Ahead of the curve and thriving

Our CEO Berry Everitt was recently interviewed by leading executive publication Enterprise Africa about what works and doesn't work anymore in SA real estate, and what the future of the industry looks like. read the full article here:

Chas Everitt International property group has cemented its position as a real estate industry leader in South Africa by continuously investing in the technologies and fostering the capabilities that really proved worth during the recent tough Covid-19 lockdowns. CEO Berry Everitt tells Enterprise Africa about thriving in this important South African sector.

'Luck is the residue of design' - during the Covid pandemic, while many have searched for that bit of luck to stay afloat, true business leaders were busy making their own luck long before the March 27 lockdown. In 2016, Berry Everitt, CEO at the Chas Everitt International property group (Chas Everitt) - a leading South African real estate company - told Enterprise Africa that the company was investing heavily in new digital solutions to adapt to a new environment in which lightweight digital solutions would be imperative. In 2017, Everitt explained that the first project had been completed and a smooth transition on to a new platform had allowed the company to become more efficient than ever.

Today, the group's ongoing investment into technology continues to drive digitisation and enable online communication and training for franchisees, employees and customers around the country. More than just investing in software, Chas Everitt has used it to create a complete digital eco-system that makes all the business functions performed by a traditional estate agency accessible on the smart phones and laptops of its agents.

"In a sense, Covid-19 was the catastrophe we had unconsciously been anticipating for three years," Berry Everitt tells Enterprise Africa. "This system of ours now puts the whole real estate office right in the palm of the estate agent via a smart phone and enables them literally to work from anywhere, whether that is beside their client or in lockdown in their own home."

"The difference for us is that we have, over the past three years, integrated various technologies in the process of digitizing our entire business, and now our franchisees and agents only have to use branded office spaces where they add value to their operations. Otherwise, our AgentConnect© platform enables agents to handle every function necessary to facilitate a property sale or lease. We have recently even automated and standardized the process of obtaining and securing all client data, to ensure that we are totally compliant with the Protection of Personal Information Act (POPIA) which is something we take very seriously," Everitt ensures.

The figures for this industry leader back up the boasts. Founded in 1980 and growing steadily ever since, the company was able to effectively tap into a massive rise in housing demand in 2020, with many offices even achieving record sales despite the restrictions imposed by the pandemic. "The luxury property sector of the local market was quite depressed prior to the onset of Covid-19, but began to improve directly after the first lockdown and has really taken off this year," details Everitt.

"In response, we have substantially strengthened our Luxury Portfolio© division and grown our sales teams in all of SA's highest priced areas and lifestyle estates - where they are currently achieving exceptional results. In Hyde Park and Sandton, for example, our team has sold more than R400m worth of property in the past month, up from around R200m a month at the start of the year. And our Paarl Lifestyle Estates team, which covers iconic estates such as Val de Vie and Pearl Valley, has notched up almost R400m worth of homes since January."

Clearly a rapid shift to the remote sales process was helpful for the business. All viewings were conducted virtually, using photo and video tours, during the hard lockdown. Agents were able to maintain contact with all clients and Chas Everitt's system assisted sellers, where necessary, to capture and collate their own photos and videos so sales could proceed. At every stage, protecting human health was the top priority.

"At a later stage, we were able to conduct in-person viewings, but only according to the strictest Covid-19 protocols. Prospective buyers were pre-qualified for these viewings so as not to create unnecessary risk or upheaval for sellers; they had to provide their own transport to viewings, and they had to go through health checks and agree to the protocols before being allowed on to the property," says Everitt

"WE DID NOT EXPERIENCE THE UNCOMFORTABLE HIATUS EXPERIENCED BY MANY COMPANIES WHEN THEY HAD TO SCRAMBLE TO PUT TOGETHER REMOTE WORKING SYSTEMS"

CONTINUOUSLY DEVELOPING

Thanks to consistent success in tough times, the Chas Everitt business will continue to invest in tech advancements and smart solutions across its markets. Further impending changes in the industry are coming whether agents like it or not, and Berry Everitt is not about to allow hard-fought market share to be lost.

