Residential building is slipping into a pattern that could be described in clinical terms — the patient improving sporadically with isolated indications of long-term growth. House prices continued to grow nationally in real terms (above inflation) for the first half of 2016, averaging just more than 7% year on year. But this has been bolstered by the astonishing buoyancy of the Western Cape where, the latest statistics show, house price growth is now double the national figure – boosted by interprovince relocation of families seeking stability. This growth, however, is starting to affect the capacity of the Cape’s most attractive hubs — in particular metropolitan Cape Town. Demand for housing in all segments is outstripping supply. But the Cape is not alone. Nationally the lack of new homes has created a crisis. Estimates put the immediate need at between 2-million and 2.5-million houses. Rapid urbanisation and population movement has far outstripped the pace of building. But while ...
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