Property NEWS:
The recent property boom meant that more the most part sellers have been calling the shot, but according to the BusinessDay there are signs that the residential property market may be shifting back in favour of the buyer.
Low interest rate and a high consumer confidence created a big demand for new homes which allowed sellers the freedom to increase there asking prices. While interest rates are still very low the growth of house prices is slowing which means properties are not only taking longer to sell than they did a year ago, but are also selling for tens, if not hundreds, of thousands of rand less than asking price.
According to figures recently released by Jigsaw Holdings that tracked not only the length of time that properties spent on the market but also the disparity between asking and selling prices, properties are now spending an average of 51 days on the market — as opposed to the 39 days reflected during the second half of 2004.
Mike Bester, CEO of Realty 1 International Property Group, explains that: “Buyers are no longer snatching up properties as soon as they are listed, as was the case when stock levels were at an all-time low. They are shopping around until they find something within their price range and that offers them value for their money.”
Bester says with the number of lower-than-asking-price offers rising steadily, sellers must accept that the “halcyon days of spiralling price growth had ended”.