Somerset West’s property market is renowned for its resilience, but the last few years have delivered some unprecedented challenges.

Despite global doom and gloom, Stats SA in their latest gross domestic product (GDP) report, state that the construction industry in South Africa reportedly grew at a rate of 11.2% in the fourth quarter of 2020.

The Social Housing Regulatory Authority (SHRA) reveals that it is ready to roll-out the much-anticipated Residential Rent Relief Programme that will significantly assist social housing tenants, impacted financially by the COVID-19 pandemic, meet their rental obligations.

It’s been over a year since the pandemic-induced stock market meltdown and since South Africa entered hard lockdown, and it is time to look back and examine what this period has taught us as an industry.

Rita-Rose Gagné, Chief Executive of Hammerson, said:

Fortress Real Estate Investments, South Africa’s third largest REIT, announced today that its long-term strategy is paying off.  

As the world grapples with the uncertainty surrounding the long-term implications of Covid-19, there is a measure of agreement on one thing - the global pandemic has fast-tracked numerous trends which were already emerging prior to the crisis.

JSE-listed REIT, Redefine Properties, says its balance sheet is in a stronger position than it was before the COVID-19 pandemic struck and that it should be well-positioned to take advantage of opportunities by the end of the financial year in August. 

During the COVID-19 pandemic, property stocks in general took a significant hit, where retail and commercial office space – and even some industrial property holdings – were affected. In contrast, lower-income affordable housing – and inner-city housing in particular – has performed better than most other property markets in South Africa over the same period.

Hyprop, the retail-focused REIT with a R45.4 billion portfolio of shopping centres in South Africa, Eastern Europe and sub-Saharan Africa, improved its distributable income by 18% in the six months to 31 December 2020 compared with the six months to 30 June 2020.