Estate Living Magazine New Beginnings - Issue 37 January 2019 | Page 52

l i v e
s m a r t
Will digital auctions make sales more transparent?
Gold Coast Estate
the congestion and increasing densification of the Mother City’s
CBD and surrounds. And in KZN, the rapidly expanding North
Coast region, in close proximity to King Shaka International Airport
and a proliferation of secure lifestyle estates, the North Coast areas
from uMhlanga, Umdloti and Sibaya through to Ballito and Zimbali
are increasingly in demand by home buyers from KZN and other
regions.’
This year will see a new catalogue of properties going up for auction
through BidX1 South Africa, a JV between Pam Golding Properties
and British auction house BidX1. The technology behind BidX1 – and
similar online auction tools – promises to make property auctions
more transparent, more accessible and more efficient than before.
‘We believe there’s a strong appetite for these advancements in
South Africa,’ BidX1 South Africa Chief Operating Officer David
Murphy said at the launch of the JV – and the advantage of having
legal documents available for inspection via an online portal prior
to auction is obviously a very attractive feature. ‘Starting from a
stated reserve price, every bid placed during the sale of a property
is logged and displayed in real time, and this record, along with the
final sale price, can be viewed publicly on our website,’ Murphy
explained. ‘In this way, buyers are assured that they are competing
against other genuine parties that have completed the same
process as they have. They can see competing bids as they come in
and accurately assess demand for the property.’
Will the market keep up with younger, greener buyers?
South Africa’s national housing market remains under tremendous
pressure, thanks – or no thanks – to weak economic growth and
an unsettled international environment. But Andrew Golding
insists that there are still opportunities in well-priced housing
markets, ‘particularly,’ he says, ‘those that offer an attractive lifestyle
away from the congestion and stress of the major metro areas.
Certainly, the young age profile of residents of South Africa and
much of Africa presents a huge opportunity, as there is a long-term
structural demand for housing. South Africa is already a global
leader in green/sustainable building in the commercial sector and
increasingly in residential.’ A key trend in 2019 and beyond will see
developers adjusting to the lifestyle requirements of buyers of niche
accommodation – like, for example, student housing and retirement
units.
Rondebosch Oval
Capital On Bath
Is fractional property the new stokvel?
Property stokvels are not new to the South African market. What is
new, though, is the ‘legitimate’ spin on that old model. In a stokvel,
each member contributes a monthly amount, and the pooled
funds are used for the benefit of a single member who wants to
buy property. Once that member has bought their property, the
next member in line is assisted to buy a property … and so on, until
everybody in the group has a property. That’s not too dissimilar in
spirit to fractional property investment platforms. This increasingly
popular financial tool allows investors to buy a portion (or fraction)
of a property, and to then collectively own the property and benefit
from a share of rental income or (if the property is sold) capital
returns.
Mark van Dijk