Market Heats Up For Owners With Houses For Sale

Property investors with houses for sale will wait aboutincome remains under pressure and rentals fail to
13 weeks to offload their property in the currentcover a significant enough chunk of bond repayments.
market, according to First National Bank's latestThere is also no sign yet of the strong capital growth
Property Barometer.that enticed many buy-to-let buyers over the past few
This is a significant drop from the average 21 weeksyears, FNB home loans strategist John Loos said.
and 1 day a property was on the market before beingGood news for investors with a house for sale is that
sold in the second quarter of 2009, according to thefinancial stress-related selling is down significantly –
bank's quarterly survey of a sample of estate agents.dampening supply, while traditional affordability – the
The latest barometer indicates a slight strengthening indifference between income levels and house price
demand on a quarter-to-quarter basis, pointing tolevels – are improving, potentially increasing demand.
continued residential market improvement.The new area of concern is the costs of owning and
Relatively low interest rate levels, a more relaxedrunning a home, with potential buyers taking into
lending stance by banks and positive consumeraccount the impact of potential Eskom price hikes, as
sentiment will all help owners with a house for sale inwell as the probability of water, sewage and municipal
the near future, estate agents said.rates showing steady increases in coming years.
First time buyers have also started to show aThese rising costs lead buyers to favour smaller-sized
significant increase, from 14% of total buying in thehomes and stands with fewer luxuries, while the
second quarter, to an estimated 19% by the end ofmounting urban transport and space pressures are
2009. The buy-to-let market, however, has showed noheightening the importance of location, the barometer
significant improvement, as households' disposablefound.