The new year finally feels as though it is beginning.
I was so fortunate during the holidays to have chats with industry heads and I’m thrilled to hear that many recorded a good year in regards to property sales last year - even with a three-month shut down!
On social media
we posted a diagramthat seems absolutely true with post-Covid showing property value going up in spite of negative impacts anti-Covid strategies have had.
It’s no secret that low interest rates have been a big driving factor. Sadly, however, we are also seeing more distressed homes come on the market as people are unable to meet their monthly commitments or are opting for a different lifestyle.
Read the latest Property360 digital magazine below
Whether from income loss or whether lockdown has made people reconsider their lives, many are finding new ways of having a roof over their heads. For some younger married couples that may mean moving in with parents, or for millennials - giving up their inner city apartments to return to the suburbs.
Covid has certainly shaken up how we view our homes and psychologically many are wanting more community and family and friends close by - ask any single person who has faced lockdown alone in a city without the security of knowing someone who could at least do a drop off or call an ambulance if needs be.
Read more:
Readers, you’ve shown resilience and fortitude – Editor’s letter
Ready to buy property? Follow your head not your heart – Editor’s letter
This is a wonderful time to reimagine the world – Editor’s letter
Boom times good for industry, economy and for all of us – Editor’s letter
And so we move into 2021, with the knowledge that we are in the middle of history in the making and something new being created.
It is exciting, turbulent, excruciatingly sad but also creative times
Here is hoping that what we find at the end of this year will be the pot of gold we are searching for.
Warm regards
Vivian Warby
vivian.warby@inl.co.za