Cape real estate outlook is good for another year of growth

“Not only does Cape based property hold its value, it continues to offer superior growth as an asset,” says Mike Greeff, CEO of Greeff Christie’s International Real Estate. Propstats indicates that the total sales revenue across all areas of the Western Cape for all property types for the period November 2015 to November 2016 was R21,342,534,829, indicating a 3.3% increase on the revenue figure for the 12 months prior to that. “The average property selling price for all property types across all areas of the Cape grew by 12.6%, over the period indicated above, which demonstrates that Cape based real estate continues to outperform that in other areas of South Africa, and is, according to FNB Property Economist, John Loos, invariably the driving force behind national property price inflation figures,” says Greeff, whose own company has recorded a year-on-year growth in revenue of 53% to date for 2016. 

“Based on the steady demand for property experienced by agents in all of our offices, there is no indication that the Cape property market is going to slow down any time soon,” adds Greeff. “We fully anticipate that 2017 is going to be another year of growth,” he says. 

“The highest growth sectors will continue to be security estates, sectional title apartments and family homes near leading schools, however, land is in short supply in the Cape, given the natural boundaries of mountain and sea, so even properties further and further from central areas are starting to grow in value,” adds Greeff. “There’s a drive to get a foot in the door with regards Cape real estate, particularly with the steady flow of people from other provinces migrating to the Cape,” explains Greeff.  

He says there has been significant growth in the average selling price measured for the period November 2015 to November 2016, when compared to the preceding corresponding twelve months, in all areas in which Greeff’s agents operate. The top three areas in terms of growth in the average selling price, for all types of properties, recorded by Propstats for the periods mentioned above are: Kommetjie at 19.6%; City Bowl, where the average selling price for all types of property across all areas grew by 16.9% and the South East Suburbs with a growth of 15% in the average selling price. Bergvliet follows with an average house selling price growth of 11.9% while Plumstead follows with 10.9%. 
In Constantia, the average sales price grew by 5.5%.

Across all areas of False Bay, the growth in the average selling price is recorded at 12%, in Hout Bay, 6.3% and across the Southern Suburbs, 6.8 %.

“These growth figures are significant and compare very favourably against most other investment categories, making property a prime choice for a healthy portfolio,” says Greeff, adding that the inclusion of Cape real estate in a portfolio offers buyers an opportunity to plan for a future with the confidence that there will be asset growth.