South Africa property for sale and investments

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South Africa

The Republic of South Africa at the southern tip of the continent of Africa borders both the Atlantic and Indian oceans. To the north of South Africa lie Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Mozambique and Swaziland, while the Kingdom of Lesotho is an independent enclave surrounded by South African territory.

South Africa is known for its diversity, and eleven official languages are recognised in its constitution with English the most commonly spoken language - the South African population was estimated at 47.9 million. South Africa is a middle-income country with an abundant supply of resources, well-developed financial, legal, communications, energy, and transport sectors, a stock exchange (the JSE Limited), that ranks among the top twenty in the world, and a modern infrastructure supporting an efficient distribution of goods to major urban centres throughout the entire region. South Africa is ranked 20th in the world in terms of GDP (PPP) as of 2007.

The South African rand (ZAR), is the most actively traded emerging market currency in the world. It has joined an elite club of fifteen currencies, the Continuous linked settlement (CLS), where forex transactions are settled immediately, lowering the risks of transacting across time zones. The rand was the best-performing currency against the United States dollar (USD) between 2002 and 2005, according to the Bloomberg Currency Scorecard.

Principal international trading partners of South Africa — besides other African countries — include Germany, Japan, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Chief exports include corn, diamonds, fruits, gold, metals and minerals, sugar, and wool. Machinery and transportation equipment make up more than one-third of the value of the country’s imports. Other imports include chemicals, manufactured goods, and petroleum.

Vacation rentals in South Africa are often offered by the owners of the properties or agents may also offer property for sale or rent. If you are considering buying real estate in South Africa or anywhere else for that matter, the most widely used method of borrowing the funds to make the purchase is a mortgage. International Property Directory has agreements in place to offer the services of a well known mortgage company who will help at the required stages of a mortgage application. International Property Directory can also help you obtain great currency exchange rates with it's partner MoneyCorp which can save consideralble sums of money during the purchasing process.

Increasing numbers of investors using International Property Directory are buying real estate globally with a view to using them as a vacation rental or for capital appreciation. Returns on this investment can be very good and the prices in some emerging markets are very attractive. A mortgage can be used to fund the purchase of a house, home, apartment or villa in many cases.

If you are looking into purchasing or renting or trying to find a property for sale in South Africa you may be limited to the type of alterations you can make to the property. You will benefit from living in the environment of your choice plus, in many cases, your improvements will add to the value or saleability of your home - but always ask the local authorities, developers or agents on the ground who you found through using International Property Directory's services. If you are looking to rent out a property in South Africa or anywhere in the world - it is wise to find out the possible rent that can be achieved or if there are any comparables available. Rental yields will vary according to location, market conditions and the property conditions itself.

Following the past decade of continuous growth, political stability and economic strength in South Africa, foreign property investors have taken a keen interest in the country. The initiatives of the government for promoting foreign investment and tourism have enabled additional security and confidence to overseas buyers.

The South African property market slowed down in the past 18 months along with other world markets, yet to a lesser extent. Increases in borrowing interest rates, along with stricter criteria for financial lending assisted in slowing down the property market. These methods have been enforced to avoid a severe crash as seen in other world markets, effectively functioning with a limited fall in the sector.

Due to the nature of the South Africa property sector, long term potential is assured. The huge growth of the internal market, strengthening economy, tourism growth and rental demands enable future expansion and stability.