Thesis (MSc (Consumer Science)--University of Stellenbosch, 2005. / The issue of housing choice and preferences has been and still is the subject of much academic attention from researchers in many different disciplines. Stellenbosch, the oldest town in South Africa second to Cape Town, is undoubtedly the most scenic and historically well-preserved town in Southern Africa. With this plurality of attractive features, the housing market in Stellenbosch has become one of the most active and expensive housing markets in South Africa. In this specifically booming housing market, it is indispensable to conduct a housing preference and priorities study to determine residents’ tastes and preferences, in order to help those concerned, residents, real estate agents or people related to housing, to make better housing decision. At the same time, considering the affluent housing market in Stellenbosch, sellers and real estate agents are facing the problem of appraising the actual market value of houses. There is an apparent lack of a normative method to evaluate houses, and it is noteworthy that assessments almost always depend on the subjective experience of sellers and real estate agents.

Homeownership is widely advocated and believed to contribute towards economic activity, employment, wealth creation, economic, political, and neighbourhood stability and financial independence. Despite government’s interventions to advance homeownership there is currently a declining trend in homeownership and an increase in renting experienced in South Africa. As the government does not have the resources to provide adequate housing to all South Africans, identifying the factors which attribute to non-subsidised homeownership will assist in implementing interventions and strategies to increase access to non-subsidised homeownership and reduce reliance on government subsidised housing. The main objective of this study was to determine the comparative odds of variables contributing to non-subsidised homeownership in South Africa from secondary data obtained from a South African household survey. Compared to the heuristic model, the following variables were found to align closely with the expectation created; non-subsidised homeownership attainment was most likely for households within high-income groups and least for households within the low-income groups, more likely for households who have access to credit than those without, more likely for households with no accounts in arrears than those with accounts in arrears, more likely for households with an ability to save than those without, most likely for households consisting of seven or more household members and least likely for single member households, most likely for households where FKP (Financially Knowledgeable Person) has completed a tertiary education level and least likely for households with primary not completed education levels, most likely for households where the FKP is older (aged 65 and older) and least likely for young FKP households (aged between 18 and 24), most likely for households residing in rural areas and least likely for households residing in metropolitan areas, most likely for female FKP households and least likely for male FKP households. Unexpectedly the regression model indicated that non-subsidised homeownership is most likely for households where the Financially Knowledgeable Person (FKP) is not economically active (for example pensioners) and least likely for employed households, most likely for households from the African population group and least likely for Indian households, most likely where the FKP is never married or single and least likely for separated or divorced FKP households (which is expected) and most likely for households residing in Limpopo (which is expected) and least likely for households residing Western Cape. / Financial accounting / M. Phil. (Accounting Science)