You don’t have to buy the ‘average’ house
The average salary won’t buy the “average” price home now, but that does not mean that prospective buyers should give up on the idea of home ownership.
This is according to Berry Everitt, MD of Chas Everitt, who says that according to the latest Absa Housing Review, the national average price of a home in the middle segment of the South African market was R1.1-m at the end of last year.
“Without a deposit, the minimum monthly bond repayment on such a home would be just short of R8 700 so, using the rule-of-thumb that your bond repayment should equal no more than 28 per cent of your household income, you would need to earn around R31 000 a month to buy it.
He adds that even with a 20 per cent deposit, the monthly repayment would be just over R7 600, so you would need a monthly household income of about R28 000, which is well beyond what the average South African household earns, according to the latest Census figures.
These figures show that the average annual salary in South Africa is R103 204, which translates into earnings of R8 600 a month, and a monthly household income of R17 200 a month in households where there are two average salaries coming in.
“However, this absolutely does not mean that average salary earners have to give up on their dreams of owning their own home, as there are actually many homes available that should be well within their means.”
He says that the Absa figures also show that the national average price of a home in its “affordable” category was R345 000 in the final quarter of 2012, and that the average price of a small home in its middle-market segment was R778 000.
“Assuming a 10 per cent deposit, these statistics mean that the household income required to buy an affordable or small home, currently ranges from about R10 000 to R22 000 a month.
“And that means, in turn, that those households earning the South African average of R17 200 a month should quite easily be able to get a foothold in the property market now, if they set their sights on homes priced at around R500 000 to R550 000.”
He says that they should really try to do so soon, because affordability is currently actually at a high point in terms of housing prices and mortgage repayments in relation to household disposable incomes.
“Housing prices are on the rise, especially at the lower end of the market, where they grew 6.6 per cent last year, and interest rates probably won’t hold at the current historic lows for more than another year, so the longer they wait, the less house they will get for their money,” he adds.
