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Johannesburg - The average house price has increased 4.5% year on year (y/y) and 0.5% month on month in April to R908‚802‚ according to bond originator‚ ooba.
“Ooba has recorded steady‚ albeit single-digit‚ nominal house price growth since the beginning of the year‚” said ooba CEO Saul Geffen on Tuesday. “At the same time‚ there is an increased percentage of first-time buyers‚ which has remained a high proportion of total buyers since May 2011.”
Of all ooba’s applications in April‚ 52% were from first-time buyers‚ up 1.1% year on year‚ and 0.2% month on month. The first-time buyers’ average house price is showing a slight increase year on year of 0.1% to R677 712.
Ooba also set a new company record in April. The overall value of home loan applications received and processed by ooba in April was 50% higher year on year‚ while the value of approved home loans was 30.5% higher year on year‚ resulting in ooba’s best performance in five years. Geffen attributed this considerable growth to ooba having doubled its market share‚ as well as to increases in the number of applications received‚ higher property prices‚ lower deposit requirements and increased home loan approval rates.
For the past six-month period‚ ooba’s approved home loans value was up 28.5% compared with the same period the prior year. The value of approved home loans in April was 317% higher than January 2009‚ ooba’s lowest month during the property and financial crisis.
“A number of positive changes have conspired simultaneously to drive ooba’s volumes significantly higher‚” Geffen said. “There also seems to also be a strengthening in the property market‚ with the increased confidence filtering into increased volumes.”
