Propstats, the register of all residential property transactions in the Western Cape, now has some 12 000 entries, says Anton du Plessis, the Chairman of the Institute’s Cape Peninsula Committee.

“The Propstats register, as we predicted, has now become an indispensable tool for those who do property valuations.  It has enabled Cape agents to price properties more accurately and to justify their decisions to clients.  What is more, it is completely free to our institute members.”

The register’s great virtue, he said, is that it is supported by the major agencies – Anne Porter, Chas Everitt, Greeff, Rawsons, PGP, Seeff, Jawitz and Dogon, as well as the smaller agencies, and therefore provides a good reference point – but du Plessis is now appealing to all Cape property agencies, whether or not members of the Institute, to become members and submit all their sales data so that the service can draw on even more comprehensive data.

He is also asking all agencies to submit their sales data back to 1^st January this year.

“From a valuations viewpoint,” he said, “there is no point in going back further, even though such data is always interesting.”

The ability to compile trustworthy valuations, added du Plessis, will be one of the hallmarks of the more professional agents now being “educated” by the EAAB and SSETA training programmes.