Fewer foreigners and SA expats overseas are buying homes in SA
This reflects dampened investor sentiment towards SA in general‚ which is the result of SA’s multiyear economic stagnation‚ FNB’s John Loos says
Weakened sentiment towards SA is showing in South African property purchases by foreigners, as well as by South Africans living abroad. "Both foreign buying of domestic residential property as well as South African expat buying of local property are perceived to have moved gradually weaker‚ the former since late-2016 and the latter since back in 2015‚" John Loos‚ household and property sector strategist at FNB‚ said on Wednesday. "We believe this weakening to be reflective of a dampened investor sentiment towards SA in general‚ which in turn is the result of the country’s multiyear economic stagnation‚ uncertainty regarding future economic policy‚ and widely publicised negative news such as the recent sovereign rating downgrades to ‘junk status’‚ with further rating downgrades mooted as a possibility." Loos was reporting on the bank’s third quarter 2017 estate agent survey‚ which showed further hints of slowdown in foreign buying of SA property.
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