MAIN IMAGE: Thato Ramaili – PPRA CEO, and Jan le Roux – CE of Rebosa Editor We recently reported the PPRA’s intention to require valid, compliant BEE certificates to be submitted with the next round of FFC renewal applications in 2025 and with new applications with immediate effect. Every business property practitioner has needed to submit a BEE certificate to obtain their FFC since 2022. The issue now is that this certificate must be compliant, not just valid. The implication is that any real estate business achieving more than R2.5 million in annual turnover will need to submit not only a va ..read more

MAIN IMAGE: Dr Muriel Mushariwa – managing director of EconoBEE, and Dr Steven Ngubeni, chairman of the PPRA Senior writer With the introduction of the PPA came an acute focus on B-BBEE in the property sector, and two years later, we ask yet again, has the industry really transformed? Dr Muriel Mushariwa, managing director of EconoBEE, a management consultancy specialising in B-BBEE, skills development and employment equity, thinks this is insufficient. Dr Steven Ngubeni, chairman of the PPRA agrees with her. Using the Sanlam Transformation Gauge score for the sector as factual evidence, it sh ..read more

MAIN IMAGE: Rhys Dyer, CEO of ooba Group ooba Home Loans The Quarter 1 2024 (Q1 ‘24)  home loan statistics from ooba Home Loans, reveal that while homebuying activity levels have slowed in the current high interest rate environment, there are still several key indicators pointing to a residential property market poised for gradual recovery. Underscoring the latest statistics from the Q1 ‘24 oobarometer, Rhys Dyer CEO of ooba Group acknowledges that, “As expected, the prevailing ‘higher for longer’ interest rate environment has continued to impact ooba Home Loan’s application volumes for t ..read more

MAIN IMAGE: Jacqui Savage, national rentals manager for the Rawson Property Group Rawson Property Group Under the Rental Housing Act, incoming and outgoing inspections are mandatory. Both tenants and landlords/agents are obligated to be present for the full duration and sign off on the resulting inspection forms – complete with time- and date-stamped inspection photographs.  While many view this as little more than an inconvenient bureaucratic hurdle, Jacqui Savage, National Rentals Manager for the Rawson Property Group, says inspections are actually a crucial safeguard for everyone invol ..read more

MAIN IMAGE: Theo Mseka, CEO of Private Property Private Property Private Property has announced that effective 1 May 2024, current COO Theo Mseka will take up the role of CEO for the online property marketplace. Mseka joined the business 18 months ago and has, since then, focused his efforts on creating a strong foundation on which to continue building the business and delivering unparalleled value to the South African real estate ecosystem. “I am thrilled to be stepping into this role next month and feel honoured to be leading a dedicated team with the people, knowledge and skills needed to p ..read more

MAIN IMAGE: Johann van der Merwe – co-founder and managing director, and Schalk van der Merwe – director at WeconnectU Advertorial Ever tried to build a puzzle with pieces from different boxes? Spoiler alert: it’s about as easy as trying to run a rental management business by cobbling together solutions from half a dozen different software providers. No matter how hard you try, there’s just no substitute for an all-in-one technology ecosystem. Everything you need fits together perfectly, under a single, consolidated roof. Rental Management is a surprisingly simple name for what is actually a v ..read more

MAIN IMAGE: Senior counsel George Kairinos from Advocates Group 21, Jan le Roux – CE of Rebosa, and José De Abreu – founder and managing partner at De Abreu & Cohen Inc Editor While some HOAs have stopped the practice of charging estate agents accreditation or marketing fees to operate within gated estates, many continue to do so, much to the frustration of agents who are legally not allowed to pay said fees, under fear of losing their FFCs. “It is illegal for agents to engage in it, and to top it all off, it’s purely a money-making mechanism on the part of these HOAs and needs to come to ..read more

Staff writer Amidst political uncertainty (what’s going to happen on voting day?) and a historically high repo rate, the housing market is showing signs of strain, though there has been a mild increase in home loan applications: R7.8% – QOQ increase in home loan applications R1.26 million – average home purchase price for first-time buyers R1.05 million – average national home loan for first-time buyers 9.6% – YOY increase in the average home purchase price in the Eastern Cape Home purchase prices Home prices continued to recover during the first quarter of the year, with the YOY growth rat ..read more

Chas Everitt Real estate group Chas Everitt International has proudly launched a groundbreaking website that ushers in a new era of marketing, exploration and acquisition for luxury property in South Africa. With a focus on unparalleled design, seamless functionality and a commitment to showcasing South Africa’s most prestigious properties, the new Chas Everitt Luxury website epitomises sophistication and innovation in the realm of luxury real estate. For almost 50 years, the Chas Everitt group has been making dreams come true by assisting families in realising their home ownership aspirations ..read more

MAIN IMAGE: Grant Smee, CEO of Only Realty Senior writer Only Realty has been intensely focused on growth through acquisition. Grant Smee, CEO, explains that this direction followed after the Covid lockdown, when he and his partners made the pivotal decision to shift the group’s growth strategy from franchising to acquisition. “Over the past three years, we have successfully acquired 12 varying-sized real estate companies. These acquisitions range from smaller firms with modest property management portfolios to larger entities boasting extensive agent teams and substantial rental and sales tra ..read more