House prices on the up

Johannesburg - The September oobarometer price index recorded a year-on-year increase in house prices of 1.8%, mortgage originator ooba said on Monday.

"The September oobarometer continues to reflect an improvement in year- on-year house prices," said Saul Geffen, chief executive of ooba.

"This is the fourth consecutive month that the oobarometer has reported rising house prices and is clear evidence that the market is on the road to recovery."

The average purchase price according to the oobarometer was R806 494 last month compared with R791 478 in September 2008.

The month-on-month average purchase price has also increased by 1.4% from R795 241 in August this year.

"Ooba also saw a surge of 21% in the month-on-month value of approved bonds in September as improved affordability and sentiment translated into increased transaction volumes. This was supported by improved lending appetite," stated Geffen.

Ooba has recorded increases in the value of approved bonds for the past five consecutive months.

The year-on-year average approved bond size has increased by 8.2% to R705 744 in September this year, from R651 707 in September 2008.

The month-on-month bond size has also increase by 15.5% from R611 026 in August this year.

There has been a substantial reduction in the average deposit as a percentage of purchase price in both the month-on-month data and the year- on-year data as banks loosen lending criteria and offer 100% loans.

"The main contributor to the significant drop in average deposits as a percentage of purchase price is a result of the shift in banks lending criteria to lower deposit requirements, with all four big banks now offering 100% loans," stated Geffen.

"The improved appetite to lend will support the increased demand for property as transaction volumes continue to pick up."

The year-on-year average deposit as percentage of purchase price shows a 28.9% reduction.

Buyers now require an average deposit of 12.5% compared with 17.6% last year.

There was a significant month-on-month reduction from an average deposit of 23.1% in September.

The average purchase price of a first time buyer was 575,811 rand in September this year compared to 554,688 rand in September last year showing a 3.8% rise.

This is also an increase of 4.7% from R549 949 in August this year. The average bank decline ratio shows an improvement and is now at 48.4%, a 3.6% improvement on the previous year's 52%.

"One of the biggest drivers of a market recovery is bank lending and we have seen an improvement in competitiveness between the banks over the past five months and an increase in approval rates," Geffen said.

"Banks are now targeting non-bank clients and rate concessions are becoming more aggressive."

- I-Net Bridge