It's Open Thread time! Original Post on Cape Town Property Bubble: Saturday Open Thread … [Read more...]

Prime Circle getting their photo take from their official tour photographer. Original Post on Photo Blogging by Craig : Cape Town Photoblog: Prime Circle … [Read more...]

Here's a 2 bedroomed apartment in the Cape Town CBD on sale for R1 400 000 (hat tip to reader AS for the link), with a current rental income of R6 000/month. This sale is listed as "urgent" but when you consider the terrible rental yields you can expect I don't think they quite mean it. Here's the payment and yield graph:So with a 100% bond the difference between rental and bond payment is R-12435, over twice the rental itself. You only break even on cash flow if you put down over 2/3 depost … [Read more...]

With shock I read in the newspaper today about the impending liquidation of Madame Zingara and Carlucci’s. The article is available online here. I don’t understand how Madame Zingara can be in financial trouble. That tent, which seated about 450 people was always full and average spend must have been about R500 per head. I’ll leave you to work out how much money that is per night. Very strange indeed. As far as I’m aware, the show is still running in … [Read more...]

South African band Prime Circle were at Kirstenbosch gardens on Sunday. They rocked! Original Post on Photo Blogging by Craig : Cape Town Photoblog: Prime Circle at Kirstenbosch Gardens … [Read more...]

We last saw this Green Point apartment in May 2008. It was on the market for R1 895 000 with a tenant paying R8 500/rent.Now the seller is asking for a buyer to just take over his bond and take it off his hands for R1 550 000. Original Post on Cape Town Property Bubble: When It Doesn't Sell, It's Time To Beg … [Read more...]

I did a little fishing on Saturday at Kalk Bay Harbour... I caught bugger all though! I did get a few nice pictures from the harbour though, this is looking towards the naval base at Simons Town with the far distant mountains being Cape Point. Original Post on Photo Blogging by Craig : Cape Town Photoblog: Kalk Bay Harbour Looking to Simons Town … [Read more...]

Here's some quotes from chief FNB property shill John Loos as collected by Reader Bean Counter:"I think later in the decade towards 2008, house price inflation will start to pick up." – June 2006“So I don't see the end of house-price inflation for the country as a whole, and I think that by about next year you could start seeing a recovery in house-price inflation after some further decline this year...I think commercial property returns are going to be excellent for the rest of the … [Read more...]

Reader TA sent in a link to this bank repossessed house in Milnerton on sale for R1 300 000. It was <a href="http://capetown.gumtree.co.za/c-Flat-House-Real-Estate-vacant-land-properties-for-sale-Milnerton-RIDGE-BANK-REPO-W0QQAdIdZ91440408">listed in December 2008 as on sale for R1 650 000. According to TA it was initially listed at R1 900 000, which means it's dropped R600 000 in price, a 31.5% drop in asking price.Looking at the pictures on the latest ad, it seems it's never been … [Read more...]

I remember hearing a while back about someone asking a bunch of kids (at school?) where chickens come from and although the responses were varied, they were all supermarket names. I don’t find that story difficult to believe at all. Children grow up in cities and unless some concerted effort is made to expose them to other realities (eg. Rural), the reality of city life is all they know. Not understanding the inputs into the system means that they don’t have a concept of the … [Read more...]