Chris Needham says that the Construction sector was the only sector of the local stock market that did exceptionally well during the first month of trade in 2007 gaining 13% in just one month. He says that the currency stability, a stable long-term economic position, increasing rentals and rising replacement values have resulted in the strength shown by the sector. He believes that it is far better to have the income-generating portion of your assets invested in property stocks currently rather than in long bonds. Dawid Botha, managing director of Indequity Asset Management says that within the construction sector steel is continuing to do very well. He suggests that investors who are looking for an investment which they can buy to keep look at Mittal Steel SA.

Although the new National Credit act will only come into force later this year, banks are already aware of its implications and applying the more stringent borrowing criteria, says Linice Steward, MD of Anne Porter Knight Frank.