The annual holiday selling season for the Atlantic Seaboard and City Bowl is about to kick into gear with the first of five property exhibitions to be held at the V&A Waterfront for a week from 25 to 31 October.
“Given the high demand still prevalent for property in the city, this is an exhibition that you would not want to miss if you are a seller”, says Ms Billy Rautenbach, sales director for Seeff’s Atlantic Seaboard, V&A Waterfront and City Bowl operations.
The October to April period tends to be the traditionally busier sales season. Overseas visitors will now start arriving for their annual sojourn. Add to that the arrival of locals, including many potential buyers and investors from other provinces such as the greater Johannesburg and Pretoria area, both now growing markets.
This means more sellers flocking to the city. Real estate sales tend to peak over the tourist season, she says. For the previous high season period of October 2015 to end April 2016 for example, over R4.632bn in real estate sold across both areas, representing about two thirds of the total value of sales.
The R20m-plus super luxury sector also tends to be busier over this period, the last season for example recording 29 sales worth almost R1bn. In Clifton, the bulk of the sales took place during the October to April period while about 70% of all the units sold in Camps Bay for the last year, were during this period.
Ms Rautenbach says that buyers from other provinces, most notably the greater Johannesburg/Pretoria areas are now increasingly investing in Atlantic Seaboard and City Bowl property. Despite the slower economy, these buyers now comprise anything up to 20%-30% in areas such as Camps Bay.
Foreign buying is also up this year compared to last year with some 142 properties worth just over R1.282bn sold across the Atlantic Seaboard and City Bowl areas, comprising about 20% of the total rand-value of sales. This, compared to the 137 sales worth R1.106bn recorded for the whole of 2015.
More than half of the sales were to UK and European buyers. There was notable growth in sales to German, French and American buyers. Foreigners are now also buying in almost any area, from Clifton and Camps Bay to Green Point and the CBD.
“Remember also that about 80% of Atlantic Seaboard and City Bowl property buyers are local, most of whom frequent the Waterfront which is the most visited destination in Africa and attracted some 24 million visitors during the 2015 year. That amounts to about 2 million people per month, or about 444 000 on average per week”.
“We expect a busy summer given that tourist arrivals were up by 8.8% in 2015 and according to Cape Town Tourism, increased further year-on-year by 7% as at July this year. The V&A Waterfront incidentally reported phenomenal growth of 40% for the year to end of July 2016. So, if you are looking to sell, then you really do not want to miss this season”.
“Research has shown that while many buyers now first look online, show houses and showcase exhibitions remain as vital as ever to attract serious buyers. Exhibiting is like having a show house, but you attract literally thousands of viewers daily for the duration of the exhibition, she says. Our last Waterfront expo for example yielded more than 200 good leads for our sellers and a number of excellent sales”.
These include the sale of a one-bedroomed Waterfront apartment (Kylemore) for almost full price at R7.05m at a remarkable R81,977/sqm as well as a luxury four-bedroomed townhouse with a swimming pool in the new Little Glen Views, Camps Bay that was sold for the full asking price of R14.125m.