"We are continuously seeking or developing new technologies to make us a more nimble, flexible and adaptable organisation," he states.

"Chas Everitt currently has the fastest-growing market share across South Africa - and we actually reached our 2024 targets in most areas during 2020. Obviously, there have been huge changes in the real estate landscape, some prompted by the adaptations we had to make for the Covid-19 pandemic, but also many others before lockdown and afterwards, in response to new consumer behaviours and demands. However, we remain constant in our dedication to understanding these and continuously adapting and upgrading our technologies and skills to provide the best property experiences for our clients." 

Insight into fresh developments in the PropTech space, from the world's most prominent agencies, filter through to South Africa as a result of Chas Everitt's prestigious affiliation with the Leading Real Estate Companies of the World© (LeadingRE) and its luxury property chapter Luxury Property International©.

"It has certainly proved extremely beneficial in the past year, as we had access to a global knowledge pool made up of the best real estate professionals around the world. This enabled us to very quickly activate the best-practice responses to Covid-19 in our own business, and also to play a leading role in the SA Property Group which devised a comprehensive set of operational guidelines for the whole industry - and was largely responsible for the estate agents being able to go back to work during Alert Level 4 instead of the originally proposed Alert Level 3," says Everitt.

But, like any industry which sees large sums of money changing hands, trust is the number one most important factor. Building trust through faceless digital solutions can often be a challenge and many maintain that there is simply no alternative for meeting and having genuine interactions with a person. Everitt knows this thanks to his lifetime in the industry, and his view is that solutions must ensure the best of both worlds.

"We see continuous disruption in the industry - in fact we are a major disruptor. However, our purpose is definitely not to limit human interactions but to improve them," he says. "We have never sought to digitize agents out of the real estate business but quite the opposite: to provide technology tools that help them stay right at the centre of every transaction as their client's most trusted property confidante and advisor-for- life.

"Fundamentally, we know that people like to do business with other people that they know and trust, and we have built a people-based company in which we honour the relationships that agents build with their own clients."

INDUSTRY BOOM?

Globally, the pandemic and subsequent restriction on freedoms have changed the property industry. The needs of those in the market have changed, technology has become a mainstay, and the nature of a good deal is shifting from transactional-only to relationship-based. Chas Everitt is a fast-mover and has taken the lead in many of these areas. The work from home trend combined with low rates, income challenges, and vast regional differences in demand thanks to varying industry successes have resulted in Chas Everitt needing to utilise all its strength.

"There have been seismic shifts in the SA property market since July 2020," admits Everitt. "These include a huge surge in first-time homebuying, driven by the drastic interest rate cuts made during the hard lockdown to give consumers some relief and boost the economy. These cuts took the base mortgage lending rate to 7%, the lowest level in more than 40 years, and many thousands of people who had previously been renting took the opportunity to become homeowners. They concentrated heavily on the R700,000 to R1.5m price bracket, in which there is now a growing shortage of properties for sale.

"In the middle-income sector, which has previously been the mainstay of the market, activity has been heavily driven by repeat buying and semigration - mostly from the inland cities and provinces to coastal cities and country areas that buyers believe will offer them a better or different lifestyle. This was of course facilitated by the rapid rise in remote working from home, and the realisation among many more people that they no longer need to be location-bound for work," he adds.

Properties in the rental market were also pushed through for sale as landlords realised the need to offload with major challenges around achieving yields. This played into the hands of first-time buyers or those looking to downscale. As economic difficulty continues for the wider SA economy, rental vacancies look set to remain high which could result in more properties coming to the market for sale as owners look to cash in to protect their own future.

In June, Dr Andrew Golding of the Pam Golding Property Group explained that first time buyers in SA are typically mid-30s and are paying just over R1 million for their first home. This is a trend that looks set to continue as more and more see the opportunity to match their current rental payments on a bond.

