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Cape Town - Levels of home maintenance by owners are slipping, according to First National Bank's 2014 second quarter estate agent survey.
The latest survey suggested "that the improving trend may have ended" late last year, FNB said in a statement.
The deterioration in levels of home maintenance through the first two quarters of this year "may have started to have a negative impact on hardware retail sales growth, whose real growth has slowed noticeably in recent months".
Home maintenance
FNB said further interest rate increases could worsen the situation.
"Given our expectation of further interest rate increases to come through in the remainder of 2014 and 2015, we expect some further moderate deterioration in the levels of home maintenance and upgrades in the near term," it said.
The survey examines - based on estate agents' perceptions - various levels of home maintenance, the top one being the percentage of home owners "investing in their properties with a view to adding value".
This was 10.5% of owners in the first quarter of this year, but this dropped to 9.5% in the second.
The next level was the percentage of homeowners fully maintaining their property and making some improvements.
Lowest level
"This percentage also declined mildly over the past two quarters, from 45.5% at the end of 2013, to 42.5% by the second quarter of [this year]."
The third level - the percentage of owners not improving, but still fully maintaining their homes - declined from 40% in the third quarter of last year to 34.5% by the second quarter of this year.
The percentage of homeowners attending to basic maintenance only - which, FNB noted, would see homes "go backward" over time - had more than doubled, from 6% at the end of last year, to 12.5% in the second quarter of this year.
The lowest level, those owners allowing their homes to "get run down", was 1.5% over the two quarters.
