South Africa’s level of building activity for new housing remained subdued last year, which was much in line with the trends since 2010 after the economy survived the 2008/2009 recession.
The planning phase of new housing, as reflected by the number of building plans approved by local government institutions, showed low single-digit growth in 2017 from 2016. The construction phase of new housing, i.e. the volume of housing units reported as completed, contracted last year after relatively low growth was achieved in 2016.
Against the background of an expected uptick in economic growth, inflation to remain within the inflation target range of 3%-6%, stable to possibly somewhat lower interest rates, a hopefully more stable political environment and higher levels of confidence and sentiment in general, residential building activity may show some improvement 2018.
Read more here: Absa Building stats Dec 2017