A Johannesburg Stock Exchange listed company, Vivedend Income Fund, has been financed with R790 million property acquisition by Nedbank Corporate Finance.
R500 million of the R790 million was used to finance Vivedend for the Vusani acquisition. Vivedend has been doing a phenomenal job in a way that they managed to move from one to nine more properties valued at R515 million. This will further see Vivedend’s portfolio reaching R1 327 million worth of 19 properties, thus increasing the gross rentable area of 187 143 square metres.
Vusani Property Investments were established in …

“Green shoots here and there have given early indications that the property market started 2012 on a positive note.” However, Samuel Seeff, Seeff Chairman, says that the market is not entirely out of the woods.
In February, Seeff recorded 900 million Rand in sales as their best month in four years. They managed to reach a whopping 28% increase as compared to last year where they attained 600 million.
We cannot shelve the fact that low interest rates, annual salary increases and the flat house price growth have made homes more affordable …

The best way to find property for sale in Johannesburg is via a real estate agent. However, I stand to be corrected, but I’m going to prove my point. Like any other jargoned term; “real estate agent is too broad.” If you break it down, you will realise that it has itsown specializations (well like any other profession). Some agents specialize is residential, industrial and some specialize in commercial properties. Those who specialize in commercial properties do know what to sell when a prospective customer wants to build a mall. …

Some positive South African property news; a new green hotel is in the pipe-line for Cape Town. The Hotel Verde is in its final stages of approval with the construction expected to be complete by early 2013.
The hotel name “Verde” means green in Italian but that isn’t the only reason why it is called a green hotel.  This 143 room, 3-star hotel is located just 500m from the terminal building of the Cape Town International building.  The room sizes, services and fittings will however be similar to those of a …

Just down the road from our office building is commercial property in the form a shopping complex that has a gym, a few clothing stores, plus a lot of eateries. The main retail attraction there being a grocery store that basically had everything anyone could ever need.
Yesterday my colleagues and I decided to head down to the complex to get something to eat for lunch when we were met with notices informing us that the grocery store had been shut down indefinitely. The notice didn’t explain why the store was …

The property market is a lot like the information communication technology industry, change is frequent and as such experts in the market need to keep abreast with all the trends and alterations that come.
Here are a few examples of private property sale trends worth looking out for in 2012:

Government policies

New bills and laws that are being passed by government have a big role to play in the property market, the introduction of the Consumer Protection Act for example see’s the property market undergo new changes as contracts and leases are …

Over the past decade, South African universities have built numerous residences to try and keep up with the growing demand for student housing. However, there still seems to be an under supply of accommodation for students according to South African property news reports. The issue was even discussed in parliament recently and received wide coverage.
A recent development in Rosebank, Cape Town, is specifically aimed at addressing this challenge. The development is conveniently located on Durban Road and comprise a four storey building with 55 two bedroom apartments all between 34 …

An interesting phenomenon in the South African property news arena is that the percentage of sellers selling in order to downscale due to “life stage” is steadily increasing.
According to FNB’s estate agent survey for the 3rd quarter of 2011, 23% of sellers said they were downscaling because of their life stage. These sellers are usually people older than 50 whose children have left the house or older consumers who believe a large home is somewhat impractical.
While the survey only started in 2008 and any trends should be identified with caution, …

The emergence of the internet as a marketing tool have changed the way businesses communicate. Whether they sell clothes, services or property, consumers expect businesses to have an online presence and to provide up-to-date information. An interactive approach and communication via Facebook or Twitter are no longer optional.
When tenants start looking for property for rent in South Africa, the easiest way to narrow down the field, is to turn to Google. Without leaving your house, you would be able to locate rental properties in your area within your price range. …

South African property news are seldom positive these days. However, an analysis of recent figures released by Statistics South Africa reveals that activity related to the planning of new housing improved notably during the first seven months of 2011.
According to Jacques du Toit, senior property analyst at Absa Home Loans, all three segments of the market showed positive growth when compared to the same period last year.
Du Toit notes that the construction of new housing also showed an increase during the same period, however the pace of improvement was much …