Cape Town - Buyers in the City Bowl seem to be unfazed by the talk of down-market conditions with houses not just still selling quite rapidly above the R5m price mark, but a notable uptick in top end sales above the R10m price mark, some at record prices, according to Seeff.
This level of sales is also the highest ever in the area.
Seeff’s two teams selling houses in the area have for example just concluded a record month with sales of just over R65m coming from seven significant deals. Michael Hauser and Doris Ricketts sold six properties including a five-bedroomed home in Highlands Estate in Frank Road, Vredehoek for a new record price of R10.1m and another in Exner Avenue, Vredehoek for R9.35m.
This new record price is R1.9m more than the previous highest price of R8.2m achieved in May this year in Highlands Estate for the sale of a five-bedroomed house in the same street. The previous highest price achieved (also by Seeff) in Vredehoek/Devil’s Peak was R7.3m, so these latest sales have significantly moved the price bar up in the area, say Hauser and Ricketts.
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Hotel apartments in Cape Town have also become a hot commodity, sought-after and selling like hotcakes, said Ian Slot, Seeff’s managing director for the Atlantic Seaboard and City Bowl.
Just over five years ago when the first hotel apartments for sale were introduced to the market, the economy was still biting and there was very little appetite for property, let alone for swanky hotel apartments, he added.
Now though, the market seems to have taken a corner and aside from CBD and seaside apartments selling quite rapidly, hotel apartments are now hot sellers.
These apartments are particularly attractive for buyers and investors given the added extras such as access to 5-star amenities including restaurants and room service, a gymnasium and concierge and cleaning services. While many of the units are bought for own-use, they are also good investments, some for example come with the opportunity to capitalise on rental income.
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The top seller so far has been the Cape Royale in Green Point where some 14 apartments worth almost R40m have sold since the start of last year at an average price of about R2.8m. This average price is about 10% higher than the average price of R2.5m for apartments as whole across the suburb.
While Blouberg is one of the most dynamic property markets of the Cape metro, the value on offer for buyers remains almost unparalleled for a beach side location, according to Wouter Pentz, Seeff’s licensee for the area.
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Beach front apartments and those within walking distance of the beaches have become so sought-after that almost half of all recent sales have been for very close to or even the full asking price. This, said Pentz, on the back of still tight stock levels.
While most of the apartments are still selling for under the R1m price mark, we are beginning to see top prices for sought-after beach front complexes reaching as much as R25 000 in Sea Spray on the Table View side and R36 000/sqm at Eden on the Bay.
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Apartment sales across the area that stretches from Milnerton to Melkbosstrand now accounts for about a quarter of all market activity. This year, some 477 apartments worth just under R500m have already sold across the area at a still very affordable average price of just over R1m. The average price of beach apartments though tend to be more in the R2m to R3m range, said Pentz.
Well over 60% of all apartments sales still fall in the R400 000 to R1m price band. This, adds managing executive, Clinton Martle, despite the superb infrastructure and amenities including a number of top schools on offer in the area, not to mention the laid-back beach lifestyle. Living here is like being on a year-round holiday.