If the past year has taught us anything, it is how important our homes have become to us.

The South African Reserve Bank has just announced that it is holding the repo rate steady, as South Africa battles the second wave of the COVID-19.

While a further reduction to the interest rate would have been a bonus for aspirant first-time home buyers and existing homeowners with mortgages, the Monetary Policy Committee’s decision to leave the repo rate unchanged at 3.5% was anticipated by the majority of market commentators, says Dr Andrew Golding, chief executive of the Pam Golding Property group.

The Monetary Policy Committee has decided to keep the repo rate unchanged at 3.5% per annum, Reserve Bank Governor, Lesetja Kganyago, has announced.

After the worst economic downturn in decades, further dampened by the recent tightening of lockdown restrictions in response to the second wave of the pandemic and the recommencement of load shedding, economic growth – while admittedly coming off a low base - is still widely expected to show some positive growth of around 3% this year.

The South African Reserve Bank (SARB) has for the second consecutive cycle kept the repurchase rate unchanged at 3.5% per annum.

Those in the business community have shown significant interest in the Government's plans to revive the economy in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic and its negative impact economically.

Further repo rate cut would have provided relief for economy and boosted housing market, says Dr Andrew Golding.

With the interest rate at its lowest in decades, after the welcome announcement today of a further 25 basis points drop in the repo rate, it may now be more financially prudent to buy rather than rent a home.

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.