FNB’s latest estate agents survey shows that a large number of people who are selling their home to leave the country, with this trend steadily increasing over the last two years.
The bank said that this trend is more prevalent in the higher end of the market, although appears to have spilled over to the lower ends as well.
It added that the spike in the lower and middle ends could, in part, be explained by upper-income owners disposing of their investment properties
“Emigration-driven sales have become a more prominent feature of the housing market in South Africa over the past two years,” FNB said.
Despite this growing trend, positivity around groups such as the #ImStaying movement shows that some South Africans choosing to plant their roots even further and embrace the things that make our nation great, said CEO of RE/MAX Southern Africa, Adrian Goslett.
Goslett said that he welcomes this movement and remains hopeful that the local property market will show signs of improvement as more and more choose to invest within our local economy as a result of this growing trend.
“We recently met with the founders of this movement to discuss how we could get behind this cause. Anything that encourages positive sentiment and nation-building is worth getting behind, which is why RE/MAX fully supports what this group is trying to do.
“We remain hopeful that as positive sentiment builds around this movement, we will see an upswing in the local housing market as more choose to invest locally rather than to emigrate,” Goslett said.
He went on to explain that by creating a more positive perspective on our country’s future, this movement could help bolster the local economy.
“Local investment both within the real estate sector as well as within the business sector is likely to increase as more South Africans adopt a positive view on their prospects within our country. Movements like #ImStaying can therefore help to create the positivity that is required to aid transformation within our nation,” Goslett said.
“These positive posts can go a long way towards creating a South Africa of which we can all be proud,” he said.
Source: businesstech
