September Property Stats Released

October 16 - For the fourth month in a row, the barometer used by mortgage originator, ooba, to measure the rate of price growth in the property industry, has shown an increase year on year.

The September statistics released by ooba showed that house prices climbed 1.8% in comparison to last year.

"The September oobarometer continues to reflect an improvement in year on year house prices," said the Chief Executive Officer of ooba, Saul Geffen. "This is the fourth consecutive month that the oobarometer has reported rising house prices and is clear evidence that the market is on the road to recovery."

Geffen points to one of the statistics which shows that there has been a drop in the average deposit as a percentage of the buying price.

He said that this had a lot to do with the fact that South African banks are currently changing their home loan policies, making it easier for people to buy a home.

"The main contributor to the significant drop in average deposits as a percentage of purchase price is a result of the shift in banks' lending criteria to lower deposit requirements, with all four big banks now offering 100 percent loans," said Geffen.

"The improved appetite to lend will support the increased demand for property as transaction volumes continue to pick up," he added.

Geffen said that one of the biggest contributors to the recovery of a market is bank lending and he has witnessed an improvement in the competitiveness levels between South Africa's banks over the past few months, leading to a rise in approval rates.

"Banks are now targeting non bank clients and rate concessions are becoming more aggressive," he said.

Related Insurance Articles:
* Bond Approvals Up
* Property Selling Tips
* Bond Approvals Up
* Jozi Home Market Still on the Slow Side

10/16/2009 8:57:58 AM