Jozi home rental market is well set for an uptrend
Category Blog
The home rental market in Johannesburg's Northern Suburbs and Sandton is seemingly well poised for a significant, and long-awaited, uptrend.Foreigners are coming back into the market - albeit slowly. Their focus remains on the ever-popular upmarket rental suburbs such as River Club, Morningside, the "Parks", and Saxonwold.
Ennik Estates is bullish on this prospect and has expanded its rental division in anticipation. It is led by Tamara Markman, who has a decades long pedigree in private and corporate leasing focusing on the luxury market. We are delighted to announce Lexi Ross as our latest appointment. She has had her own highly successful business in the 'Parks' area, providing a client focused service for 13 years. She has immense experience at meeting clients' expectations. She will be assisting Tamara during and after this growth phase.
Meanwhile, there has been a steady build-up of potential local tenants who are ready, but have not yet decided, to put pen to paper. Most of them are in wait-and-see mode ahead of the outcome of the national election on 8 May this year.It is only then that the home rental market will get to feel which way the wind is likely to blow, and how the current 'quiet-before-the-storm' mode will play out.
Meanwhile, the biggest niggle the market currently faces is the return of the widely-detested burden of electricity "load shedding". It has taken hold in the wake of the Eskom 'State capture' debacle. Unfortunately, it seems set to endure for some time.
The new "must-haves"
So much so, that on-site standby power generators and inverters are the new "must-haves" stipulated by many of today's would-be tenants - although usage of solar power continues on a phenomenal growth path.Solar power first started to gain real traction during the notorious 2005 to 2007 power 'black-out' period in South Africa.
At that stage, the payback period on an investment in a R200 000 solar power system that took your home off the national power grid was reportedly 20 years.
Today the payback on a like-on-like solar system would be less than five years! The bottom line is that, in the current load-shedding climate, a home owner's rental property becomes a great deal more attractive to a tenant when a generator and/or inverter is part of the package.
(Even a borehole is a big plus for a home rental these days!)
Home rental hot spot
Conversely, when there is no standby power on site, the security risk is perceived by potential tenants as huge - and they tend to move on.
No matter how market trends continue to play out, one thing is certain: Rosebank is emerging as the home rental hot spot north of Johannesburg's CBD.
As the momentum of new residential and commercial developments and re-developments continue to roll out, and as new residents relocating from Sandton and other areas continue to move in, Rosebank will become even more entrenched as the go-to hub for residential tenants.
Author: Ronald Ennik
