By  Xolile Bhengu

South Africans are more worried about continued interest rate hikes and unsustainable property prices than political uncertainty in 2008.

These are the findings of an online survey conducted by Propertygenie.co.za, which gauged the mood of consumers after a series of recent factors that have 'buffeted the local property market'.

Property owners responding to the survey were asked for their views on, inter alia, the introduction of the National Credit Act in June, interest rate hikes and the US and European housing markets sub-prime crisis.

Johan Strydom, general manager of the property search engine that lists over 125000 real estate agency properties nationwide, said three main factors seemed to be the main worries for local property owners.

Strydom said: "Our survey showed that 37% of people felt that higher interest rates are the major threat to property prices right now, while 23% said unsustainable house price rises posed the biggest threat. The NCA was voted the third largest risk factor with 21% of the votes."

"Interestingly, despite all the headline grabbing leadership (succession) concerns, only 16 percent of people thought political uncertainty was the biggest risk factor followed by 2 percent that ranked the sub-prime crisis as the biggest problem."

He said that 41% felt higher bond repayments from interest rate hikes had no impact on them, while nearly 17% said they would be selling their homes next year.

Daily Dispatch