Real Estate Investor December 2020 December/January 2021 | Page 22

Status of SA ’ s residential property market
ACQUIRING

Trends & opportunities for affordable housing

Status of SA ’ s residential property market

MARIA NKHONJERA
The Covid19 pandemic has laid bare the deep structural inequalities in South Africa , and the extensive vulnerabilities in our housing systems . With millions of South Africans living in insecure housing , the stimulation of the residential property market can not only increase the delivery of adequate housing , it can also play a key role in driving economic growth as part of a Covid19 economic recovery strategy .

As the Centre for Affordable Housing Finance ( CAHF ) has

extensively documented , sustainable human settlements can significantly contribute to South Africa ’ s economic transformation efforts . At a household level , home ownership is an opportunity for wealth creation and empowerment .
While the full impact of COVID-19 is still to be seen , it is anticipated that the housing affordability challenge and lack of low-income housing has been exacerbated by the pandemic . Deeds registry data , supplied by Lightstone , allows for a detailed analysis of affordability patterns , gap markets , and borrowing constraints in the residential property market . Although this data , analysed by CAHF , only extends to 31 December 2019 and therefore precedes COVID-19 , it illuminates the state of the residential property market at the lower
20 DECEMBER / JANUARY 2021 SA Real Estate Investor Magazine