The Covid-19 crisis united South Africa’s real estate sector as never before in our history and the hard work has perhaps paid off – on Monday 1 June all property professionals may once again go outside to sell properties on condition of adhering to strict safety protocols to keep them and the buyers and sellers safe from infection with the novel coronavirus.
The property sector welcomes the latest rate cut because it spells relief for financially stressed home-owners and record-low interest rates sweetens the deal for first-time home buyers as well as investors.
With the downgrade from Alert Level 4 to Alert Level 3 looming close, the issuing of summonses and eviction applications draws ever nearer. What can landlords expect once the lockdown we are currently under is eased?
The revised Disaster Management Act directions on the movement of people from one home to another mean that tenants and home-buyers can now go ahead and move into their new Sectional Title (ST) and estate homes as long as they have a lease or proof that the property has been transferred into their name
The National Property Professionals Council (NPPC), led by dynamic chairperson Vuyiswa Mutshekwane, says while encouraged to see their efforts to obtain relief for the property sector is slowly bearing fruit they will not rest until the real estate sector is reopened.
The extended lockdown has hit the rental market particularly hard hit with many tenants that faced a lowered income or even no income. Is it all doom and gloom with a long slow road to recovery lying ahead or are there also new opportunities that may unfold?
The real estate sector has also caught onto the phrase that ‘everything is going to change’ and ‘the world will never be the same again’. However, every estate agent is asking: “How will it change? How will it be different?”
Due to lockdown, agents are not necessarily able to follow their normal processes and protocols, which more often than not include shared hard copy files and printed paperwork.
The Estate Agency Affairs Board (EAAB) CEO Mamodupi Mohlala denies allegations that she as CEO of the regulator has been ‘absent’ during the corona virus.
The combination of the delayed reopening of the Deeds Office together with the announcement of a once off allowance for people to move to new homes, subject to certain restrictions, gave some relief but left many confused.