Property Sales in the Public Record

I always snigger when I ask someone what he or she paid for a home, and they reply, "That is a private matter!"

They obviously don't know that with a few clicks of my mouse, I can find out exactly how the purchase of their house went down. Yes, title deeds are public records, and because they contain the details of the sale, the whole shebang is in the public domain.

Deeds Registries

The most accessible source of information on comparable sales is the public record, kept by the various deeds registries in South Africa. When someone buys a home, the property is transferred from the seller to the buyer in the relevant deeds registries office, and a new title deed is created for the property. That is why conveyancers, or transferring attorneys are also called "aktevervaardigers" in Afrikaans (meaning "deed creators"). The sale is recorded, and the deeds registries have systems in place to allow quick and accurate reporting.

Recently, the deeds registries in South Africa have allowed private institutions to make all the public records, in electronic format, available to the general public. The electronic records for the deeds registries in South Africa date back to 1993.

There are quite a few such Internet services, and the costs involved can vary considerably from one service provider to the next. But they sure make finding accurate lists of recent sales a whole lot easier than in the past.

One problem with this public record is that it tends to run about 4 weeks behind. Add another month or three for the typical transfer process, and you can see the data is not truly current. And the most current information is the most valuable kind.

Recent Sales in the Multi Listing Service

The biggest multiple listing service in South Africa is undeniably MLS, a subsidiary of property 24, which is owned by media 24, the largest printed media group in South Africa. MLS has a private data network, where real estate agents that are affiliated with MLS list properties available for sale.

Once a property is sold and the transfer has taken place, the selling price is posted to the listing in the MLS database. Most of this listing information is only available to real estate agents who are members of MLS. But recently, the public has been able to access some of that information, including lists of recent sales, on the property 24 website, at a fee, of course.

The MLS lists of recent sales are more current than the public record, but. And there always is a but, isn't there? The up to date MLS records do not contain the information for ALL the sales in South Africa. Also, there are no guarantees that the information was entered perfectly correctly by the various real estate agencies.

What is important though, is that the MLS records are more current than the public record, and that makes it more valuable, especially in a real estate market where prices rise considerably in a very short space of time, as most areas in South Africa has experienced in recent years.

Real Estate Agents

If you are looking at a property that is marketed by a real estate agent, or if you have a real estate agent representing you, the agent will be able to provide you with data on recent sales, to help determine your offer price.