Saturday Open Thread

It's the Saturday Open Thread

IOL: Property Slump Hits City Centre

Property slump hits Cape Town city centre

Some choice quotes:

The slump has hit investors who bought in the CBD during the property boom and are now being forced to sell their apartments for less than what they paid for them. Some homeowners are losing hundreds of thousands of rand.

This comes as Eurocape, owner of Mandela Rhodes Place and the Taj Hotel, readies itself to release apartments it has held back for years.

...

A Johannesburg resident, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said his studio flat in Mandela Rhodes Place had been on the market for three years.

He bought the property a few years ago for just over R1.1m, R220 000 less than what the original owner paid for it.

"The market is shocking. This property's moved from one high-profile estate agent to the next and it's still not sold," he said. "Now all I want is what I paid for it."

Remax City Bowl estate agent Henry Voss said he has had to slash the prices of a host of apartments in the CBD, with the new buyers paying "considerably less".

...

Another Remax agent, Steven Delit, said many of the new developments in the CBD "didn't live up to the sizzle".

"A lot of them were set up as tourist hotels and the returns have been dreadful.

"Occupancy rates are low across the board right now, and developments like The Icon are not achieving near what buyers were told they would get," he said.

Sunday Open Thread

It's the Sunday Open Thread

Property Developer Auctioning Own Penthouse

Barry Levin, well known property developer, is auctioning off his massive (1400m2) penthouse on top of Two Oceans in Mouille Point tomorrow (Friday 22nd July). The reserve price is rumoured to be north of R40 million.

Why is such a property being sold on relatively short notice (I first heard of it 2 weeks ago) via auction?

Saturday Open Thread

It's the (barely) Saturday Open Thread.

High Rise And High Levies: R70 000/year Incinerated

Here's a 3 bed apartment on sale in Mutual Heights for a hair under R3 million. It's pretty big (244 m2) but the levies and rates would make you think it was even bigger.

If you buy this place be prepared to pay rates of R1 600 and levies of R4 376 for a combined outlay of R5 976. That's over R70 000 a year that disappears into the air. You'll need at least 2% capital appreciation just to break even on that!

Saturday Open Thread: FNB - 'It's not getting better'

Welcome to the Saturday Open Thread. This weeks topic starter from FNB:

With houses turning in sub-inflation growth, sellers should look at pricing their houses more realistically, while buyers are becoming increasingly more professional in their buying decisions.

Current high debt to disposable income levels place owners under pressure to service their mortgage obligations. The sector will remain stressed and the need to downscale will continue, especially where we have seen income and job losses.

Ballinrobe: Still Selling or Buyers Bailing?

Reader JP writes:

It's been a year since it's been completed but the Ballinrobe is still trying to sell all it's units. Either that or the people who bought off plan are bailing. Which is worse?

Saturday Open Thread

I'm drowning my sorrows after the rugby. Today's topic: How far are you prepared to commute every day?