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Seeff partners with UK giant

Cape Town - The Seeff property group has announced that it has partnered with Hamptons International as its exclusive Southern African partner. Hamptons International is a member of Countrywide, the largest real estate group in the United Kingdom.

Over the past two years, Seeff has expanded further into the SADC region and now has offices in Botswana, Zambia, Namibia, Swaziland, Zimbabwe and Mauritius in addition to almost 200 countrywide. It was a natural progression for us to further expand our reach across the globe, said Samuel Seeff, chair of the Seeff property group.

This exclusive partnership enables Seeff to market our local properties internationally and also gives buyers access to some 150 000 property listings world-wide including prime areas where South Africans are increasingly investing such as the UK, Portugal, Cyprus, Malta and even the US.

Speaking at the launch event in Cape Town, Alasdair Hedley, head of international for Hamptons, said there are about 400 000 South Africans living in London and a further 100 000-odd living across the UK. That makes a sizeable 500 000 potential buyers just in the UK. Last year for example, South Africans bought as many UK properties as Americans and this is set to grow.

Beyond the UK, there is a growing South African expat community. Armed with their pounds, dollars and euros, these buyers are able to find excellent value in the South African property market right now and we will be there to assist them, added Hedley.

Similarly, Seeff will be leveraging the access to foreign markets for local sellers.

"We believe that there is plenty of room for growth, investment inflows and economic benefits to be tapped," said Seeff.

The UK and Europe which still comprise about 60% of offshore buyers that invest in primary locations such as Cape Town’s Atlantic Seaboard and City Bowl.

"Given that Hamptons has some 85 branches across the globe and are represented on every continent, we anticipate a significant uptick in interest in property here," said Seeff.

The partnership is also seen as a springboard into Africa, specifically the growth hubs of Southern Africa, but also that of East and West Africa.

"We have already seen growing tourism from Africa into South Africa and with that wealthy buyers from countries such as Nigeria increasingly investing in top end properties, spending up to R55m for a penthouse at the V&A Waterfront - sold by Seeff in 2012," he said.

"As with the rest of the world’s wealthy, Ultra-high-net-worth-individuals (UHNWI) from South Africa and other African growth hubs are increasingly looking to diversify their investment portfolios by adding more real estate into the mix, often investing in multiple properties."

Property has become a sought-after commodity amongst the wealthy who do not mind pay top prices as long as it is the right location such as the Atlantic Seaboard that carries with it inherent capital value and growth. Seeff, for example, recently sold a Fresnaye property for R64.8m as well as a luxury villa in Clifton for the record price of R111m, both as investment properties to a single buyer.

Aside from the Cape’s coastal and wine regions, Seeff sees Sandton as a significant growth area for foreign buyers, not only from African countries such as Nigeria who may have business interest here, but as an appealing second home market for buyers from across the globe.

KwaZulu-Natal’s Dolphin Coast, Ballito and the Umhlanga areas along with Garden Route hotspots such as Plettenberg Bay and the top end golf estates of Knysna (Pezula for example) too should provide plenty of property finds and value for foreigners right now given the weakness of the rand.

Seeff also noted that, while the economy and investor confidence is challenging right now, he still sees the residential market as positive. It is well-balanced and still performing notably better than most economic sectors and the economy as a whole.

According to the latest data from one of the leading banks for example, property values are still growing at about 7% to 8% against economic growth of around 1.5% to 2% at best, he said.

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