CyberAgent Newsletter

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Newsletter - 31 August 2005

Hand Held Devices

Cyberprop

Company	Requests
The Rental Giant	169
Drive Estates	162
Realty Executives JHB South	146
Proplist - Glenanda	143
Wendy Machanik Properties	133
Realty SA	123
Homenet Stellenbosch	72
Explore Properties (Marelle Trust)	61
Huizemark JHB	58
Proprop (Pty) Ltd - Head office	53
Hall Real Estate	47
Firzt Realty Company	38
Angor Financial Services	37
No Agent	34
About-U Properties	32
Proplist - Hermanus	32
Re/max Willows	31
Key West Estates	30

Sunday times

Company	Requests
Realty Executives JHB South	98
The Rental Giant	96
Drive Estates	80
Proplist - Glenanda	68
Wendy Machanik Properties	46
Hall Real Estate	32
Proplist - Hermanus	24
Champagne Collection Holiday Villas, Apartments &	22
Ridsdale and Associates	22
inus Strydom Property Group Midrand	22

From the Accounts department....

By now you are all aware of the new legislation regarding Value Added Tax (VAT).
We need your VAT number as soon as possible.
Please fax proof of your VAT registration to 011 955 9110

Agency info

We are still waiting for information sheets from some of agencies. To enable us to update our records and to make sure that what we advertise on the Internet is correct we need you to complete this form and return it to us as soon as possible.

Click here to download

Call out fees

Please take note that from 1 September 2005 our call out fees will be R300.00 plus VAT per hour.

Reports

Here at CyberAgent we believe in giving application updates for FREE. Should you request of us to set up reports for your agency the cost will be a minimum of R 30.00 plus VAT per report.

‘Blind man could see residential property boom is near its end’

The South African residential property market is likely to underperform other investment classes over the coming five years, and prospective investors should rather put their money into commercial assets, property economist Erwin Rode said yesterday.

The upper-end of the residential market in particular had exceeded previous boom-time price spikes in real terms, and in some areas it was already cheaper to build than to buy an existing property.

Rode described this phenomenon as a "natural brake" on the market. "Prices must slow down, and we are in fact already seeing this happen," he said.

The Absa housing price index had shown a year-on-year increase of almost 24% in May, but the month-on-month increase was down to less than 13%, indicating that the rising price trend was slowing sharply.

"You get better value the lower down the socioeconomic scale you go, but common sense tells me that the rate at which residential property prices have increased over the past few years is unsustainable."

Rode contrasted this with the office and industrial property markets, which he said were either already in, or on the verge of, a sharp upward correction.

Office vacancy levels in prime areas such as the Cape Town central business district had been "tumbling", but rentals had remained static in real terms. "A blind man with a stick could see there is going to be a dramatic reversal of the trend soon," Rode said.

Similarly, manufacturing capacity utilisation had been climbing over the past few years and industrial property rentals would inevitably track this rising trend.

Rode’s cautionary line on the residential market was echoed by Rand Merchant Bank chief economist Rudolf Gouws, who said while the South African economy was firmly ensconced in a long-term growth phase, "that does not mean the economic cycle is dead".

"There will still be upturns and downturns," Gouws said.

He said South African property owners were not yet overgeared by international standards, despite a surge in borrowing, because interest rates were low and inflation remained relatively benign.

"A gentle dip within the long-term growth phase is what I am hoping for," he said.

But Charles Martin, senior economist at the University of Stellenbosch’s Bureau for Economic Research, said some speculators in residential property could well find themselves overstretched if interest rates were to rise sharply, and could be "shocked out of the market".

First National Bank chief economist Cees Bruggemans said that the risk of an external shock causing interest rates to spike had been lessened by structural reforms to the economy since the 1998 Asian crisis, when SA’s prime rate peaked at 25%. "SA should be able to meet any future crisis with the currency taking the burden, rather than interest rates," he said.

Article by: Dave Marss - Business Day - Cape Editor
www.eprop.co.za

The Real Estate Lounge - "The place where Real Estate people chat"

The Real Estate lounge is a forum where anyone who has an interest in the South African Real Estate industry can chat about real estate issues, ask questions, give advice, swap ideas, share business or just communicate in general.

Anyone can join, whether you are a qualified practising estate agent, a candidate, a housewife who is thinking about becoming an estate agent, a conveyancer, trainer, financial consultant, buyer or seller. All you need is to have an interest in the Real Estate business.

Access to the lounge is FREE. All you need to do is register on-line and that's it. From time to time we will have guests that specialise in certain areas of Real Estate, for example Conveyancers, Financial Consultants, Trainers and the like.

This is YOUR lounge - make it work for you!!

To visit the lounge, click here www.therealestatelounge.com

"Freedom is not worth having if it does not include the freedom to make mistakes."
Mahatma Gandhi - Indian ascetic & nationalist leader (1869 - 1948)