Windhoek needs 10 000 new houses before the median price can drop to N$400 000, Daniel Kavishe, market research manager at FNB Group said yesterday.
“Having reviewed the prices in 2015, there is little chance that the growth in prices will ease, unless the mass housing project really kicks off in Windhoek and at the coast,” said Kavishe when he released the latest FNB housing index.
He said prices will continue to grow by 18% every quarter, with volume growth subject to the availability of serviceable land and the construction of houses.
“The biggest risk to the housing market this year is the potential slowing of demand due to increased taxes, higher interest rates and higher inflation on basic goods, which will erode consumers’ disposable incomes,” he explained.
The mass housing project under the National Housing Enterprise (NHE) is supposed to deliver 185,000 houses by 2030.
At the end of the fourth quarter, the central-region’s property prices grew by 26%. The median prices for the three main towns in the region are Windhoek (N$1,2 million), Okahandja (N$790 000) and Gobabis (N$780 000).
Volumes in the region dropped during the fourth quarter by 22% as a result of the few registered transactions in December.
The coastal volumes have shown a substantial decrease in the fourth quarter by 10%. The median price at Swakopmund remains at N$875 000, Henties Bay at N$1 million and Walvis Bay at N$795 000.
“We project declines in the median prices based on the NHE houses that will be delivered to the market. A softening of prices is therefore imminent,” said Kavishe.
In the south, median prices increased to N$698 000 at Keetmanshoop. Lüderitz received several houses under the mass housing banner, and therefore its median price is expected to remain within the N$400 000 and N$450 000 range.
