All
estate agents with overseas connections should now get in touch with them and
start promoting the greatly increased value that the current foreign exchange
rates offer overseas buyers in South Africa today, says Mike van Alphen,
National Manager of Rawson Finance, the bond origination division of the Rawson
Property Group.
Quoting
Currencies Direct, a foreign exchange organisation that the Rawson Property
Group is closely associated with, van Alphen (at the time of the interview)
said that a year ago one US dollar cost R7.50 and today it costs R9.00. A
British pound would have cost around R12.00, today it is priced at R14.00 and
the euro has appreciated even more markedly in relation to the rand today – by
some 20%.
“The rand
has, therefore, depreciated by 17 to 20% in less than one year,” said van
Alphen. “This, in effect, means that the property a buyer looked at last year
can now be had at a remarkable discount, not only because of the current
exchange rate but also because, if it is in the middle and upper bracket, its
price escalation over the last year will have been either minimal or
non-existent.”
Van
Alphen added that many middle and upper bracket homes have, in nominal terms,
been discounted by 15 to 40% in the last three years. This again, he said,
makes buying in South Africa now very attractive.
“It is,”
he said, “sometimes alleged that South Africa is less than friendly to foreign
buyers. This is not the case: our organisation can and does get 50%
bonds and these are regularly available to foreign buyers throughout the
market, provided that they are not self-employed or in work that is considered
‘risky’. However if they are retired they must be able to show that they
have an assured income from reputable institutions – and since the easing off
of the global crisis, this is usually not too difficult to prove.”
