BUDGET NEWS 2020 – 26 February 2020
Wednesday, 26 February 2020: Minister of Finance, Mr Tito Mboweni, delivered the National Treasury’s budget for 2020/2021 this afternoon…
Cape Town dethroned as Lightstone reveals significant shifts in property market – 13 July 2020
Lightstone’s June 2020 house price index has revealed significant shifts in the market place…
CITY OF CAPE TOWN ANNOUNCES PROPERTY RATES RELIEF FOR CERTAIN NPOS – 8 July 2020
The City of Cape Town has announced the implementation of 11 new property categories aimed at enabling lower or no rates for Non-Profit Organisations (NPOs) and other charitable property owners including organisations offering shelter to street people, early child development and youth development…
Here’s how much you will save on a R1 million bond after the latest rate cut – 22 May 2020
The South African Reserve Bank Monetary Policy Committee announced its fourth interest rate cut of 2020 on Thursday (21 May), which is good news for property owners, or those who want to get onto the property ladder…
House prices falling despite increased demand – 23 June 2020
According to Multinet Home Loans, the bond originator has seen an unprecedented increase in home loan submissions since the Level 5 lockdown in April. Multinet Home Loans has seen a 36.57% increase in submissions vs 2019 numbers in June, whilst home prices have shown a real decline of 12% in June so far, taking predicted inflation into account…
It’s cheaper to pay off a bond than rent! – 25 May 2020
It’s almost 17% cheaper to pay off a bond in May 2020 than it was in January 2020…
Lightstone predicts positive turnaround of house price inflation in Q2 2020 – 28 February 2020
After the economic recession in 2008 house price inflation in the last decade showed lacklustre growth only peaking at 6.35% at the end of 2014. Fast forward to 2019 where house price inflation for the year ended just below 2%, and Lightstone’s low road scenario was forecasted at exactly 2%…
Most SA houses are now worth less due to Covid, but these are selling at above asking price – 9 July 2020
In a new report, FNB predicts that property prices will fall by around 5% this year – but properties that cost less than R750,000 should be more resilient…
Navigating property finance in the current economic climate – May 2020
With lockdown and its economic fallout causing untold damage to the economy, more and more South Africans are finding themselves on unpaid leave, reduced salary packages or laid-off entirely. This is placing many homeowners under severe stress when it comes to keeping up with their mortgage repayments and could well be deterring new buyers from entering the market as well…
Property experts voice opinion over recent repo rate cut – 27 January 2020
“The decision by the Reserve Bank’s Monetary Policy Committee to cut the repo rate by 25 basis points to 6.25% (from 6.5%) reducing the mortgage rate to 9.75% (from 10%) is welcomed, but we need more
PROPERTY RATES INCREASE: YOU CAN OBJECT – 12 August 2020
The City of Cape Town updates the general valuation roll every three years to assess and adjust as necessary the current worth of immovable property within its jurisdiction. If the value of an immovable property is adjusted upwards, it may result in an increased rates liability for the property owner…
REPO RATE AMENDMENT BRINGS INTEREST RATE CUTS – 14 April 2020
The Reserve Bank’s Monetary Policy Committee announced just now that it has decided to cut the interest rate by 100 basis points, or one percent, which brings the repo rate to 4,25%…
REPO RATE AMENDMENT BRINGS INTEREST RATE CUTS – 21 May 2020
The Reserve Bank’s Monetary Policy Committee announced just now that it has decided to cut the interest rate for the fourth time this year, from 4.25% to 3.75%…
RESERVE BANK CUTS REPO RATE – 16 January 2020
The SA Reserve Bank’s monetary policy committee has unanimously voted to reduce the repo rate from 6.5% to 6.25%. As a result of the cut the prime rate will fall to 9.75%.
Reserve Bank running out of space to keep lowering interest rates – Kganyago – 25 May 2020
The SA Reserve Bank has slashed the repo rate by 275 basis points this year to provide relief to indebted consumers and businesses as they navigate the economic shock of the coronavirus pandemic. But the central bank is slowly running out of space to further lower interest rates in response to the crisis, says Governor Lesetja Kganyago…
RETIREMENT FUND CONTRIBUTIONS AND THE COVID-19 VIRUS – 30 March 2020
Section 13A of the Pension Funds Act compels employers to pay the retirement fund contributions deducted from an employee’s salary as well as the employer’s contribution to the retirement fund in question within seven (7) days of the end of the month for which such contributions are being deducted…
SELF-EMPLOYED? WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW WHEN APPLYING FOR A HOME LOAN – 24 July 2020
Before Covid-19, the property market conditions were geared to favour buyers. The pandemic also saw government lowering the interest rate to a fifty-year low to ease the financial burden on consumers…
South Africa’s big banks looking at additional debt relief options for homeowners – 10 July 2020
South African banks are looking at a range of options, including debt consolidation, to avoid defaults when coronavirus-related debt relief measures end…
STANDARDISING MUNICIPAL CHARGES FOR NEW DEVELOPMENTS – 16 January 2020
The Municipal Fiscal Powers and Functions Amendment Bill was released on 8 January 2020 for public comment. The suggested amendments will impact on a developer’s financial obligations towards the relevant municipality where a new development is planned…
The average take-home salary in South Africa during lockdown – 27 May 2020
The BankservAfrica Take-home Pay Index (BTPI) showed a slight pick-up in April as the majority of employees continued to receive their monthly incomes – however casual and weekly workers were most affected by the Covid-19 lockdown as the number of wages paid declined significantly…
TRANSFER DUTY Rates from: 1 March 2020
Wednesday, 26 February 2020: Minister of Finance, Mr Tito Mboweni, delivered the National Treasury’s budget for 2020/2021 this afternoon… Transfer Duty Rates: No Transfer Duty payable on Property purchased, up to and including: R 1 000 000
Versa SD-WAN increases usability and security in the financial services sector – 4 June 2020
The branch and wide-area network (WAN) architectures and designs of the last 20 years have quickly become outdated due to the growth and bandwidth needs of Software-as-a-Service (SaaS), cloud and modern media-rich applications. Complexity, cost and inefficiency has forced a transformation of how the WAN and branch provide connectivity and services…