Property contributes billions to economy.

Economic activity in the property sector contributed R191.4bn to the economy last year, reveals a Property Sector Charter Council study released on Tuesday.

"The 2013 report estimates the size of the economic activity in the property sector in terms of annual income and expenditure flows generated by the sector," it said in a statement.

"The study showed that the property sector contributes R191.4bn to the SA economy."

The council released the findings of "The Impact of the South African Property Sector on the National Economy" on Tuesday.

The research continued from the 2012 report which measured the size of the property market in the country at R4.9 trillion.

In 2012, research showed that the total economic contribution of residential property to the gross domestic product was R103.7bn and it contributed R20.1bn to the fiscus through various forms of tax, the council said.

It said the analysis in the latest report used the life cycle of a property.

Council CEO Portia Tau-Sekati said detailed research was carried out in various phases to provide a valuable understanding of the sector.

"The property sector makes a significant contribution to the country's economy and it is important to pursue this research to its conclusion for several reasons," Tau-Sekati said.

"Aside from the fact that no reliable figures have existed on the size and impact of the sector before this, in a sector this big and this important as property there should be ample opportunity for transformation to take place."

Tau-Sekati said the first phase measured the size of the property market, the second its financial and economic revenue and the third, which was underway, measured and analysed the transformation using the broad-based BEE tool with eight elements contained in the property sector code. Fin24.com