It is relatively straightforward to make a good property investment when the economy and housing market are booming.

Buying a home is one of the biggest investment decisions a person will ever make.

On a national average basis, a continuation of the gradual rise in average time of homes on the market prior to sales points to a housing market moving away from equilibrium, and into a space where supply exceeds demand.

Building activity in the South African market for new private sector-financed housing showed some marginal improvement on a year-on-year basis in both the planning and construction phases in the first seven months of 2017, based on data released by Statistics South Africa.

Examining recent years’ of improvement in both the Household Sector Debt-to-Disposable Income Ratio (decline) as well as the Household Sector Net Savings Rate (rise), it would appear that weak consumer confidence levels in a stagnant economy are encouraging households as a collective towards a more cautious financial approach.

Gazetted in March 2017 for comment, the long-awaited Property Practitioners Bill is intended to repeal the Estate Agency Affairs Act 112 of 1976 and transform the entire property market.

PSG Alpha Investments, a subsidiary of the JSE-listed PSG Group, has acquired a 50% stake in Evergreen Lifestyle, South Africa’s pre-eminent provider of retirement living and a division of the Amdec Group.

After declining by 11 points in 2Q2017, the FNB/BER Building Confidence Index improved by 3 index points to 35 in 3Q2017.

2nd Quarter 2017 SARB New Mortgage Lending data, released in the latest SARB Quarterly Bulletin, showed a renewed slowing in the year-on-year growth rate into negative territory in the 2nd quarter, after a briefly positive growth rate in the 1st quarter of 2017.

With banks offering minimal returns on your savings, are there savvier ways to invest your money?