30/11/2022
Property remains a good way to earn a passive income.
Property investment in South Africa is an excellent long-term investment strategy. Investment properties are purchased with the intention of earning a return through the rental of the property, the future resale of the property or both.
The benefits of investing in real estate are numerous. With well-chosen assets, investors can enjoy predictable cash flow, excellent returns, tax advantages, and diversification—and it's possible to leverage real estate to build wealth.
According to the PayProp Rental Index 2022 Q2, “rental growth of 2.5%, 2.6% and 2.7% in April, May, and June respectively. The upward trend seen since April 2021, although very gradual, remains encouraging”. And the national vacancy rate has had a sharp decline from 13.31% to 8.26% (TPN Vacancy Survey 2022 Q1). However, this is still above the pre-pandemic low of 7.47% achieved in Q1 2022. PayProp also reports that the percentage of tenants in arrears is lower than it was in 2020 (24.9%) but has increased marginally from 18.4% to 18.5% in the last quarter.
The work-from-home and semigration trends continue, also driving demand for rental properties. In terms of semigration, FNB reports that “relocation within SA has increased from 8% in quarter 1 of 2020 to 13% in quarter 2 of 2022, in line with the changing housing preferences due to [the work-from-home] trend. Internal data shows that the semigration trend is largely driven by the relocation path from GP to the neighbouring North West province (Hartbeespoort) as well as coastal towns in the Western Cape (Hermanus, Mosselbay, George, Cape Town) and KZN (mainly Ballito)”.