Early signs of an NCA impact.

[duncan drennan]

Wasn't the idea to improve fair access to credit? (And here I think that noble thought was targetting the lower end of the market).

Was it to improve fair access to credit, or to avoid the lower end getting over indebted?

[Dave A]

A bit of both, I think. The stated purpose of the National Credit Act is here.

[duncan drennan]

Difficult to say, but I wonder if this is possibly linked to the NCA?

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - South African retail sales growth slowed to 6.4 percent year-on-year in June at constant prices, compared to an upwardly revised 9.2 percent in May, Statistics South Africa said on Wednesday.

In the three months to the end of June, retail sales -- the main measure of consumer demand -- increased by 7.2 percent compared to the same period the previous year, also at constant prices.

Article from MoneyWeb

My wife was telling me about a conversation she overheard regarding the NCA. Group of people were discussing the "new credit act" and that it means that it is more difficult for people with a lower income ("like us") to get credit, while the rich people can still easily get it. They also mentioned that the sales people from Bears can't make target (which I'm guessing means that most sales people's paychecks just took a knock for the worse).

[Eugene]

Most sales people in the retail industry work for a very small basic salary (if you can call it that) together with commissions. I spoke to a couple of salespeople and the overall scenario was that they are under immence pressure as in most contract there is a performance clause that if they don't make target, they forfeit a portion of their ever so small basic salary.

[Dave A]

Something a little more qualitative than the feedback I've been getting on the lower end of the property market:

First-time home buyers and people targeting the lower end of the suburban property spectrum may find themselves squeezed out of the market by higher mortgage rates and the requirements of the National Credit Act (NCA), implemented in June.

Early signs of this trend came from a survey of estate agents, the First National Bank (FNB) Property Barometer for the second quarter, released yesterday.

The lower end is defined by estate agents, but John Loos, an FNB property strategist, said that in the context of the survey, it would include houses worth less than R600 000. To afford a bond for R600 000, a borrower would need to earn at least R24 000 a month.

The second-quarter survey was supplemented by a survey last month to measure the impact of the NCA. Loos reported a "significant weakening … The percentage of first-time buyers in the market dropped to 16 percent in July from 20 percent in the second quarter. And 43 percent of respondents claim that applicants are struggling to qualify for home loans."
full story from Business Report here