Real estate is a cyclical business.
What goes up must come down.
And what is down won’t stay there. Shifts are never unexpected but rarely
predictable. You know one is coming. You just don’t know when. They
are, in fact, inevitable—shifts happen.
Gary Keller from the the book SHIFT.
Nobody could have predicted Covid-19, and it's effects on the Property Market is still very unclear.
Prior to National Lock-down our local property market was (and remains in) a Buyers Market. A buyers market can be classified as 7 or more months worth of stock in the market. Buyers with a certain budget have many options to choose from, and Sellers needs to stand out from the competition to be able to secure that sale.
Let me assure you that the property market is not dead! During lockdown and afterward there has been sales, contracts been concluded and new listings hitting the market. The Deeds Office has come under severe pressures to comply with Covid-19 regulation, which has lead to a HUGE backlog of transfers to be registered. As of 15 July it is estimated that they are in the region of 20,000 deeds in arrears.
What does that mean for you? Well the last stretch of the transaction is going through the Deeds Office, which in the past was 6 - 8 workings days, now that is sitting at around 6 weeks. Therefore a transaction is taking in the region of 4 months to conclude in stead of the previous 5-7 weeks.
Thus no actual sales registered in the last 3 months in the "Valley":
Noordhoek Valley - Capri, Milkwood Park, Sunnydale, Sun Valley and Faerie Knowe.
As a professional I stay informed on the front line. We shift our mindset as the market shifts in order to be able to give you the best information to make decisions.
What is my home worth?
In the past we would have looked at data from Registered Sales, however in the current market, we would now need to take competition in the market, the lucky one's under offer and historical sales into consideration. As a market expert in the Valley, I can assist you with interpreting the data to ensure you make an informed decision.
What is my competition?
We are not seeing the 20% drop in property prices as was predicted at the start of the pandemic. Yes - there are transactions taking place, however until they have actually gone through the Deeds Office we will not know the full extent thereof. I will keep tracking and keeping you informed.
For any further information or to get your own assessment done, please do not hesitate to contact me.
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