VIDEO TRANSCRIPT:
Reporter: The Mother City is a hub of fashion, art, design, and an eclectic mix of people coming together from all walks of life. Making your home in Cape Town begs the questions, "Where will I stay, and which neighbourhood will I call home?" When we think about Cape Town, it is known for a rather expensive lifestyle, and when it comes to renting and buying property, the pockets need to go rather deep. Would you agree, and why would anybody consider living here?
Simon Bray: Well, I mean, Cape Town's got so much to offer. It's the Mother City, with all sorts of landmarks that we're used to seeing all over international media, so there are a lot of reasons why people want to live in Cape Town, and that's driven the property market, it's fuelled it, the growth in Cape Town has been beyond the growth in some of the other areas of South Africa and I think that's making it a little less affordable than other markets in South Africa, which is a bit of a shame. Because it's a beautiful place to live and you want to be able to live close to work. But certainly, the City Bowl still offers an element of affordability and I think that's what's really driving that more than some of the other areas.
Now, I know I chose to live in the City Bowl area, because of work and it's good to be close to work, but why would someone choose the City Bowl and not rather move out towards the suburbs?
Well, I think your commute time is a huge factor. The fact that you're right in the mix, that businesses are nearby. And I think that's one thing that's very exciting about what's happening in the City Bowl. I'm particularly excited about it myself. It's very international in its approach as a city. A lot of the other cities in South Africa, you're seeing a decentralisation. You're seeing businesses moving out of the city centre and have been doing so for years, and with that, the residential suburbs also start to sprawl out away from the centre of the city, whereas in Cape Town, it's been able to retain businesses in the centre, it's been able to renew old buildings and revive old areas. And I think that's what's exciting, is it's kept the centre close, you know, between Table Bay and Table Mountain. So it's exciting to see that and it's definitely driving a European style of property in South Africa.
When it comes to renting or buying a properties there, what are we looking at?
Purchasing a property in the city is still fairly affordable when you compare it to other markets just next door, like Atlantic Seaboard. I think that's driven a lot by these older buildings that are being refurbished, and you've got great opportunities to buy say, two-bed flats for under three million rand. Which in a context of the rest of the South African market may sound expensive, but in terms of the Cape Town property market, that's actually really good value. In terms of renting, for about R15,000 to R18,000 you can get a good two bed flat in the city. Which for someone that is living, working, right nearby, that's a fantastic lifestyle choice. Very convenient.
Convenience is everything. What is the Simon Bray tip of the day?
When you're looking at a city, it's very important to pick an apartment that has something unique and something different about it. So pick something with an outlook. Pick something with great parking, because in the city parking is a premium. And you'll ensure that your property values always perform better than those around you.
You know one thing confirms is that we have gorgeous neighbourhoods all around South Africa.
It's beautiful to see that. We did this project where we wanted to go around the country and profile some of the great neighborhoods in South Africa, and it's just exciting to see how different each one of them are from one another. There's this great character, there's these unique elements. It's been a special project actually.
