While many estate agents predicted a slowdown in interest in property among South Africans during the 2010 FIFA World Cup, latest property show day attendance figures reveal that activity in the residential property market in Johannesburg remained buoyant throughout June.

The report was released on Wednesday by Vered Estates, one of Johannesburg's estate agencies.

The company recorded an average of 12.4 visitors per show house during the month, marginally higher than the 12.3 recorded in May.

According to the data, the highest number of visitors to a single show house on any one day in June was 32, with the next highest attracting 31 people.

These homes were in the Norwood and Lymepark/Hurlingham suburbs respectively.

The show day attendance figures recorded by Vered Estates provide a good leading indicator of levels of activity in the residential property market in the city.

Jonny Novick, Managing Director of Vered Estates, says the high attendance figures were surprising, given that many of the major World Cup matches took place on Sundays, when most show days take place.

He says one of the reasons for the buoyant show house attendance figures is due to the confidence that the World Cup instilled in potential property buyers.

"The successful hosting of the tournament means that primarily South Africans are a lot more comfortable making long term capital investments in South Africa."

Novick says that while it was expected that there would be a lot of foreign interest in local property during the World Cup, visitors to show days were almost exclusively locals.

"I think a lot of people expected that the benefits of the World Cup would come as a result of increased interest amongst foreigners visiting our shores," he adds.

"What seems apparent, however, is that the real benefit is the positive impact that the tournament has had on ordinary South Africans and their belief in the future of this country.

"This bodes extremely well for the property market over the next few years."

Source: I-Net Bridge