Johannesburg – International and domestic super-rich
individuals have no qualms in paying R100 000/m² for dream residences in South
Africa’s most expensive suburbs. Buyers include royal personages from Africa
and wealthy business tycoons.
The streets housing the most expensive properties in the
country are Nettleton Road in Clifton in the Western Cape and Coronation Road
in Sandhurst in Gauteng, said Ian Slot, Seeff managing director for the
Atlantic Seaboard.
Slot said some of the world’s wealthiest people own
super-luxurious villas worth millions in Nettleton Road, where the view,
exclusivity and a scarcity of land contribute to the sky high house valuations.
Dr Andrew Golding, chief executive of Pam Golding Properties
(PGP), said South African luxury property prices compare favourably with
some of the top areas on the French Riviera, where properties sell for R200
000/m².
Property entrepreneur Stuart Chait is currently developing
three residences, each worth R100m, in Nettleton Road. The bigger ones range
from 1 000m² to 1 500m².
He said the Atlantic Seaboard, and Clifton in
particular, is hugely attractive to international commodity tycoons from
countries like India, China and Britain, as well as Africa.
Over the past three years Seeff has sold dwellings worth
R233m, and has achieved record prices of R30m to R60m, declared the company’s
Lance Cohen.
He said No 34 Nettleton Road, which has twice been sold in the
past four years, had a capital appreciation of 10% and No 9 Nettleton Road a
capital appreciation of 18% in just under four years.
For the wealthy with an appetite for a super-luxurious
residence, No 1 Nettleton Road is on the market for R49.95m. This house with
its several balconies borders on a nature reserve. It has four bedrooms, each
with an en suite bathroom, and a four-car garage.
Basil Moraitis, PGP’s area manager for the Atlantic
Seaboard, said between December and February the group sold dwellings
worth R311m in this area. This represents about 44% of the R700m total sales by
all agencies in the area, according to Propstats.
One of the most exclusive properties in the Gauteng market
is a super-luxurious home on Oxford Road, Johannesburg, which is up for R89m.
This house was built by a Rwandan telecommunications tycoon.
According to a Sunday Times report, Ghana’s King Otumfuo
Osei Tutu II recently paid R27m for a sumptuous home in Coronation Road in
Sandhurst.
Corinna Lowry of Seeff Sandhurst said there are two houses
in this street on the market for R38m and R45m respectively. “Over the past
five months, Seeff Sandhurst has had six sales in this area ranging from R6.5m
to R15m.”
Seeff Dolphin Coast principal Andreas Wassenaar said in
KwaZulu-Natal the streets with the most expensive properties are Milkwood Drive
and Cherrywood Drive in the opulent Zimbali coastal resort on the north coast.
He said in Cherrywood Drive there are six properties
with prices ranging from R30m to R40m. Properties on the beachfront in Milkwood
Drive fetch R20m to R50m.
- Sake24
For more business news in Afrikaans, go to Sake24.com.