The residential property sector is seeing tentative growth, but it is still a long way off from a boom. The positive political and economic developments of the first few months of the year encouraged South Africans to take cautious steps towards building or renovating homes. According to Absa's residential building statistics report, the first two months of 2018 brought an improvement in building activity for new private-sector-financed housing compared with a year ago. Based on data from StatsSA, the Absa report says the number of building plans approved for new housing was up by a substantial 37% year on year in January, while in February there was growth of 38.2%. In January the number of new housing units reported as being completed increased by 22.9% compared with last year. In February, though, there was only marginal growth, of 1.3%.Professor Dave Root, head of the school of Construction Economics and Management at the University of the Witwatersrand, said the construction in...
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