Clearly now is a great time to buy with appetite from banks to gain long-term business and general property prices set to rise. Even with a slowing of growth likely, the market will remain highly competitive.

"In the luxury sector, prices fell 20% to 30% from already-depressed 2019 levels at the onset of the pandemic, and this prompted demand from upgrade buyers looking for value," details Everitt. "However, with emigration being off the cards and many homes becoming substitutes for offices and classrooms, a significant number of sellers (up to 15% in some months) then decided to withdraw their homes from the market. This of course led to a relative shortage, anxiety among buyers- and rising prices.

"According to the FNB Property Barometer, the average home price at the bottom end of the market rose by 11.4% in 2019, and the average at the top end by 0.7%, while mortgage applications overall rose by 9%. However, the latest stats show that following 11 straight months of increases, the national rate of home price growth fell to 4.1% in May, compared to 4.6% in April - which suggests the market may now be on the brink of another big shift."

The whole Chas Everitt team has access to the group's own online training academy, which offers a huge array of real estate and personal development courses to facilitate remote learning and training now as well as remote working. Since 1980, the business has also been expanded very much as a 'family' and current leadership is keen to maintain a corporate culture where agents feel a strong sense of belonging and are encouraged to build long-term careers.

"WE WERE FORTUNATE IN BEING ABLE TO PIVOT REALLY QUICKLY BECAUSE WE ALREADY HAD THE TECHNOLOGY AND DIGITAL SECURITY IN PLACE TO ENABLE REMOTE WORKING ACROSS THE BOARD "

COUNTRY CHAMPION

Berry Everitt has been a long-term champion of South Africa and the major opportunities that the country offers. In 2016, he was buoyant about prospects in South Africa despite dire economic conditions. Today, his ambition and belief in growth is untarnished, even through challenges faced.

"I think the world is going to be surprised by the extent of SA's recovery in the post-pandemic period, but in any case we are not reliant as a group on external market conditions to thrive. Our focus is firmly on developing our agents and continuously strengthening our service culture to deliver exceptional value, increase market share and grow revenue."

Meanwhile, with investors hungry for SA property coming from the continent and China, ongoing in-country development is doing all it can to stay apace.

"The number of home building plans passed in the first few months of this year is well ahead of the number passed last year, so we don't foresee any lasting shortage going forward. What is more, developers have adjusted swiftly to the increased demand for smaller, more affordable units, with the majority of plans being passed now being for flats and townhouses," says Everitt.

But, naturally, economic conditions must allow for participation in the industry if activity levels are to continue. Again, Everitt is confident, using knowledge developed through the LeadingRE network to plan for peaks and troughs in the market. 

"Locally, we see several major initiatives and projects already under way to help rebuild SA's economy that will result in employment creation and sustained demand for starter housing, especially if interest rates remain low for the next 12 to 18 months. This will have a knock-on effect in the higher income brackets where sellers and buyers will continue to move up or down the scale towards where they see value, and we will continue to adapt and adjust accordingly," he says.

For those who a looking at South Africa as their future home, Chas Everitt is perhaps better positioned than any other to assist. This award-winning international property group is connected to the rest of the world and can effortlessly help buyers settle.

"As the world opens up again, we are confident of our ability to provide memorable service to those who wish to emigrate elsewhere and those seeking to relocate to SA from elsewhere in the world, especially since we now have our own International Sales and Relocations division, which works closely with our LeadingRE friends in more than 565 top brokerages across 70 countries," says Everitt.

Albert Einstein once said: "In the middle of every difficulty lies opportunity." For Berry Everitt and Chas Everitt as a whole - creators of luck - this is certainly true. Every obstacle that has been presented to the company has been overcome, every time external forces have blown headwinds the company has remained shielded.

Now, when the Covid-19 pandemic has caused many businesses to fail, Chas Everitt has adapted, survived and thrived. Clearly, this is a company built on strong foundations, where the trust of the market is kept safe, now and into the future.

"THERE HAVE BEEN SEISMIC SHIFTS IN THE SA PROPERTY MARKET SINCE."