31 October 2007

Asking Price Reduction In Durbanville

A big thank you to readers who send in data about housing markets they have their eyes on. Reader TM sent in this list of properties he's been keeping hie eye on in Durbanville.














































































































RefPriceDate
44183R175000023/10/2007
44183R155000031/10/2007
45027R310000022/08/2007
45027R299500031/10/2007
45340R330000023/10/2007
45340R290000031/10/2007
45343R189500023/10/2007
45343R175000031/10/2007
45649R210000004/09/2007
45649R199500031/10/2007
45729R165000028/09/2007
45729R160000031/10/2007
45770R92900001/10/2007
45770R89900023/10/2007
MP100321R330000008/10/2007
MP100321R289900031/10/2007
MP100370R119500029/08/2007
MP100370R115000028/09/2007
MP100370R112800031/10/2007
MP104471R129500023/10/2007
MP104471R122500031/10/2007
MP104875R64000008/10/2007
MP104875R62000031/10/2007
MP104881R94500008/10/2007
MP104881R91500031/10/2007
MP104913R300000001/10/2007
MP104913R265000031/10/2007
MP106388R74900008/10/2007
MP106388R69900031/10/2007
MP107358R129500023/10/2007
MP107358R128500031/10/2007
MP108685R220000023/10/2007
MP108685R190000031/10/2007
MP110395R127500029/10/2007
MP110395R125000031/10/2007
MP110965R220000023/10/2007
MP110965R190000029/10/2007
MP59155R119500014/09/2007
MP59155R112500023/10/2007
MP69431R69900001/10/2007
MP69431R67900031/10/2007
MP76164R56600014/09/2007
MP76164R54900031/10/2007
MP76188R180000010/09/2007
MP76188R169500008/10/2007
MP84556R97000006/09/2007
MP84556R93500031/10/2007
MP85047R166000030/08/2007
MP85047R159900008/10/2007
MP85047R159000031/10/2007
MP88765R119500014/09/2007
MP88765R108000001/10/2007
MP89563R89900006/09/2007
MP89563R89000031/10/2007
MP92627R85000014/09/2007
MP92627R80000023/10/2007
MP94027R275000022/08/2007
MP94027R239500031/10/2007
MP94265R117500020/09/2007
MP94265R115000031/10/2007
MP95379R189500014/09/2007
MP95379R184900018/10/2007
MP95379R179900031/10/2007
MP96294R110000008/10/2007
MP96294R107500023/10/2007
MP96302R197500022/08/2007
MP96302R192500014/09/2007
MP99543R79500022/08/2007
MP99543R75000014/09/2007
MP99543R72500031/10/2007
MP99547R189500022/10/2007
MP99547R175000031/10/2007
MP99548R330000008/10/2007
MP99548R289900023/10/2007

90K Price Drop In Two Days

Here's a 2 bedroom house with 3 attached flatlets. On the 29th of October the asking price was R1 280 000. On the 31st of October the price is down to R1 190 000 and the seller is 'motivated'. Now according to the ad you could be earning close to R10 000 a month on rent if you rented everything out and if the seller bought for less than the current asking price they should be easily cash flow positive. So why sell?

25K Rent For Cartwrights Corner?

Nothing smells more of a desperate specuvestor trying to cover their bond than an ad asking for R25 000 in rent for a 2 bedroomed apartment.

And you call that a kitchen?

30 October 2007

Asking Prices in Durban

Reader SZ sent us this spreadsheet of asking prices on houses he's been keeping his eye on in Durban. It seems like people are deciding it's better to die by a large number of small cuts than rather price downward in one big cut. I call that catching a falling knife. A number in green means that the price was reduced from some higher price. A number in red means that the property was removed from the market and then brought back on, an old trick agents use to pretend like the property is brand new on the market.












































































Escombe 10 Cowell St, Queensburgh 810000 790000 760000
New Germany 32 Lewis Walter St 760000 760000
The Wolds 11 Glockner St 785000 765000
Waterfall 142 Valley drive 850000 830000 800000
Westville 58 Severn Drive 900000 850000 800000
The Wolds 8 Janine St, New Germany 795000 775000
Crestview 44A Rainbow Drive, Waterfall 930000 895000
Escombe 20 Philips Rd, Queensburgh 770000 770000
Caversham Glen 17 Plymouth Rd, Pinetown 795000 750000 740000
Malvern 9 Rodney Rd, Queensburgh 850000 830000

25 October 2007

Interest Rates Going Down? Don't Bet On It.

Inflation won't be tamed any time soon - Moody's

Moody's, the international ratings agency, yesterday poured cold water on hopes that inflation would soon be tamed.

It said household spending could have more steam than initially expected, raising the possibility that inflation may remain outside the Reserve Bank's target band of between 3 percent and 6 percent for longer than previously thought.

11 October 2007

Reserve Bank Raises Repo Rate 50bps

Mboweni raises repo rate

South Africa's central bank raised its key repo rate by 50 basis points to 10.5 percent on Thursday, above expectations, as inflation remains above the target range and despite a slowdown in some economic indicators.

The half percentage point rise is the third this year and brings to 350 basis points the increases since June last year to tame rising inflation pressures, partly driven by food and fuel costs, and robust consumer spending.

Only seven of 19 economists polled by Reuters last week forecast rates would rise on Thursday.

07 October 2007

But But... The World Cup!

Ah the 2010 World Cup. It's the perfect reason to buy a property for R395 000 with a tenant renting for R1 700/month. It doesn't matter if the property is located over 40km from the nearest world cup venue (with only one of the most congested highways in the city between you and the stadium) or that it has a pititful 5% ROI (before rates, maintenance and vacancy cotsts) when paid for entirely in cash. I mean the World Cup right? It says so in the ad. It has to be a good investment.













Down PaymentMonthly PaymentCash flowAnnual IncomeROI
R0R4769.13R-3069.13R-36829.56
R39500R4292.22R-2592.22R-31106.60-78.75%
R79000R3815.30R-2115.30R-25383.65-32.13%
R118500R3338.39R-1638.39R-19660.69-16.59%
R158000R2861.48R-1161.48R-13937.74-8.82%
R197500R2384.56R-684.56R-8214.78-4.16%
R237000R1907.65R-207.65R-2491.82-1.05%
R276500R1430.74R269.26R3231.131.17%
R316000R953.83R746.17R8954.092.83%
R355500R476.91R1223.09R14677.044.13%
R395000R0.00R1700.00R20400.005.16%

04 October 2007

Property Price Growth: Less Than Cash

Standard Bank reported (via RealEstateWeb) property price inflation was 5.7% year on year. That's less than cash. That kind of growth is a death knell to speculators. They're relying on double digit inflation to make up for their horrendous rental returns, which in most cases for newly bought flats is cash flow negative before taxes, maintenance and vacancy.