Property experts warn against negative chatter

Industry experts are telling investors that if they want to get property for sale in Benoni at bargain prices, then they need to block out all of the negative chatter right now and make their move.

This year has been a difficult one financially to say the least. People had to come to terms with the VAT increase, while petrol prices have been on a non-stop climb. Then came talk of a technical recession in September, after Statistics South Africa had showcased that the country went through two quarters of negative growth.

This amplified all of the negative chatter doing the rounds, but Berry Everitt, the CEO of Chas Everitt International Property Group, says that investors who are buying into all of the bad sentiment are going to miss out on opportunities. He backs this up by suggesting that they take a closer look at the data provided.

The first quarter of this year was not a pretty one, with a 2.6% decline in the economy. However, the second quarter’s decline was at 0.7% and although that led to the announcement of the technical recession, Everitt notes that it actually shows there was improvement in the economy when comparing quarters.

“In property as in any other economic sector, following the crowd is a bad idea, because by the time general sentiment turns positive, prices will usually already be moving upwards quite rapidly and much of the opportunity to maximise gains will be lost,” he said.

Taking a look at some of his other points, he mentioned that the second quarter produced positive results for the financial, real estate and business service sector, which accounts for 20% of the GDP in the country. And there is also some significant foreign investment that was secured by President Ramaphosa which could provide a further boost.