Market wakes from price slumber

Jo-Maré Duddy – The change in the political leadership at the City of Windhoek (CoW) will add to the bullish outlook for the capital’s housing market, especially for the low and ultra-low-income segment, the head of market research at FNB Namibia, Frans Uusiku, said yesterday.Opposition candidates recently won ten of the 15 Windhoek city council seats in the local authority elections. Land activist Job Amupanda from Affirmative Repositioning (AR) was elected mayor.Releasing the FNB Residential Property Report, Uusiku yesterday said the bank remains “bullish about further growth in house prices on the back of the unabated housing backlog”. New leadership at the CoW “is also poised to bring about a renewed momentum towards executing on the promise of accessible and affordable land delivery”, he added. According to Uusiku, the housing market has been much more resilient than what many analysts predicted at the outset of the pandemic. The FNB House Price Index recorded a 12-month average growth of 0.7% year-on-year (y/y) as at September 2020 - the first time in nearly three years that it marks a growth territory.“House price deceleration has seemingly reached a pinnacle,” Uusiku said. Namibia’s national weighted average house price in September was N$1 233 106.“Looking ahead, the current market dynamics will likely continue to be shaped by the desire for more residential outdoor space and by a move to relocate to smaller towns as the culture of remote working gains prominence,” Uusiku said.‘PERSISTENTLY STRONG DEMAND’The increase in house prices has been partly fuelled by the completion of new developments in the central area, Uusiku said. The “persistently strong demand” for residential land in smaller towns might have also contributed to the sudden rebound in house prices. Land prices in the South grew by 41.9% y/y in September compared to a contraction of 27.3% recorded a year ago. In the central region, land prices contracted by 41.2% y/y. At the coast and in the North, contractions of 55.2% and 8% were recorded.“This is unsurprising,” Uusiku said, “given the overwhelming dominance of first-time buyers in the market.” Overall demand for housing remains highly concentrated in the small and medium market segments with growth in volumes traded recorded at 11.6% and 33.4% y/y respectively, he said.REGIONSIn the central region, property prices grew by 10.8% y/y, compared to a contraction of 5.2% y/y recorded over the same period in 2019. On average, a house in the central region is now priced at N$1.47 million. House prices at the coast remain “unbated high”, according to Uusiku. At the end of September, it averaged N$1.183 million, up 13.6% y/y.Northern house prices remain buoyant, recording a four-year record growth of 24.7% y/y at the end of September, Uusiku said. The 12-month average house price in the region is N$1.029 million, compared to N$825 000 recorded in the same period of 2019. In the South, house prices grew 27.1% y/y.The 12-month average house price in the region is N$1.176 million, compared to N$925 000 In September 2019.

Market wakes from price slumber

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Republikein 2025-05-14

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Market wakes from price slumber

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