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February 2015
News
A
ccording to David Rebe, CEO of
Sandak-Lewin Property Trust
the statistics released by the
Central City Improvement District
(CCID) highlights the growingdemand
for sectional title properties in the
mother city.
Rebe says that sectional title
properties in the CBD, as well as
surrounding suburbs such as Gar-
dens, Tamboerskloof, Vredehoek and
Greenpoint are being sold and let
quicker than ever before. As a result,
property owners are cashing in on
the booming rental accommodation
market, as the demand allows them
tomaximise the rentals that they can
charge.
He says themost influential driver
to increase demand for property in
the CBD area can be attributed to the
turnaround of the volatile property
market over recent years. He explains
that before the global credit crisis in
2007, the buy to-let investor disap-
peared from the market. However,
a few years later, the market started
turning around again when investors
realised that buying into the property
market at the downward end of an
upward cycle could provide promis-
ing returns.
“As a result, more people are
getting into the market, resulting
in the demand exceeding the sup-
ply, thereby giving property owners
selling or renting their property the
power to increase sales and rental
costs as they see fit.”
He adds that in some cases people
have had to downscale in size in order
to find accommodation which fits
their budget and this has led to an
increase in demand for apartments
in the area.
The increase in sectional title units
offers the convenience of 24 hour se-
curity, which most apartment blocks
in the CBD offers.
Rebe cites the example of Ports
Edge in the Waterfront area, where
Sandak-Lewin Property Trust have
assisted in tenanting 100 units over
the last few months. “Furthermore,
we have seen at least 50 proper-
ties transferring each month in our
portfolio, which was not the case
two years ago. The rental market has
definitely increased in pace. Now that
the CBD property market is on an
upward cycle and that the demand
is outweighing the supply, prices are
likely to continue to increase and
property investors who have bought
property in the CBD over the recent
years are likely to reap the benefits
of a good return.”
■
Demand exceeds supply
With sales of sectional title units
escalating from R145 million in
2012 to R249 million in 2014 for
units in the Cape Town Central
Business District (CBD), there
is currently a dire shortage of
affordable stock.
R
entalconnect developed by
the Rawson Property Group
to assist its franchises with
property software systems, is on track
to have all 90 Rawson Rentals using
the system by mid-2015.
Mike Fresen from RentalConnect
said that the system offers a rental
management solution, which goes
beyond the usual billing and ac-
counting functions, as it offers rental
franchises a comprehensive internet-
based management and support
service.
This includes: the key ele -
ments of rental administration,
maintenance, inspections, general
service support, calculation of com-
missions, reporting, payment of
royalties etc.
“For example, the systemwill give
lease agreement reminders, provide
notification when payments are
overdue and record inspection and
maintenance checks,” says Fresen.
The system is continually being
adapted to assist franchises. It en-
ables the franchise to build capacity
and efficiencies, and ultimately to
grow the business and to improve the
bottom line. There are over 300 build-
ings using Rentalconnect’s system.
■
Rental software systems
Mike Fresen