Top Industry Figure Joins Chas Everitt in Eastern Cape

The residential market in the Eastern Cape is firmly in recovery, with more sales taking place, shorter listing times and higher rental demand that will no doubt stimulate more investment.
 
That’s the word from Marsha Haupt, the high-profile former national sales director of top mortgage originator Betterbond, who has just joined the group of Chas Everitt International offices in Port Elizabeth, Jeffreys Bay and Humansdorp as area manager.
 
Two current market trends in the Eastern Cape are especially exciting, she says, the first being the significant increase in the percentage of sales being made to first-time buyers.
 
“According to the recent FNB review of the Eastern Cape market, this has risen from a low of 2,5% of total buying in the depths of recession in 2008, to 19% – or almost one in five buyers – during the first quarter of this year. This is largely the result of much improved affordability, as a result of lower interest rates, lower home prices and improving employment and wage prospects in this region.
 
“It also reflects the banks’ somewhat more lenient credit stance compared to 2008, since first-time buyers are particularly credit-dependent.”
 
The second important trend at the moment, Haupt says, is the higher demand for rental properties and the consequent rise in monthly rentals.
 
“The supply of new rental properties has been particularly weak in this area for some time, while demand has continued to rise, especially since the local economy started to recover. This has already led to an average rental increase of about 10% in the past year, and we expect even more upward pressure on rentals, translating into higher income yields on residential property over the course of 2011.”
 
There are of course still some challenges in the market, she says, the greatest being a lack of realism in pricing, with more than 80% of home sellers still having to drop their asking price by an average of 12% in order to achieve a sale. “The average time that a home remains on the market has, however, fallen significantly, from 18 weeks last year to about 12 weeks, which underlines the fact that the demand is there once a home is priced right.”
 
Chas Everitt International MD Berry Everitt says he is delighted at Haupt’s decision to join the Eastern Cape franchises owned by John Cooper. “She has been closely aligned to the real estate industry for a long time and these offices will no doubt benefit from her wealth of experience. We feel privileged to have her in the Chas Everitt International family.”
 
Haupt, who spent 21 years in the banking sector before joining Betterbond, says she loves the real estate industry and sees great opportunities in the improving Eastern Cape market.