In the 4th Quarter 2016 FNB Estate Agent Survey, buy-to-Let demand was a little slower than the prior quarter, keeping the level of recent years “moderate” by pre-2008 boom time standards, and our estimates point to little in the way of growth in secondary property ownership.

The FNB House Price Index for 2016 as a whole rose by 5%, slower than the 7.2% and 6.5% for 2014 and 2015 respectively.

While economic growth is expected to be mildly better in 2017, this is not yet expected to be enough to turn Real Household Disposable Income growth positive on a per capital basis.

Retail Sales growth tends to be more cyclical than overall economic growth, outperforming the latter in good times, but often underperforming economic growth in tougher times.

The FNB/BER Building Confidence Index rose to 40 points in 4Q2016, its best level in 12 months.

Sectional Title homes have seen a long term rise in prominence in South Africa’s property trade, driven by mounting urban land and infrastructure scarcity, which requires a “drive” towards smaller average sized properties as we look to utilize land and infrastructure more economically.

The Commercial Property Market has been seeing its average capital growth slowing in recent times, driven by economic growth weakness and interest rate hiking of recent years.

The Residential Mortgage Market is weak in terms of transaction growth, but solid in terms of debt repayment performance under weak economic circumstances.  

The ratings agencies have been circling for months with many fearing a downgrading to junk status, and South Africa’s economic growth rate has been narrowed from 0.8% in February to 0.5%.

In the 2nd Quarter of 2016, the TPN-FNB National Average Gross Residential Yield rose slightly for the 1st time since the 1st quarter of 2014.