The JSE All Property Index closed at 10 068 last night.
‘Stock issues’ have emerged as the biggest factor influencing near term sales expectations in the commercial property market according to FNB who has signalled a significant increase in optimism among property brokers during Q3 2024. In the office property market, which recorded a strong positive expectation index, and the industrial property market, which recorded the weakest, brokers cited ‘not enough stock in smaller spaced assets.’ In the retail property market, economic and political uncertainty have influenced broker activity expectations in the near term, however, there was a significant rise in the percentage of those perceiving positive business sentiment in this segment (24% compared to Q2’s 12.2%).
Of those commercial property owners looking to sell, better utilities and municipal services is no longer the key motive according to a separate report by FNB. Instead, financial pressure-related selling as emerged once again as the biggest driver during Q3 2024. The greatest level of financial pressure-related selling or relocation is perceived to be in Gauteng’s metro regions, most notably in Tshwane with 64% of total sellers followed by Greater Johannesburg (23%). In the two coastal metro regions, Cape Town recorded a low 9.3% of total sellers, eThekwini (10.3%) and Nelson Mandela Bay (29.5%).
The City of Cape Town has greenlit portions of the King David Mowbray Golf Course, totalling 42.8ha with a market value of R171m, for mixed-use development to include affordable housing. With development rights to be offered to the market through an open and competitive process, the initial phase of redevelopment will focus on two main tracts of land; the first to the north of the railway line, bordered by Pinelands and Elsieskraal canal with the second tract of land, not part of the golf course, bordered by the N2 and Jan Smuts Drive.
Vukile Property Fund intends to accept an improved cash offer for its 28.8% stake in Lar España Real Estate, held through its 99.5% Spanish subsidiary, Castellana Properties – from €8.10 per Lar España share to €8.30 per share for all shareholders. The disposal will allow the REIT, through Castellana, to achieve an internal rate of return of approx. 45% per annum since January 2022 in ZAR terms, representing an investment return of almost three-times in under three years from its initial Lar España investment.
Heriot REIT has posted its financial results for the year ended June 2024, announcing its acquisition of Thibault, which owns 21.5% in Texton Property Fund and 10% in Safari Investments, through an exchange ratio of 62 new Heriot shares for every 100 Thibault shares. Post acquisition, Heriot’s asset base increased by 28%. The Group has also upped its 46.5% stake in Safari Investments to 59.2% through the acquisition of Safari shares at a cost of R30.7m. Heriot’s LTV currently sits at 42% (FY2023: 41%).
Growthpoint has turned to automation to streamline the processing of its municipal invoices. The bespoke system, designed by 1ai, automates the invoice processing workflow of the REIT’s +350 buildings while extracting and structuring data embedded in the documentation. The project has delivered substantial operational benefits including the saving of approximately 160 hours required to manually process more than 1 000 municipal invoices per month.
SPAR has appointed Moegamat Reeza Isaacs as CFO with effect from the 1st of November 2024 following Mark Godfrey’s decision to retire. Isaacs was previously the Group Finance Director for Woolworths, and he is an independent non-executive director of Hyprop.
