“Superior economy = superior housing market performance”
The massive property price boom that all major South African regions experienced prior to the 2008 slump was indeed “replicated” in Namibia, with its year-on-year house price growth also peaking at above 30% for a short time in 2004, and a significant price growth slowdown towards 2009.
Like the South African regions, the Namibian residential market’s price growth showed a post-2009 recovery. It has been in this post-2009 recovery period where we have periodically heard commentators expressing fears of a housing market “bubble” in Namibia. Such fears have been fuelled by a significantly stronger house price growth recovery in that region than in any other major Rand Area region.
The post-2008 market strength in Namibia means that, since the beginning of 2001 the average house price growth in that country has been a massive 496.7% up until the 1st quarter of 2015. This dwarfs anything in South Africa’s major regions, which are all nearer to 300% or lower, when measured according to the FNB set of house price indices. Read more here in the FNB Property Barometer – Rand_Area_Review – May_2015
