South African Property News

Pam Golding Top of the Pack?

An article by I-Net Bridge suggests that while most agencies are struggling in the current property market, Pam Golding reports a total growth in turnover of 13.5% over the previous year, which is way ahead of the market. The record sales achieved amount to R21bn in the financial year ended in February.

Chief executive Dr Andrew Golding says that performance has been achieved despite the introduction of the National Credit Act in June 2007, the ever-rising interest rates, political uncertainty and the effects of the energy crisis currently gripping the country. Successful transactions were concluded for a total of 26,000 clients and while “this represents a 9% decrease in units over the previous period, it does however indicate sound growth in market share as the rest of the industry reported decreases ranging from 20-30%” (Golding).

Golding says that the Group expanded its network of offices to 310, with 25 new offices being launched throughout southern Africa. The residential sales came in at an impressive R18bn, reflecting a growth of 9% over the previous year. The company’s average house price is up to R1.4m from R1.1m last year. The bulk of homes sold were in the R1-6m margin, with an increasing number of transactions over the R20m mark and some exceeding R35-40m.

The number of sales to overseas buyers represents just 3% of the total residential units sold by Pam Golding Properties, of which buyers came from 26 countries around the globe. The bulk of sales were to British nationals, followed by those from America, Germany, Holland, Belgium and France. According to Golding, “It is interesting to see the increasing demand among American buyers, and following our successful international property exhibitions held in Russia, China and India last year (2007), we are also experiencing growing interest from those countries”.

Golding acknowledges that the market is clearly in for a challenging year ahead and has no doubt that even in the medium and long term, property as an asset class will continue to be a sound investment option offering excellent returns.

The information in this article is courtesy of I-Net Bridge ("Pam Golding Reports R21bn in Sales", The Times, 23 April 2008).

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