Cape Town - The rental market demand is stronger than ever for a variety of reasons, Seeff chair Samuel Seeff told Fin24.
He said top end areas such as Cape Town’s Atlantic Seaboard are fetching ever-higher monthly rental rates of up to R80 000 currently in Camps Bay, for example - a record rental concluded by Seeff.
"Even though most people aspire to owning their own homes, the rental market will always be a significant portion for the residential real estate market," said Seeff.
"This is largely due to the fact that although financial reasons tend to be one of the key drivers of the demand for rental property, people in fact rent for many different reasons."
He has seen, since the introduction of the National Credit Regulator (NCR) in 2007 and the onset of the global economic recession in 2008, that demand for rental property has increased notably.
It has become more difficult to obtain a home loan with tougher qualifying criteria and higher deposit requirements. The economic downturn had also left many home owners and bond holders in financial difficulty and they then had to turn to the rental market.
"Long-term rental demand is also driven by aspects such as people moving to a new city or area who often tend to rent for a while before deciding on where to buy," Seeff told Fin24.
"Then of course, there is the usual start of the year demand from young people who have entered the job market and students looking for off-campus accommodation. Demand is also driven by corporate rentals and the rental rates paid tend to be about 20% above consumer rates."