Yet many potential homebuyers are currently adopting a wait-and-see attitude.
“It seems fair to assume that if there is clarity on the political future and a positive outlook, there is likely to be considerable pent-up demand resulting in a marked improvement in the local market,” said Golding.
Key trends
As in 2017, essentials will rule in the housing market and “over-exuberance” is unlikely, said Loos. Primary residential demand is king, as are “no-frills smaller-sized homes” with sectional title continuing to outperform full title.
Size will count, said Loos. “Smaller will be better as it has been in recent years and many aging homeowners selling to downscale will also be fueling smaller property demand.”
And as money goes “defensive,” prime regions and nodes reign supreme, added Loos.
“I think we are moving into a tougher economic period where rentals could do better than home buying and yields could rise in the next few years,” said Loos.
Golding envisages three key trends gathering momentum in 2018:
• A growing demand for sectional title properties for both lifestyle and economic reasons within the major growth nodes;
• Estate living (appeal of safe, smaller and less expensive to maintain properties); and
• Steady transition to more energy and water-efficient homes.
Retirement properties are also a big growth area and Golding sees this trend continuing in 2018, citing KwaZulu-Natal (KZN), the Garden Route and Atlantic Seaboard as hotspots. Other areas of growth are student accommodation and first-time buyers, he said.
Agri-hood: The future ‘golf estate’?
Another new trend is the growing popularity internationally of agri-hoods – housing estates with residences built around community farms. In SA, New World Wealth notes a move away from traditional golf estates and a rise in demand for retirement and eco-estates.
Golding believes the agri-hood trend will take hold in SA, with one currently potentially on the cards for the Western Cape. “You are basically buying into a farm without having to be a farmer,” Golding told finweek.
An agri-hood is one where a normal-sized farm creates a mechanism for ownership for multiple individuals that would allow them to build a home, participate in and benefit from the security and lifestyle amenities of the estate, as well as farming activities and products, explained Golding.
“There is a very real community component to an agri-hood.”
“It’s really just a variation of a golf estate,” said Golding, “and clearly estates are working.”
Article by: Glenda Williams
First published on: Fin24
