You are browsing the archive for: South Africa

by Lenora

Leveraging Capital Markets for Affordable Rental Housing in Developing Markets

May 20, 2016 in Global, Mexico, South Africa

International capital markets should channel investment capital to the challenge of affordable rental housing in developing markets more easily. Housing for sale aimed at lower and moderate income segments is already a prominent business driver for commercial real estate in most major emerging markets for the last five to ten years. Despite shortcomings, at least the…read more

Tags: affordable housing, capital markets, FIBRA, investment fund, real estate investment, REIT, rental housing No Comments »

by Lenora

Indluplace Convinces Investors of the Rental Residential Opportunity

April 19, 2016 in Africa, South Africa

Indluplace Properties Ltd, the first residential REIT in South Africa, wants investors to know that investing in rental housing across income segments is appropriate and profitable. Indluplace CEO Carel de Wit emphasizes this in DevelopingSmartCities.org’s interview with Financial Director Terry Kaplan and de Wit. Apparently, it was initially tough to convince investors. The Indluplace team…read more

Tags: affordable housing, real estate investment, REIT, rental housing, sustainability, urban investment, urban regeneration No Comments »

by Lenora

2016, Year of Big Urban Platforms: Do They Matter?

January 17, 2016 in Colombia, Global, India, South Africa

Emerging loud and clear from the high level commitments at the inspiring and historic outcomes COP21 climate talks in Paris in December was a focus on the critical role of the private sector, markets and financial innovation. Green bonds were the talk of Paris, as were public private partnerships and sustainable business, finance and investment themes. As luck would…read more

Tags: financial innovation, impact investment, India Smart Cities Challenge, private sector, real estate development, real estate investment, social enterprise, urban development No Comments »

by Lenora

DSC’s Favorite Housing Stories from 2015

December 30, 2015 in Africa, Blog, India, Mexico, South Africa

You can find our favorite urban themes and stories from all over in 2015 here. If you’re interested in 2015’s best housing stories on DevelopingSmartCities.org, here’s a quick recap: Debbie Erb of OPIC kicked off 2015 for DSC, probing the pressing question of why there aren’t more affordable housing developers, especially in Africa, Asia, and…read more

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by Lenora

COP21, Global Affordable Housing and Resilient Communities

November 29, 2015 in Brazil, Global, Latin America, Mexico, Philippines, South Africa

The 21st Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP21 for short), starts tomorrow in Paris. While this may seem far away from the daily lives of the Developing Smart Cities members and readers, I assure you it isn’t. To illustrate how close the talks are to our world, this post is about…read more

Tags: affordable housing, architecture, building codes, building standards, climate change adaptation, climate change mitigation, climate resilience, COP21, energy efficiency, green bonds, green building, green housing, impact investment, real estate investment, regulation, urban design, urban development, urban planning, water efficiency, water infrastructure No Comments »

by Kecia Rust

Five Stories That Characterize Africa’s Housing Markets in 2015

November 28, 2015 in Africa, Angola, Blog, East Africa, Kenya, Nigeria, North Africa, Rwanda, South Africa, Southern Africa, Tanzania, West Africa, Zambia

If cities are built the way they are financed (Renaud, 1984), then Africa’s cities are set to change. Innovation in housing finance – in terms of products, players, and approaches, not to mention target markets – is a key feature across the continent, creating new opportunities for investment and delivery. As both local and international…read more

Tags: affordable housing, CAHF, financial innovation, housing finance, market data, public policy, real estate investment, urban investment No Comments »

by Lenora

Join the Annual Conference of the African Union for Housing Finance

October 10, 2015 in Africa, Blog, South Africa

This year, the 31st annual conference of the African Union for Housing Finance (AUHF) will focus on the theme, Making Housing Finance Markets Work in Africa. The agenda features a keynote address by Issa Faye, Manager of the Research Division of the African Development Bank (AfDB) and AfDB’s continent-wide study into the performance of the…read more

Tags: affordable housing, AUHF Conference 2015, housing finance, real estate investment No Comments »

by Lenora

Revealing Rental Housing at Trust Urban Housing Fund: AUHF Newsletter

September 19, 2015 in Blog, Johannesburg, South Africa

Check out the excellent feature on South Africa’s Trust for Urban Housing Finance (TUHF) in the latest newsletter from the African Union for Housing Finance here. Born out of decades of red-lining in Johannesburg’s city center, an influx of low income households seeking affordable housing and lack of mainstream bank finance to rehabilitate buildings, TUHF…read more

Tags: affordable housing, AUHF, building rehabilitation, city center revitalization, rental housing, urban regeneration No Comments »

by Lenora

JLL’s 10 SSA Opportunity Cities All Need Housing

September 13, 2015 in Africa, Blog, East Africa, South Africa, Southern Africa, West Africa

Jones Lang LaSalle’s recent report on Sub-Saharan Africa’s emerging real estate opportunities entitled “Emerging Beyond the Frontier” highlights themes that suggest the region is on the move: high commodities-driven growth, lower risk and improved transparency across core markets in South Africa, Zambia, Nigeria, Ghana and Kenya including better data collection, incipient land registry efforts and…read more

Tags: real estate development, real estate investment No Comments »

by Lenora

KfW Kickstarts Innovative and Sustainable Housing Markets

July 31, 2015 in Mexico, South Africa

What is it like to live in an uninsulated home in Mexico’s scorching sun? How about coping with power shortages and blackouts in South Africa? It’s an expensive or uncomfortable life at the least and poses health and security threats at worst. These challenges don’t fall on the population evenly either. Poorly built and planned housing…read more

Tags: business models, climate resilience, development finance institutions, energy efficiency, green mortgages, IDB, IFC, innovation, investment fund, location efficiency, mortgage finance, passive houses, real estate development, real estate investment, SHF, social impact, sustainability, sustainable construction, sustainable houses, water efficiency No Comments »