Monday, April 7, 2014

SA Rental Property Demand Attracts Investment Attention

By Colin James


Demand for property to rent is experiencing a high, according to Harcourts South Africa CEO Richard Gray, with entry level property prices of R400,000 being beyond reach of many young professionals on the Western Cape.

With middle class customers paying from R750 000 to R1.6m for a family home, demand for property to rent is receiving attention from financiers asserts Gray. "With rates remaining regularly low, mortgages are very cost-effective and who can afford a family home in a good area are discovering they can pay their investment off in 10 to 15 years on a property to hire, in opposition to 20 to 30 years. "

Gray comments that price is an enormous issue, but not the only issue, "Many families with good incomes are in the market for property to lease for several reasons, work mobility is a good reason and also the desire to be near a good school is a different reason why people look for property to rent."

According to Gray, a normal family might have their own rental properties, and choose to lease rather than own their own family home. No matter what the reason that people are looking at property to lease, Gray announces that there are is a huge demand for property to rent and that many of the tenants are in higher earnings bracket with stable employment.

"Landlords favour a tenant with stable employment and diverse social connections within a community, when it comes to property to lease Harcourts has found that there is very rarely an issue with tenants of middle earnings family houses. "

Harcourts South Africa offers a full property to hire service, from finding acceptable rental properties for investors and landlords to purchase , matching tenants with the right property to rent, and a full rental service whereby the stockholders pass over the day to day administration issues to Harcourts.

Gray points towards the Cape West Coast as an example where speculators are currently buying up property to rent thanks to the industrial development area (IDZ) at Saldanha being given the green light, "Over the next 20 years it is expected that there will be an influx of young qualified folks looking for higher density housing units due to employment opportunities coming from the IDZ. "

Gray says the existing residential housing stock is also at capacity and there are opportunities for investors who are supplying property to hire in the way of family houses close to the IDZ,"In the short term quality properties across the sector will experience demand pressure, which is going to have an impact on price," concludes Gray.




About the Author:



No comments:

Post a Comment