Week 3

Property Industry:

• February’s registration value in the deed’s office to date is up by 25.48%
• The average bondable loans increased from R1,077,980 to R1,247,208
• Cash sales volumes increased from 4,805 to ,5,534 for February
• Q4 of 2020 saw the markets registrations increase by 21.3% by value vs Q4 2019
• Overall bank submission for March 2021 is up by over 60%
• Bank conversion rations continue to be under pressure as lending requirements become more firm
• MultiNET home loans set a new all-time record for the month of March 2021

Local & International Markets:

• The rand remains weaker at R14.93/$ (R14.91/$*)earlier this week
• EM currencies were largely down; the TRY (-2.0%), INR (-1.2%) and COP (-1.1%) were amongst the biggest losers
• Asian equity markets the Nikkei, Hang Seng and Shanghai Composite are down
• Brent crude oil is up this week by 24.5% year-to-date
• The gold price is down this week by 11.4% year-to-date
• Brent crude oil is currently at $64.48/bbl; ($64.14/bbl*)
• Gold is at $1682/oz ($1685/oz*)
• SA CDS 243bps*, higher than Brazil 233bps* and lower than Turkey 487bps*
• Yields: US 10yr at 1.73%*, German bund at -0.286%* and SA 10-year generic at 9.87%*, SA’s R186 at 7.52%*

Covid Update

• Covid-19 global update: cases have surpassed 128.80 million, while the death toll has surpassed 2.81 million; recoveries are at 103.94 million
• Africa’s Covid-19 cases are at 4.23 million; fatalities are at 112,781
• Morocco has 495,421 reported cases, Nigeria 162,762, Ghana 90,287, Kenya 132,646
• SA has the 17th highest caseload, at 1.546 million; 756 new cases were reported on Tuesday
• 251,707 healthcare workers have been vaccinated to date
• President Ramaphosa has announced the banning of alcohol and limited size of religious and social gatherings over Easter to prevent a holiday surge in cases
• Bars and restaurants will be able to sell alcoholic beverages but will be required to close at 11 pm
• Regarding the vaccine campaign, Ramaphosa noted that the 2nd phase will see vaccinations of the elderly and those with comorbidities begin in mid-May
• It was further noted that SA has secured 11 million doses of the J&J vaccine and is finalising a further order of 20 million doses
• SA will also acquire 20 million doses of the Pfizer vaccine, expected in H2:21