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PROPERTY ANALYSIS & TREND REPORTS
Mark Pettipher

Mark Pettipher

  • Joined: 16 July 2025
  • Articles: 306

Emira delivers 4.1% full-year income growth for shareholders

James Day

Emira Property Fund delivered a resilient set of results for the year ended 31 March 2026, increasing its total dividend by 4.1% to 129.01 cents per share. The diversified REIT benefited from disciplined capital recycling, improved portfolio metrics and growing contributions from its international investments in Poland and the United States. A strengthened balance sheet, lower vacancies and continued strategic acquisitions position Emira to pursue further value-accretive growth while maintaining stable, long-term returns for shareholders.

SA REIT Association unveils Third Edition Best Practice Recommendations

Leon Kok COO Redefine

The South African REIT Association has unveiled the Third Edition of its Best Practice Recommendations, introducing the most significant reporting framework update since 2019. Effective from January 2026, the revised guidelines enhance transparency, comparability and investor confidence across the sector. Key changes include the formal adoption of SA REIT Funds from Operations (FFO), standardised debt and risk metrics, and new operating measures aligned with international REIT reporting standards.

Exemplar REITail declares full-year distribution of 176.9cps

Jason McCormick

Exemplar delivered another year of strong growth, underpinned by the resilience of township and rural retail markets. The REIT increased its full-year distribution by 15.3% to 176.9 cents per share, while net property income rose 13.1% to R978 million. Strategic acquisitions and redevelopment projects, including Vosloorus Crossing and the Steelpoort retail precinct, have expanded the portfolio beyond 700 000sqm, positioning the group for continued earnings and distribution growth.

SA REITs recover 5.9% in April as oversubscribed capital raises indicate renewed institutional appetite

Ian-Anderson Merchant West Investments

South African REITs staged a strong recovery in April, delivering a 5.9% total return and outperforming both equities and bonds as investor confidence returned to the sector. Oversubscribed capital raises by Spear and Fairvest, strategic acquisitions, and improving distribution growth highlighted a market moving back into expansion mode. Despite ongoing interest-rate uncertainty, healthier balance sheets, robust corporate activity and resilient operating fundamentals continue to underpin the sector’s outlook.

Seeff slams premature rate hike, priority must be growth over temporary volatility

Samuel Seeff Chairman

The South African Reserve Bank’s decision to raise the repo rate by 25 basis points to 7% has drawn criticism from the property sector, with Samuel Seeff, chairman of the Seeff Property Group, describing the move as premature and damaging to both the economy and housing market. While higher borrowing costs are expected to place further pressure on already strained consumers and first-time buyers, Seeff notes that mortgage lending conditions remain supportive, with strong approval rates and lower deposit requirements continuing to sustain market activity.

Interest rate hike expected to add pressure to consumers – but residential property market remains resilient

Dr Andrew Golding

South Africa’s latest interest rate increase is expected to place additional pressure on already constrained consumers, but the country’s residential property market continues to show notable resilience. According to Dr Andrew Golding, chief executive of the Pam Golding Property group, the 25 basis point hike is unlikely to significantly derail housing market activity in the short term, with banks continuing to support buyers through competitive lending conditions, including zero-deposit and cost-inclusive home loans, while demand increasingly shifts toward smaller, well-located homes in urban nodes.

First interest rate hike in three years, but the property industry hopes to hold firm

Rhys-Dhyer

South Africa’s latest interest rate increase has added further pressure to an already strained consumer environment, with the repo rate rising by 25 basis points to 7% and prime lending rates now at 10.5%. While the move was widely anticipated amid rising inflationary risks, higher fuel prices and escalating municipal and electricity costs, concerns remain over affordability, household debt and economic uncertainty — particularly for first-time homebuyers navigating a fragile labour market.

Beyond the buzzwords

Jess Moyer COO Rode Publications & Media

Artificial intelligence is rapidly moving from experimentation to operational reality in the property sector. Speaking at the Reside Summit 2026, Jess Moyer, COO of Rode Publications & Media, argued that the real competitive advantage will not come from simply accessing AI tools, but from how property companies organise their data, workflows and institutional knowledge. As AI reshapes document analysis, building operations and maintenance, firms that adapt quickly could gain a significant strategic edge.

Reside Summit 2026 proves housing is no longer a siloed conversation

Reside summit

The Reside Summit 2026 highlighted a growing shift in South Africa’s residential property sector: collaboration is becoming essential. Bringing together developers, financiers, municipalities and investors, the summit explored affordable housing, climate-smart development, construction technology and institutional investment. Speakers stressed that solving the country’s housing backlog will require integrated partnerships, scalable delivery models and faster implementation. The message was clear — residential property can no longer operate in fragmented silos.

SA economy on cautious upswing: But global headwinds pose real threat, warns Nedbank’s Weimar

Nicky Weimer

South Africa’s economy is improving, but the recovery remains fragile as global energy risks and inflationary pressures begin reshaping the outlook for consumers and retailers. Addressing investors at the Township Retail Investment Summit 2026, Nedbank Chief Economist Nicky Weimar warned that while falling inflation and lower interest rates boosted household spending, rising fuel costs and geopolitical instability could slow momentum. Even so, she believes South Africa is still moving gradually onto firmer economic ground.

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