Staff Reporter
Staff Reporter
Tenants are paying on average 30percent more in residential rent than they did three and a half years ago, an index by national residential letting agents Trafalgar shows.
This reflects the latent value in the property market across the country, but specifically within Gauteng. With a base of 100 in 2003, the national Trafalgar rental index has shifted to 129,3.
Trafalgar managing director Andrew Schaefer said there were a host of factors that translate into constant rent rises being inevitable.
Essentially, householder formations or the demand for rental accommodation appears to far outstrip the creation of new stock or supply.
"It is a pity the exact data is not readily available," he said.
But there are indications that it is not only population growth driving demand, but also the rapid reduction in household sizes. This is despite a general feeling that the number of foreign Africans coming into South Africa is greater than statistics reflect.
University of South Africa data reveals that household sizes have dropped from 4,48 people in 1996 to 3,69 a decade later and that the number of households has grown from 9million to nearly 13million.