Port Elizabeth residential rental market on a roll

The Port Elizabeth residential rental market, after experiencing several years of almost no growth, has in the last two to three years swung over to being very much in the landlord’s favour.

Discussing this recently, Erna Dyer, who has the largest of the Rawson Property Group’s rental franchises in Port Elizabeth and whose territory covers most of Port Elizabeth except the northern suburbs and includes such high demand areas as Lorraine, Kamma Park, Beverley Grove, Summerstand, Southend and Walmer, said that the stage had now been reached where waiting lists for rental property can be long.  She has, in fact, at the moment over 600 names on her waiting list and rental agents are in a position to be particular about the tenants they sign on. Rentals in her area, she said, are now rising at ± 6% per annum, but most rentals in Port Elizabeth are still very affordable, especially in relation to those of other major centres in South Africa.

“Most of the enquiries we receive,” said Dyer, “are for homes where the rents are between R3,500 and R5,000 per month irrespective of whether they are sectional title or freehold.  However, we do have upmarket four and five bedroom houses renting at over R15,000 per month and single bachelor units in less affluent areas renting as low as R2,500 per month.”

Her team, said Dyer, signs up three to five new landlords each month and in most cases tenants for these are found within a few days.  They also manage 140 properties – a remarkable achievement considering that Dyer bought and established the franchise as recently as 2011.

“The big challenge now is no longer to find tenants but to find stock,” said Dyer.  “We advertise regularly, but we are fortunate in that we recieve large numbers of referrals from landlords we already serve who are satisfied with our service. It is these referrals above all which makes the difference between a good and a bad rental agency.”

The landlords’ satisfaction, she said, is certainly in part due to the fact that seriously bad payers among the tenants are few and far between – right now she has only two against whom legal action has to be taken - and the defaulting rate on payments is under 1,5%.

“This satisfactory state of affairs,” said Dyer, “comes about through very careful screening of tenants.  We use a number of research organisations, but particularly the TPN network, which in turn is in touch with a great many credit bureaux.”

The rental agency market in Port Elizabeth, added Dyer, is highly competitive: there are as many as 50 plus agencies active here and many tenants list with as many as five or six when looking for a new home.

One of the remarkable aspects of the Rawson Property Group’s reception in Port Elizabeth, said Dyer, is that, although they became active here a few years ago, the brand is now known and respected and this, she said, has made a significant difference to the acceptability of her operation.

For further information contact Erna Dyer on 041 379 2000.