Young buyers in the freehold housing market in the Vaal Triangle towns of Vanderbijlpark, Vereeniging, and Meyerton accounted for approximately a third of all residential property purchases in these areas during 2022, according to Pam Golding Properties.
Lightstone statistics show that the median price of freehold homes sold in 2022 in these towns was around R1 million, ranging from R950 000 in Vanderbijlpark to R1.195 million in Meyerton.
All three towns have registered strong growth in residential property prices over the past ten years.
Sales in Vanderbijlpark did not slow down in 2020 but have nonetheless rebounded strongly in 2021 and 2022 according to Lightstone, while in Vereeniging, sales slowed marginally in 2020 but have also increased sharply, with sales in 2021 and 2022 the highest recorded since 2013. Sales in Meyerton rose in 2020 and sales recorded during the past two years are the highest seen in the past decade too.
Deidre Nel, Pam Golding Properties area principal says that the Meyerton and Midvaal areas have developed considerably over the years with townhouses or freestanding homes within secure estates being acquired for around R1 million and at times, lower with these areas becoming more and more in demand due to the well-run municipality.
Properties that are selling rapidly are usually priced between R800 000 and R1.2 million in areas like Three Rivers, Vereeniging CBD, Falconridge and Sonland Park; Vanderbijlpark CE and CW areas, and in Meyerton in particular homes in residential developments and lock-up-and-go properties.
Other security estates in the areas of Vereeniging and Vanderbijlpark offer properties for sale priced from R1.5 million up to R4 million plus, depending on the estate, river access and the area, notes Laurette Wolmarans, Pam Golding Properties area principal.
“As far as apartments are concerned, CBD areas in general are well priced between R200 000 and R400 000 for units in older buildings., while newer apartments or those in newer areas are selling from R500 000 upwards – again depending on the location and how old or new the complex is,” she says.
One way in which the markets in the Vaal Triangle differ is the percentage of stable owners (who have owned their properties for more than twelve months), who are retirees. In Vereeniging, 40% of stable owners are retirees, in Vanderbijlpark also fairly high at 26% with Meyerton close behind at 23%. (Lightstone statistics).
“Vereeniging is home to a lot of retirees, and we find most of them in our more ‘exclusive’ areas such as Three Rivers East, for example. Younger families are trying to move in, but these homes are older and large, which means that renovations will be costly, while stand sizes are usually around 2 000m2 and more, so maintenance may become an issue for them. A number of our retirees are moving into retirement villages here and in surrounding areas, in order to remain close to their friends,” says Nel.
Wolmarans says the Vaal Triangle attracts numerous buyers from other regions, especially for work purposes such as transfers or new appointments at industries such as SASOL, Rand Water, Mittal, and the like.
“We also experience a high demand from buyers from various townships, either young and preferring to be in town or older families who wish to relocate into the towns while still retaining their properties in the townships.
In addition, we see numerous ‘inter-region’ transactions among those buying in the town ‘next door’, because we are so close, or due to better value for money obtainable in different areas. A very popular move is to Midvaal.”
