Further rates cuts are likely to follow during a more buoyant 2025 according to Tyson Properties

Chris Tyson, CEO of national real estate agency, Tyson Properties, today welcomed another 25 basis point cut by the South African Reserve Bank (SARB) Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) after its first meeting for the year.

Confident that further rates cuts are still to follow despite a slight uptick in the inflation rate to 3% in December (which remains below the SARB's benchmark 4.5%) and global economic policy uncertainty in the wake of US President Donald Trump's re-election, Tyson is confident that this latest cut is good news for the property market.  

Interest rate cuts by the SARB are beginning to add up to some meaningful relief for South African home owners. As a result, Tyson Properties is positioning itself for a more buoyant market during 2025 and expects a recovery in key regions such as Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal, while the Cape property market continues to perform.

Although Tyson believes that the SARB will continue along the ultra-cautious trajectory that saw repeated decisions to maintain the  repo rate unchanged at a 15-year high of 8.25% until September 2024, he believes there is a strong chance that the interest rate might ultimately drop to around 7%. This will give both buyers and sellers waiting out the 2024 interest rate plateau more confidence to enter the property market, he says.

Over the long-term - and should the interest rate decline continue as expected - Tyson envisages that the residential property market will move from a buyer's market to a normal market within two years.  

Even if the SARB begins to hold rates once more at a lower point, he says that this should provide the property market with some stability and predictability which would entice those contemplating longer term investments to look to buying properties.