Hout Bay Fast Becoming A Town Because Of Its Close Link To The City

Since the early 15^th Century Hout Bay has retained close links with the City of Cape Town, and in the early days this village used to be the main link with Cape Town’s boat repairmen who brought ships into the bay to repair and then took them back out again once done, says Rodney Boast, a Knight Frank Anne Porter agent who works in Hout Bay. After the timber supplies diminished in Hout Bay these men turned to fishing to make a living and the fishing industry in Hout Bay was created.

“Today the link between Hout Bay and Cape Town continues in various commercial ways, where more and more businesspeople recognise how easy the access to the city is from this area while living in an area with a holiday environment and fantastic scenery. The commute from Hout Bay to the City Bowl, in peak times, still only takes around 25 minutes,” he said.

The MyCiti bus service, once in full operation (which is anticipated will happen in the second half of this year), will make the commute from Hout Bay to town even easier, he said.

While it may not be seen as a positive to many residents, Hout Bay is fast becoming a town, and is no longer a sleepy village, said Boast.

“The additions to Hout Bay’s infrastructure have made this a place where just about everything needed is within five minutes’ drive of home, no matter which part of Hout Bay you live in.”

In addition to the many people who live here, the traffic on the weekend in and through Hout Bay is around double the amount of what it normally is, and this is because it is seen as “a nice little place to pop out to”, to go to the market, get a bite to eat and visit the beach, and this popularity is increasing because of the very successful weekend market in the harbour and the number of good restaurants, bistros, coffee shops and pubs, he said.

There is, too, a huge variety of homes in all the price categories in Hout Bay. Whether a buyer is looking for a one bedroom apartment priced at R800 000, a three bedroom family home with a garden or a luxurious upper bracket home in a gated estate, it can be found here.

Asked to give examples, Boast mentioned:

• A five bedroom home in Berg-en-Dal Estate, which has six bathrooms, three reception rooms. This home is on a 1 409m² erf and is sited high on the hillside, with views of the valley below, and the whole bay. This home is priced at R10,8 million.

• A family home with four bedrooms and two bathrooms, priced at R3 290 000, in Bokkemanskloof Private Estate. This has a 2 021m² plot and also has panoramic views of Hout Bay.

• A one bedroom, one bathroom apartment priced at R725 000, with secure parking and mountain views.

“Hout Bay has properties in the broadest band of price categories, from R60 000 in Imizamo Yethu, to R40 million in the top security estates. Although there isn’t a lot of vacant land left, there might now, with the zoning laws changing to a standard throughout Cape Town, be more landowners subdividing their plots and selling off the subdivisions,” said Boast.