immoafrica blog

Mortgage Bonds: Today’s Conditions Mike van Alphen, the National Manager for the Rawson Property Group’s bond origination division, Rawson Finance, has drawn attention to a statement by the Rawson Property Group’s Chairman, Bill Rawson, in his first ever blog post, which will be published shortly. “Bill Rawson had pointed out, at what I believe is exactly [...](more...)

Market on the move as home loan applications rise 23%. Home buying activity has increased substantially over the past 12 months, even though only about four out of every 10 bonds granted are for 100% of the purchase price. That’s the word from Rudi Botha, CEO of BetterBond, SA’s biggest mortgage originator, who notes that [...](more...)

Buy a home and get rich. If you want to start getting wealthy, do whatever it takes now to get a bond and buy a home. If you want to stay poor, get a personal loan and spend it on all the things that make you feel rich now. That’s the real – and simple [...](more...)

The Reserve Bank (SARB) released the figure for total household credit outstanding as at July, and further acceleration in household credit growth in that month should lead to be increasing concern around household sector financial health. On a year-on-year basis, household credit outstanding rose by 8.09% in July, a further acceleration from the previous month’s [...](more...)

PROPERTY BAROMETER – The 30 Year Loan…. Is it the right thing to do? Dear reader, Given the tight economic conditions and post recession hangover, creative thinking is required to get ahead in the game. I have seen some interesting alternatives to the standard home loan being offered, one of which is the 30 year [...](more...)

The most recent Absa House Price Index indicates that nominal house prices have now been contracting for three months year on year. The latest figure shows a decline of 5% since April 2011. As a result, house prices are in real terms moving closer to their long-run trendline, aided by high building-cost inflation (which is [...](more...)

A sharp drop in the number of 100% home loans granted in August compared with June and July indicates that the banks, concerned about the still-high levels of household debt, are once more tightening up on credit qualification requirements for prospective homebuyers. So says Rudi Botha, CEO of BetterBond, which as SA’s biggest mortgage originator [...](more...)

Be savvy when it comes to bond finance. A great deal of bond originators have recently released statistics showing that home loan grants have increased to 20% year on year. This is a definite indication of the property market picking up. Even though the grants have increased, the number of applications being declined has also [...](more...)

When it comes to home insurance, it pays to check if your home is over-insured in today’s market. Property owners, especially those who took out their insurance policies several years ago, should take the trouble to check whether they are not over-insured. “Many insurance companies,” said Bill Rawson of the Rawson Property Group, “routinely add [...](more...)

In 1894, Pierre de Coubertin proposed the Latin phrase Citius, Altius, Fortius, (Swifter, Higher, Stronger) to the Olympic Committee. It has served as its motto ever since. The Olympic Games brings together world-class athletes vying for medals, records are broken and new benchmarks established, as evidenced by the outstanding achievements of South Africa’s athletes. In [...](more...)

Mortgage Glossary Nominal Interest Rate Or a Nominal Rate of Interest Refers to an interest rate that has not been adjusted for inflation. It is the stipulated interest rate in the home loan contract, which may differ from the true interest rate.(more...)

Part 1: Are you ready for a new home? Purchasing or selling a property is probably one of the most stressful things you could go through in life, and when it comes to the process, financing and legalities thereof most people become overwhelmed. It includes a lot of terms and forms that you may not [...](more...)

Is Household Sector borrowing becoming too aggressive too soon? Indebtedness needs to drop further, and savings needs to increase. It was made known by the SARB (Reserve Bank), last month, that South Africa’s level of household indebtedness, as measured by the household debt-to-disposable income ratio, was 74.7% in the 1st quarter of 2012. Disappointing is [...](more...)

Thursday’s Reserve South African Reserve Bank’s Monetary Policy Committee Meeting resulted in an unexpected cut in interest rates by 50 basis points. The new repo rate is now 5%, while the prime rate now stands at 8.5%. This is the first cut in almost two years, pointing that South Africa might not be as unaffected(more...)

It’s Mortgage Monday. Stay bond savvy with immoafrica’s Mortgage Glossary. Today it’s M, for Mortgage…(more...)

immoafrica keeps you informed. Stay smart with our Mortgage Glossary. This week we take a look at the letter L.(more...)

A question that arises quite often from my interested buyers concerns the deposit. Besides this deposit issue, most people aren’t aware of all the extra financial costs when buying a house. While it becomes quite sensitive (or inappropriate) for me to advise my (future) clients what they ought to do with their finances as they [...](more...)

If any of you have been reading up on recent South African economic developments, you know that there was a growing (albeit small) chance of a possible interest rate cut later this year. With inflation topping slightly above 6% and analysts expecting it to drop back into the 3-6% range by the end of 2012, [...](more...)

Jump into the world of mortgage jargon with us, as we help you stay home-finance savvy. This week it’s I…(more...)

Jump into the world of home finance jargon with our Mortgage Glossary. This week we take a look at letters G and F…(more...)