Sandton skyline dominates property development awards

Sandton skyline dominates property development awards

The South African Property Owners Association (SAPOA) Innovative Excellence in Property Development Awards 2011, sponsored by Nedbank Corporate Property Finance, has awarded five of the nine award-winning property developments to properties located in Sandton, proving it to be the centre of innovative property development and design in South Africa.

Office Cycle upswing in the wings?

This article is from the Newsletter that I receive from eprop.co.za

In general the amount of new development has come down or at least remained quite steady and the ratio of unlet space has remained fairly flat as shown in the first graph below. Over the past five quarters the ratio has come down quite noticeably for Durban and has broadly been flat for Cape Town, Pretoria and Johannesburg . The prognosis is that most markets are in line to experience balanced supply evidenced by lower new supply and a tapering off of vacancy rates on existing stock. This bodes well for perfomance into the medium term.

As per the second graph, the ratio of new development to total market stock shows a slight increase for Cape Town and Joburg. The highest ratio remains PE now approaching 12 percent with Pretoria at under 6 percent albeit having come down from over 12 percent 18 months previously. It is important to note that the OVS tracks committed new developments as opposed to planned/speculative schemes; that being said completed office developments in Durban was quite buoyant in 2010 and yet the ratio shown here does not reflect this. As such careful research is required to assess whether supply is taking place in other Durban nodes and if any risks exist to the take-up outlook.

If properly managed, SA's developmental challenges could well become a blessing in disguise, offering focus to delivery agents and hope to millions of people. Let's each play our part, no matter how big or small.

 

Gareth Shepperson

 

Realestateweb - Generation x leads property recovery - Property talk - South Africa's fastest-growing property website

Realestateweb - Generation x leads property recovery - Property talk - South Africa's fastest-growing property website

A report by an American company, John Burns Real Estate Consulting, revealed that of the 10 000 buyers and potential buyers they surveyed in 27 metro areas throughout the US, between 85% and 89% said that they felt now was a good time to buy a home and most felt optimistic about a new home purchase.

Realestateweb - Gloves off as Trafalgar takes on the city of Tshwane - Residential - South Africa's fastest-growing property website

Realestateweb - Gloves off as Trafalgar takes on the city of Tshwane - Residential - South Africa's fastest-growing property website

Trafalgar Property Management is taking its six-year long battle with the Tshwane Metropolitan Council back to court after the council failed to comply with a court order against it. Attorney Dewald de Beer says his client will apply to have the matter placed on the unopposed court roll after the city failed to meet the 15-day deadline to file an opposing affidavit. This was after the council indicated it was going to oppose an application to have the Tshwane Metro declared in contempt of court.

The application was lodged after the city apparently failed to comply with a court order. The dispute first arose in 2005 when Trafalgar discovered that around 30 body corporates under its management in Pretoria were being billed for individual owner's arrear electricity accounts. These are the accounts for which body corporates are not legally liable for under South African law. Trafalgar says the discrepancy was immediately reported to the Metro which gave the assurance it would correct the accounts. However, this was in vain. "...No action was taken and month after month Trafalgar clients continued to be billed not just for the same arrear accounts, but for additional charges accrued including final demands, final cut offs and interest." A statement says the bodies corporate involved soon accrued debts running into hundreds of thousands of rands.

To add insult to injury, the council then began disconnecting services almost on a monthly basis. This was not done to single units deemed to be in arrears, but to entire blocks and sectional title complexes.

Gareth Shepperson

Outrage at CIPC, Cipro`s replacement`s website - Special investigations | Moneyweb

Outrage at CIPC, Cipro`s replacement`s website - Special investigations | Moneyweb

We have experienced the exact same issues with CIPC. It also took us 45 minutes "on hold" to get through to the call centre who basically advised that we should be patient it is being attended to. Ou e-mails to CIPC have met with zero response and appear to be an utter waste of time.

Gareth Shepperson

South Africa most transparent real estate market out of BRICS nations - South Africa | Moneyweb

South Africa most transparent real estate market out of BRICS nations - South Africa | Moneyweb

According to Jones Lang LaSalle’s Global Foresight research paper on local real estate, factors that contribute to South Africa’s high transparency ranking include robust listed vehicle governance, strong auditing and reporting standards, a highly-developed legal system, the fairness and efficiency of the regulatory framework relating to real estate taxation, planning and building codes, enforceability of contracts and title, and a strong tradition of property rights.