Confidence grows as investments flow into SA

A new mood of renewed optimism seems to be building in SA - and I don't think it's just Spring Fever. Both vehicle and housing sales are currently up by more than 30% year-on-year, which means that consumers are much more willing to spend money on big ticket items and commit to longer-term loan repayments than they were at this time last year. 

And that is a strong indicator of increased confidence in the future of the economy at grassroots level, despite the negative effects of rising inflation and interest rates on household budgets.

The two most important drivers of this rise are probably the decrease in international oil prices and hopes of further cuts in local fuel prices, and the prospect of substantial job creation in the fact that tourist arrivals are currently almost triple what they were in 2021. The tourism sector was devastated by the Covid-19 pandemic but has the potential to be one of the biggest employers in SA. 

However, there also seems to be an underlying sense that SA is really not such a bad place to be in a world where many much more developed countries are currently being ravaged by the war in Ukraine, severe energy shortages, major natural disasters and strained infrastructures. It has an advantage, for example, in being part of the BRICS group of nations, which has more than 40% of the world's population and controls more than a third of the world's national resources, and another as the gateway to the USD3-trillion a year African market.

At the same time, the combination of the pandemic and the war have shown that SA is definitely not the only place in the world with supply chain problems or power and water shortages, and this has allowed us to feel a little better about Eskom's failures and the incapacities of most of the country's municipalities - and to start seeing the opportunities arising from the need to address these.  

Meanwhile, the country is currently attracting the biggest share of foreign direct investment in Africa, with money being poured into everything from new high-tech and medical facilities to vehicle manufacturing and renewable power generation plants, railways, roads and harbours.

And this is already creating a spin-off in many other sectors, including real estate, where we as a company just finished our financial year in fine style, with outstanding sales numbers and revenues for August. Opportunity is meaningless, however, without action, and I am very proud and appreciative of the way our agents have taken action in the past 12 months, not just to achieve sales, but to use their expertise and initiative to provide remarkable, memorable service and add thousands more happy people to our loyal client base.