The Commercial Property Bubble Is About To Burst

Just as South Africa wakes up to the fact that the residential property bubble has burst and prices are falling, another property sector, the commercial sector, is about to hear the sound of pawpaw hitting the fan.

Like the residential bubble, the mainstream media has all but ignored the fact that the commercial property market was built on easy credit and lax lending standards. As Noseweek details in this months issue, the good times are over and banks are facing massive writeoffs.

Saturday Open Thread

It's time again for the Saturday Open Thread.

Saturday Open Thread

Saturday Open Thread time is here again.

Estate Agency Owned Auction House In The Works

I've been hearing rumblings that the major SA real estate agencies (Seeff, Pam Golding, Rawson et al) are going to launch a jointly owned auction house to try and get some stock off their books. Currently the majority of real estate auctions are done by Auction Alliance who have agreements with ABSA and FNB to get rid of properties off their books.

Anyone out there with any more info on a possible agency owned auction house?

Saturday Open Thread

It's the Saturday open thread!

Innaguration Day Open Thread

It's the Saturday Open Thread, sponsored by the Inauguration of Jacob Zuma.

House Price Drop Officially Hits -10%

House prices continue to deteriorate

The steady deterioration in house prices continued in April, according to FNB's House Price Index released on Monday.

This was a result of a sizeable oversupply that had built-up in the residential market.

The number of owners trying to sell houses due to financial pressure was a key driver of the oversupply.

According to property economist John Loos, the April FNB House Price Index had reached double-digit year-on-year average house price deflation for the first time, to the tune of -10,2%.

This put the average house price level back to the level at the end of 2006, Loos said.

Saturday Open Thread

It's the Saturday Open Thread.