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Well-heeled homebuyers who can afford a luxury abode in the R5m plus bracket can pick up properties in a number of big-ticket suburbs at price levels last seen six years ago. A search of property portal Lightstone’s database shows average selling prices dipped by more than 35% last year in a number of South Africa’s poshest suburbs. According to Lightstone’s figures – which rank suburbs throughout SA in terms of average valuations – the biggest price fall among top-end suburbs was recorded in the exclusive enclave of Swaanswyk Road, in Cape Town’s genteel Constantia, with an average drop of 46,6% last year.
That was followed by Sandhurst in Sandton, north of Johannesburg, where average prices were down by an equally hefty 39,4%. Cape Town’s Steenberg Golf Estate, also in the Constantia area, and southern suburbs counterpart Bishops-court saw average prices decline by 38% and 35% respectively last year.
Selling prices in swanky golf estates – such as Fancourt, near George in the Southern Cape, and Zimbali, near Ballito on KwaZulu-Natal’s’ north coast – dropped by 22,5% and 19% respectively in 2010, Lightstone’s figures show.
Granted, average selling prices achieved in any given suburb can swing quite dramatically from one year to the next, depending on how many properties were sold within a specified time period. But interestingly enough, the number of sales in all but two of SA’s top 15 priciest suburbs (see table) increased in 2010 year-on-year. Second home golf estates Fancourt and De Zalze, near Stellenbosch in the Western Cape, were the only exceptions.
Industry players say that suggests bargain hunters are already starting to cash in on the value proposition offered in top-end suburbs. One reason why selling prices may have softened so markedly in many big-ticket areas is that even wealthy buyers have become increasingly price resistant.
Ronald Ennik, a director at Leapfrog Property Group, notes a price stand-off of sorts between buyers and sellers of big-ticket homes. Ennik says that’s proving to be a major obstacle to recovery in the R5m plus residential property market. He says the high-priced segment of the market is far too quiet, with buyers and sellers struggling to meet each other half way.
He maintains if top-end buyers and sellers alike would come to terms with the realities of the market, the gap in their respective price aspirations would close. That would see a marked increase in both sales volumes and prices.
Says Ennik: “History has shown the top end of the market is always the last to respond to the effects of a recession and also the last to see a recovery in sales. But as long as sales in the higher-priced sector remain at a standstill, the recovery in residential property will at best be snail-paced.’’
FNB’s residential property barometer for first quarter 2011 confirms the top end of the housing market continues to take strain. FNB property strategist John Loos says the middle and lower income segments are performing noticeably better than the higher end segments.
That was followed by Sandhurst in Sandton, north of Johannesburg, where average prices were down by an equally hefty 39,4%. Cape Town’s Steenberg Golf Estate, also in the Constantia area, and southern suburbs counterpart Bishops-court saw average prices decline by 38% and 35% respectively last year.
Selling prices in swanky golf estates – such as Fancourt, near George in the Southern Cape, and Zimbali, near Ballito on KwaZulu-Natal’s’ north coast – dropped by 22,5% and 19% respectively in 2010, Lightstone’s figures show.
Granted, average selling prices achieved in any given suburb can swing quite dramatically from one year to the next, depending on how many properties were sold within a specified time period. But interestingly enough, the number of sales in all but two of SA’s top 15 priciest suburbs (see table) increased in 2010 year-on-year. Second home golf estates Fancourt and De Zalze, near Stellenbosch in the Western Cape, were the only exceptions.
Industry players say that suggests bargain hunters are already starting to cash in on the value proposition offered in top-end suburbs. One reason why selling prices may have softened so markedly in many big-ticket areas is that even wealthy buyers have become increasingly price resistant.
Ronald Ennik, a director at Leapfrog Property Group, notes a price stand-off of sorts between buyers and sellers of big-ticket homes. Ennik says that’s proving to be a major obstacle to recovery in the R5m plus residential property market. He says the high-priced segment of the market is far too quiet, with buyers and sellers struggling to meet each other half way.
He maintains if top-end buyers and sellers alike would come to terms with the realities of the market, the gap in their respective price aspirations would close. That would see a marked increase in both sales volumes and prices.
Says Ennik: “History has shown the top end of the market is always the last to respond to the effects of a recession and also the last to see a recovery in sales. But as long as sales in the higher-priced sector remain at a standstill, the recovery in residential property will at best be snail-paced.’’
FNB’s residential property barometer for first quarter 2011 confirms the top end of the housing market continues to take strain. FNB property strategist John Loos says the middle and lower income segments are performing noticeably better than the higher end segments.
