[Test] - The Week in Property

Growthpoint's Monteclare Place in Cape Town.

The JSE All Property Index closed at 8 375 last night.

With high interest rates dampening the residential property sector, many estate agencies are turning to managed rentals to navigate the tough market, according to PayProp’s Q1 2024 Rental Index. National residential rental growth fell by 0.8% during the quarter, following a ‘levelling off’ in Q3 2023 – the biggest q/q drop seen since the pandemic.

Absa has become SA’s first bank to launch a climate-smart housing rebate, in partnership with the IFC. Customers who purchase homes valued at less than R5 million (directly from an Absa-approved Eco Home Loan development) are eligible to receive between 1.5% to 3% of their loan amount back in a rebate which will be credited directly back into their home loan account and capitalised against their outstanding balance, reducing their home loan amount and savings on further interest over the term of their mortgage.

Vukile Property Fund is celebrating its 20th anniversary of listing on the JSE with strong FY2024 results. The REIT’s SA portfolio continued to deliver positive metrics, reporting like-for-like retail net operating income (NOI) growth of 5.4% and positive rental reversions of 2.9% (FY2023: 2.23%). Its vacancies reduced to 1.9% with tenant retention increasing to 94% of gross lettable area (GLA). It achieved trading density growth of 2.4%, led by township and rural shopping centres. Vukile’s loan-to-value (LTV) ratio reduced to 40.70% during the reporting period.

Pioneer in digital parking systems, admyt, has expanded into office and mixed-use properties across Cape Town in collaboration with Growthpoint Properties. The expansion encompasses select Growthpoint buildings including 33 Bree, Roggebaai Place, The District, River Park, Monteclare Place (pictured), and the Longkloof Precinct. Utilizing license plate reader (LPR) to seamlessly open entrance and exit booms, admyt’s platform allows for ticketless, tag-less and cashless parking, catering to the diverse needs of tenants, visitors, as well as daily casual and monthly parkers.

Fairvest Limited published its results for FY2024 this week, reporting like-for-like net property income growth of 7%. The Group achieved positive leasing results, with rental reversions of +3% with an increased weighted average lease expiry (WALE) from 29 to 31 months during the period. The Group remains on track to become a retail-focused fund. Since its merger with Arrowhead Properties in January 2022, Fairvest has concluded disposals exceeding R1.3bn. Its LTV reduced from 33.3% to 32.6% during the reporting period.

Owner and operator of branded business and industrial parks, Sirius Real Estate, has recorded its 20th progressive dividend payout, reporting its 10th year of annualised rental growth above 5% for FY2024. Its strong operational performance drove a 7.9% in its funds from operations (FFO) to €110m (FY2023: €102m), supporting its H2 dividend of 3.05 cps (FY2023: 2.98 cps) which amounted to a 6.5% uplift in its total dividend for the financial year to 6.05 cps (FY2023: 5.68 cps).

Cape Town Market in Epping has officially started the commissioning of a three-megawatt hour (MWh) solar system which follows the installation of + 3 000 solar panels with a 1.4MWh output. The project marks a major milestone for one of the oldest and largest fresh produce markets in South Africa. The market is owned by the City of Cape Town and leased to the Cape Town Market (Pty) Ltd.