The fact that the interest rate has remained unchanged, as announced by Tito Mboweni yesterday in his final interest rate address as Governor of the Reserve Bank, is a clear indicator that stability has returned to the market and the only way from here is up. Many experts believe that the South African property market has turned the corner. While property has undoubtedly been one of the hardest-hit industries by the world-wide recession, and more importantly, because it was, now is the time to buy. So while the mere mention of property in times like these when purse strings are tight and budgets are stretched to their max may cause many to cringe, the fact is property remains one of the cornerstones of any investment portfolio. This sentiment seems to be echoed by independent economic research. At a recent public address, Tito Mboweni, Governor of the South African Reserve Bank said that the world economy is expected to grow at an estimated 3,1% in 2010, representing a 0,6% upward revision to the forecasts released three months ago. “It is encouraging to note that much of this growth is being underpinned by the emerging and developing countries which are expected to grow at 5,1% in 2010 compared with 4%, and 7% projected in July. The HSBC Emerging Markets Index (EMI) released recently, which is meant to reflect economic conditions and prospects in developing countries, provides additional support to the view that emerging markets will lead the global economic recovery. Most emerging markets have recorded a strong economic performance in the third quarter of 2009 and leading indicators point to further improvements ahead,” Mboweni said.
While distressed property sales present the ideal opportunity for savvy investors, these too are dwindling. Statistics from the First National Bank QuickSell programme show that the number of distressed property sales has decreased substantially.