There has been a clear trend in new private sector-financed housings in South Africa, with a large of number planned developments approved in the first half of 2018.<\/p>\n
This is according to Absa’s latest building statistics which focus primarily on private-sector financed housing – excluding government-subsidised low-cost housing.<\/p>\n
According to Absa, the planning phase (building plans approved by local government institutions) improved on a year-on-year basis in the first half of the year, whereas the level of activity in the construction phase (housing units reported as completed) showed a substantial contraction compared with the first six months of last year.<\/p>\n
The number of building plans approved for new housing increased by 9.3% year-on-year to 29,866 plans in January to June this year – with this growth driven by the segment of flats and townhouses.<\/p>\n
By comparison, the volume of new housing units reported as being completed contracted by 22.7% to a total of 15,612 units in the first six months of the year.<\/p>\n
When looking at how much these developments are worth, Absa said that the real value of residential building plans approved increased by 4.7% y\/y to a level of R23.55 billion in the six months up to June this year, with the real value of residential buildings reported as being completed contracting by 15.2% y\/y to R14.36 billion over this period.<\/p>\n
“The economy, household finances, confidence levels and property market sentiment in general will remain the major driving factors of residential building activity, which is over the short to medium term expected to stay much in line with trends of the past few years,” Absa said.<\/p>\n