The weeks that followed the hard lockdown at the end of March have been inconceivable for retailers.

In this last quarter concluding in December 2020, the residential property market continues to gain momentum, and in some areas appears to be substantially busier - even when compared to peaks in previous years, says Richard Day, CEO of fixed-fee agency, Eazi Real Estate.

The current, exceptionally low interest rates in South Africa have sparked off a sudden and unexpected call for residential property bonds.

The further reduction of the repo rate by 25 basis points to an all-time low of 3.5% takes the prime interest rate down to 7%, says Dr Andrew Golding, chief executive of the Pam Golding Property group.

Initial predictions regarding the future of the residential property market as a result of the Covid-19 lockdown have painted a sombre picture: significant drops in house prices, more supply than demand, and people unable to afford their home loans. 

“The COVID-19 Crisis has changed the world a lot, perhaps less through introducing new trends and more through speeding up old trends,” said John Loos, FNB Economist at an FNB Commercial Property Finance (CPF) webinar earlier today.

Despite a drop in profits, Tradehold’s management believes the company, which operates mainly in South Africa and the UK, has weathered well the highly volatile and demanding conditions that defined its 2020 financial year to end February.

JSE listed Balwin Properties, a developer that cares about environmentally responsible building practices and the delivery of high-quality apartments to its valued clients, reported continued strong demand for its unique lifestyle apartments despite increased economic headwinds.

With the first quarter of 2020 (Q1 20) ending only five days into the Covid-19 national lockdown, the statistics and trends analysis released by ooba home loans, South Africa’s foremost home loan comparison service, depicted an ideal environment for homebuyers.  

The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the South African Reserve Bank (SARB) has cut the interest rate by 100 basis points.