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Home delivery set to slow   Article Date :27 Jun 2005 Comments on figures by Statistics SA. The overall pace of new development is set to slow down. Data just released by Statistics South Africa show that about 1000 fewer building plans were passed for houses, flats and townhouses in the first quarter of this year than in the same period of 2004. The figures also show that although the real value of the plans passed in the first quarter was 3,5 percent up on the first quarter of last year, it was 3,7 percent down on the last quarter of 2004. It appears, however, that the slowdown will only really be evident for now in the Western Cape, Eastern Cape, Gauteng and Limpopo, as the other regions all actually recorded year-on-year increases in the number of plans passed during the first quarter. The biggest increase, numerically, was recorded in KwaZulu-Natal, where plans passed for new homes jumped by more than 400 to 2543. And this comes on top of a 78 percent yoy increase in the number of homes actually completed in KZN during the first quarter. Developers were also particularly active at the start of the year in the Western Cape and Mpumalanga, which were the only other regions to show yoy increases in the number of homes completed. The biggest decrease, numerically, occurred in North West, where some 2900 fewer homes were built during the first quarter of this year than during the same period of 2004. Overall, although the total real value of new residential buildings completed in the first quarter showed a yoy increase of 34 percent, it was 20 percent down on the last quarter of 2004. Breaking the statistics down by type of home, Absa senior economist Jaques du Toit notes that the number of new houses bigger than 80sqm completed during the first quarter showed a yoy increase of 27 percent, and the number of new flats and townhouses an increase of 54,6 percent. But, he says, this should be read as the lagged result of strong demand for housing during the course of 2004, when plans passed for new houses greater than 80sqm increased by 30,4 percent and those for flats and townhouses by 40,8 percent. The latest figures show a sharp decline from those levels, with the total number of plans passed for houses greater than 80sqm only 6,3 percent up yoy in the first quarter, and that for flats and townhouses only 2,7 percent up. In addition, the number of homes being delivered at the lower end of the market (houses of less than 80sqm) has already fallen and is likely to fall further. The first quarter figures reveal a 40,8 percent yoy decline in completions in this sector of the market and a 17,9 percent yoy decrease in the number of plans passed. CLICK HERE TO RETURN TO THE MAIN NEWS PAGE