Ooba Optimistic About Home Buying Trends

August 20 - Potential homebuyers will continue to enjoy improved purchasing conditions into the second half of the year, according to South African mortgage originator, ooba.

Ooba said that after examining statistics on a monthly basis, the figures clearly show that conditions were improving across the board for those seeking to buy a house in South Africa.

Improvements were noted in the size of the bonds approved, deposit requirements, the decline in the rate of bank declines and the price of houses in general, according to Saul Geffen, the CE of ooba.

Some of the interesting statistics published by ooba include:

An increase of 9.8% in average house purchase price, compared to last year. (R850,763)

15.7% year on year increase in the average approved bond size. (R685,503)

Average deposits sizes shrank year on year to 17.8%.(R165,260).

Another interesting statistic was the fact that a third of consumers who had their home loan applications turned down by one bank had a chance of having them approved by another.

There are still bargains available out there for investors who are seeking to take advantage of the improving market.

8/20/2010 8:13:34 AM