock the property market from its recent and currently continuing upward trajectory, but he cautions that the effects of this past month’s additional 250 base point hike remain to be seen. “More hikes are anticipated by the end of 2014, so the graph is likely to level out a bit,” says Greeff.
