Property Owners Holding Out on Development Ahead of World Cup

Property owners are still holding on to their assets right now, hoping to cash in on their rising value as the World Cup nears.

Owners are keeping their investment properties empty until the World Cup soccer tournament in 2010, said Seef Properties on Wednesday.

"I am increasingly being asked by owners to withhold their investment property to ensure availability during the World Cup," Jules Arnott of Seef Properties said in a statement.

Arnott said that Match, the Fifa-endorsed ticketing and accommodation booking agents for VIPs, sponsors and media to the World Cup, did not cater for the marketing of non-graded residential accommodation for the average fan.

Property owners eyeing World Cup
Independent Online
November 4, 2009

Ex-Pats Lured Back to SA

The economic downturn and the lure of business opportunities related to the 2010 World Cup have caused a boom in the amount of South African ex-patriates planning to return to the country. As a result, property values are rising.

[Seeff Properties General Manager Emarie Campbell] said it seemed that South Africans wanted to return home despite some negative publicity surrounding the upcoming general elections on 22 April, the unpopular black economic empowerment policies and crime.

"They believed that skills shortages ensured that correctly skilled people were still finding jobs regardless of colour and that there were many opportunities associated with infrastructure developments ahead of the 2010 Soccer World Cup," she said.

But in contrast, Campbell said most of the overseas enquiries from Europeans looking for second or holiday homes or to invest in South African farms, had dropped.

The return of expats has, however, helped the South African property market.

Source:
Ex-pats boost SA property
Sapa
March 26, 2009