South Africa’s tough economic climate is reflected in the poor performance of the nation’s Affordable residential property market, with many new buyers limited to sectional title units in old and neglected areas.
On top of this, there are roughly 1.7 million properties that Lightstone has not attached a value to, and many of these could also be classified as Affordable, with a significant number likely to be low-income housing which is not actively trading.“Lightstone defines Affordable property as under R750,000 in value and sub-divides the Affordable price band into three sub-bands: Lower Affordable , Mid Affordable and Upper Affordable ,” said Lightstone’s Hayley Ivins-Downes.
“However, as the Affordable market constitutes 50% of registered properties, it does indicate a lower rate of activity in the segment .”