Housing market holding up Overall activity in the housing market remains subdued as most South Africans continue to labour under high household debt levels. But it appears there has been an uptick in sales to first-time buyers in recent months. Data from mortgage originator BetterLife Home Loans shows that the percentage of home-loan applications from first-time buyers returned to positive growth territory in the 12 months ending September, compared with a decline of 3.9% in the previous 12 months. "That indicates that demand has risen quite strongly even though most households are running on a very tight budget," says BetterLife CEO Shaun Rademeyer. He notes that the average price paid by first-time homebuyers has also accelerated, rising 5.8% to R739,000 over the same 12-month period. Interestingly, the average percentage of the purchase price that first-time buyers are paying as a cash deposit has also increased in the past year, reaching 12.2% at the end of September compared wi...
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